Macquarie Group

In terms of senior leadership accountability, the responsibility for sustainability issues within Macquarie Group lies with the board. In terms of female representation in leadership positions, the asset manager has a gender-balanced board of directors where five out of eleven members are women. Furthermore, it has an environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk monitoring framework for its investees and discloses examples of concluded work, health and safety (WHS) performance, and management. Additionally, Macquarie Group identified and prioritised its impacts through a materiality assessment process which included feedback from external stakeholders.

Macquarie Group has set a target of net-zero financed emissions by 2050 and discloses that alignment with the Paris Agreement is one of its engagement topics. As a member of Climate Action 100+, it discloses that it collectively engages with its clients on the topic of climate change. Macquarie Group publishes the aggregate amount devoted to green financing while specifying what these solutions are and whether they are in line with internationally recognised frameworks. It also discloses time-bound targets for its green financing, as a commitment to developing 20 GW of renewable energy projects over the next five years. Furthermore, Macquarie Group discloses nature- and biodiversity-related impacts as one of its engagement topics within its ESG Risk Policy.

Macquarie Group has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect human rights, the ILO core labour rights, to build and promote safe workplaces, to prohibit bribery and corruption, and protect personal data. It also provides evidence of a grievance mechanism accessible to all workers, external individuals, and communities to raise human rights and corruption and bribery complaints. Moreover, it discloses the proportion of women in its total direct operations workforce for each employee category.

Macquarie Group could link the remuneration of its executive or management teams to sustainability performance criteria. While the asset manager provides a commitment to gender equality, it does not provide an explicit commitment to women’s empowerment. It has an opportunity to disclose the proportion of women in senior leadership roles as well as how it addresses any gender pay gaps at the group level. Moreover, Macquarie Group has an opportunity to provide further details on the escalation framework linked to its ESG risk monitoring. Furthermore, Macquarie Group could describe how the ESG monitoring is applied in practice.

Macquarie Group could disclose interim emissions reduction targets at the group level, such as a 45% reduction in financed emissions by 2030. While it discloses that it engages with its clients on climate issues, it does not provide a rationale for engaging with specific companies on the topic of climate change. Moreover, it has an opportunity to disclose progress against the targets it has set for its climate solutions. In addition, no evidence was found of a commitment to minimise its negative impact on nature and biodiversity. Macquarie Group publishes its equity and loan portfolio exposures to the coal, oil, gas, and renewables sectors but could disclose the amount of finance it directs towards fossil fuels which covers all its financing activities.

Macquarie Group has an opportunity to describe a comprehensive process for identifying its human rights risks and impacts across all its activities, especially its financing activities. The asset manager discloses the ages of its board members but has an opportunity to disclose this information for each employee category. To provide transparency on financial inclusivity, Macquarie Group has an opportunity to disclose the amount of finance directed towards women-owned businesses, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), or low-income developing countries.