ESG Report 2021 final.pdf
2021
Responsible
Investing
Report
A commitment to sustainable homeownership
Unison is on a mission to transform the way people buy and own homes. The home is where we spend the majority of our time, where we grow our families, where memories are made, and for most Americans, where the majority of their wealth is stored. For far too long, accessing that wealth has meant stacking bills, accruing debt, or even relocating. Currently, consumer debt weighs approximately $14.96 trillion¹ and with many rapidly approaching retirement, the need for optimized financial resources has never been greater.
Unison’s mission to optimize homeownership is a commitment to helping all of us thrive through good and bad times. A society in which housing is financially inaccessible is a society that’s unsustainable — one that grows more precarious and less productive every year. Unison has created an opportunity for homeowners to own their home with less financial risk and no added debt by creating an equity alternative. A landscape in which individuals, families, and retirees can ensure their quality of life and asset volatility is put in the right hands — with investors.
This report shares our investment’s environmental and social impacts. The report also includes the following areas to reflect our improvements in asset management in times of crisis to create mutually beneficial results for homeowners and investors:
• Natural disaster support
• Forbearance education
• Refinance negotiation assistance
Unison data and information in this report is as of December 31, 2020
Contents
A sustainable mission 1
An integrated approach 5
Renewable energy
Climate change risk
Active ownership 15
Reducing financial risk for Homeowners
Decreasing leverage
Protecting Homeowner & Investor equity
Repairing of hazardous conditions
Increasing resilience
Homeowner sustainable engagement
Natural disaster support
Forbearance education / COVID communications
Action delay / stop foreclosures
Refinance negotiation assistance
Practicing corporate sustainability 23
Corporate carbon footprint
The Unison workplace
Transparency through engagement 29
Customer transparency
Investor transparency
UN principles for responsible investing
Task force on climate-related financial disclosures
A sustainable mission
In alignment with our Homeowners and Investors, we provide the missing products and expert advice that empower our customers to optimally own a home or invest in Residential Real Estate. With Unison, consumers are able to proactively lower their household debt and improve their financial health, while offering aligned incentives for both homeowners and investors to win, together.
In Unison, together
We believe connecting investors and homeowners should be more than a zero-sum game. A Unison investment is uniquely positioned to improve home affordability, reduce leverage in the financial system, and shift home equity exposure to where it belongs — with institutional investors who benefit from diversification through real asset investments.
Practice realistic optimism
At Unison, we believe it is possible to make a positive impact for both our stakeholders and society by incorporating environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) considerations into our investment management processes.
Demonstrate true grit
2020 was a year of unprecedented challenges. In the face of so much uncertainty, Unison rose to the occasion to ensure our homeowner partners received the financial and educational support they needed. We worked closely with homeowners impacted by forbearance to help them understand the options afforded to them by the CARES Act, with the ultimate goal of helping them remain in their homes.
See the long, now
The long-term objectives of our investments call for increased focus on risks, not just over the next few years, but over the next several decades. Unison recognizes that ESG characteristics can have a material impact on the long-term performance of our investments. The value of incorporating these factors is not limited to just due diligence; they remain pertinent in decision-making throughout the lifecycle of our investment. We aim to not only select investments with sustainable characteristics but contribute to the resilience and the wellness of homeowners and their communities.
Value data and insights
Unison believes that the consideration of sustainability, transparency, and social responsibility has the potential to be accretive to investor returns. The integration of ESG findings represents a fundamental pillar of a complete and thorough analysis. An active management strategy that incorporates engagement based on those findings allows for value to be added to investors, homeowners, and society alike.
An integrated approach
Unison Investment Management is a fiduciary to our investors. We pursue an integrated approach where ESG best practices are applied to both strategic and asset-level decisions. In 2020, we made investments based on the belief that the integration of environmental, social, and corporate governance considerations help us better understand our investment risks and maximize long-term investment returns.
Promoting urbanism
One of the most significant factors in determining the environmental impacts of real estate is location. Investing in properties within and near presently-developed areas reduces the fragmentation and development of greenfield areas. Close proximity to existing developments reduces the need for new infrastructure and encourages more sustainable methods of transportation. Geographic location, both on a regional and granular scale, plays a critical factor in the investment selection and management process at Unison. Our methodology inherently promotes urban living, discouraging suburban sprawl and its profound effects on environmental sustainability.
Zero investments in rural properties
We negatively screen rural areas and deselect most investments outside metropolitan areas due to their unattractive return characteristics. Lower density regions have more available space for further greenfield and infill development compared to more densely populated regions. This dynamic affects local market supply and demand factors as well as home price appreciation.
Limited new construction
New construction homes in greenfield areas tend to be more environmentally harmful than infill development, as they efface natural land and require additional construction and transportation of materials. We charge a higher proportion of appreciation for newly constructed homes in order to make an investment in such homes, as they have a tendency to appreciate at a lower rate than more developed areas and come with greater pricing uncertainty. This is aligned with our intent to discourage suburban sprawl and preserve natural land.
2020 Home sales of newly constructed properties
12.73%
All of US
2.7%
Unison investments⁴
5
Unison 2020 investments by Rural Urban Continuum Code: 2020
| Urban | Metropolitan counties | |
|---|---|---|
| Urban | 1 | Counties in metro areas of 1 million population or more87.20% |
| Urban | 2 | Counties in metro areas of 250,000 to 1 million population10.72% |
| Urban | 3 | Counties in metro areas of fewer than 250,000 population1.76% |
| Urban | Non-metropolitan counties | |
| Urban | 4 | Urban population of 20,000 or more, adjacent to a metro area0.31% |
| Urban | 5 | Urban population of 20,000 or more, not adjacent to a metro area0.00% |
| Urban | 6 | Urban population of 2,500 to 19,999, adjacent to a metro area0.00% |
| Urban | 7 | Urban population of 2,500 to 19,999, not adjacent to a metro area0.00% |
| Rural | 8 | Completely rural or less than 2,500 urban population, adjacent to a metro area0.00% |
| Rural | 9 | Completely rural or less than 2,500 urban population, not adjacent to a metro area0.00% |
U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development: New Residential Sales
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: Existing Home Sales
Unison Investment Management: Internal Calculations 2021
Homes considered by Unison to be ‘New Construction’ are greenfield developments and do not include infill teardown re-builds.
Leveraging renewable energy
Solar energy: Improving homeowners’ carbon footprints and property marketability
Residential buildings consumed approximately 22% of the energy produced in the US in 2020 and were responsible for 20% of total US emissions⁶, or 902 million metric tons of CO. During the investment process of each individual home, Unison records and considers the presence of energy-efficient features, such as solar panels.
11.27%
of Unison investments selected in 2020 had a renewable energy source⁷
1.1%
of residences in the United States have solar installed⁸
Unison considers owned solar as a meaningful addition to a property’s value. A source of on-premise renewable energy reduces energy consumption, resulting in lower expenditures for the homeowner. In California, for instance, the homebuyers have been willing to pay a 9
$15,000 premium for homes with a solar array.
According to the research done by Zillow, solar panel installations not only allows homeowners to save on their monthly utility bills, but also potentially increases the home’s value by up to 4.1% more than comparable homes with no solar panels. This is also comparable to approximately $9,274 of additional value for the median-valued home in the U.S.
United States solar energy production potential
Solar potential by county; solar potential, one input into our calculations of the fund’s solar power
production, describes how an identical home can expect to produce as much as four times more
energy if it is in the darkest blue region compared to the lightest region.11
Unison asset renewable energy production
Solar potential is a measure of the potential output created by the installation of solar panels on a home, incorporating data on the strength of the sun’s energy at a particular home’s location and assumptions about the size and efficiency of the installation based on the square footage of the home. By using solar potential mapping and property level data of individual assets in Unison’s portfolio, we calculate that solar installations on homes in the 2020 portfolio produced approximately 18,858,464 kWh of electricity, 12
equivalent to the power of over 1.5 million gallons of gasoline.
18,858,464 kWh of electricity produced
U.S. Energy Information Administration: Monthly Energy Review; January through December 2021
Unison Investment Management: Internal Calculations 2021
Stanford University DeepSolar Database, originally published by Joule December 2018
U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratory: “Exploring California PV Home Premiums”; December 2013
National Renewable Energy Laboratory: Solar Resource Data: Global Horizontal Irradiance 2018
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator
Solar Power Can Boost Your Home’s Value - Especially in These 10 states CNBC October 2019
Understanding climate change risk
One of the most poignant and destructive elements among many climate-related risks is sea level rise. Rising sea levels threaten coastal communities around the world and threaten to cause a reshuffling of urban geographies and patterns of urbanization.
The Task Force on Climate-Related Disclosures' scenario analysis is based on projecting earth's global mean temperature rising one or two degrees Celsius. Though these increases may appear to be a marginal temperature difference, a one degree increase in global mean temperature could have catastrophic outcomes for coastal communities.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) outlined various climate change scenarios called Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP), which are based on the parts per million of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5 are widely considered to correspond with approximately1 and 2 degree Celsius rises in global median temperatures, respectively.
Under RCP 2.6, the IPCC has predicted that sea levels would rise approximately 0.43m with the likely increase being between 0.29-0.59m.Under a more extreme emissions scenario, RCP 8.5, the IPCC predicts that sea levels could rise as much as 0.84m with a range between $ 0.61-1.1 \mathrm{m}^{1 3} $ in 2100.
Sea Level Rise Scenarios indicate current sea level, land likely to be underwater in a 1 foot sea level rise scenario, land likely to be underwater in a 3 foot sea level rise scenario, and land likely to be unaffected.
Sea level rise scenarios
Below indicate current sea level, land likely to be underwater in a 1 foot sea level rise scenario, land likely to be underwater in a 3 foot sea level rise scenario, and unaffected land.
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: "Special Report On the Ocean", 2019
Current sea level 1 ft sea level rise 3 ft sea level rise Unaffected land
Charleston, South Carolina
Marshfield, Massachusetts
Sea level rise scenarios
Below indicates current sea level, land likely to be underwater in a 1 foot sea level rise scenario, land likely to be underwater in a 3 foot sea level rise scenario, and unaffected land.
Current sea level 1 ft sea level rise 3 ft sea level rise Unaffected land
San Jose, California
San Jose, California
North Miami Beach, Florida
Unison's portfolio, strong in the face of rising tides
Residential real estate is increasingly under threat from rising seas in several parts of the country. Unison owns an equity stake in a geographically diverse portfolio of thousands of individual assets in every major coastal market in the United States. This broad allocation and long-term focus brings to light a unique exposure risk in the context of rising sea levels To better understand the potential risks to our portfolio and further improve our active management, Unison has overlaid its existing portfolio with the projections of sea level rise issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Given the constraints of NOAA's data on sea level rise, overlays of 0.34m and 0.91m (for 1 ft and 3 feet respectively) were selected as these most closely correspond to the IPCC's projections.
Portfolio exposure in two possible scenarios
| Scenario | Global mean temperature change | Coastal sea level rise(m) | # of assets likely impacted | % of Unison investment likely impacted | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Less extreme scenario | RCP 2.6 | 1° Celsius | 0.34m(1ft) | 0 | 0.00% |
| More extreme scenario | RCP 8.5 | 2° Celsius | 0.91m(3ft) | 21 | 0.35% |
Our initial findings suggest that, in a scenario where sea levels rise by 0.34 meters none of Unison's assets currently under management would be impacted by this specific climate risk. Under a more extreme scenario of a 0.91 meter sea level rise, approximately 0.35% of Unison's investments would be affected.
Unison has built proprietary technology to track and monitor homes at risk of natural disasters. We intend to continuously learn and better understand how a changing climate poses risks to Unison's portfolio i.e. sea level rise, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods.
Active ownership
We are committed to being active asset managers, supporting our investors and homeowner partners to achieve superior and sustainable outcomes. Active ownership is one of the most effective mechanisms Unison has to reduce risk, maximize return, and have a positive impact on society and the environment.
Reducing financial risk while being environmentally efficient and transparent for our Homeowners & Investors
A home is the largest purchase and investment most people make. Most individuals heed common investing advice to “diversify,” yet effectively allocate the majority of their wealth into one single asset: their home. Although a home can represent financial stability for homeowners, its market behavior is similar to a public equity index and mirrors the asset 14 class in annualized volatility.
The traditional method of financing a home solely through debt exposes homeowners to ongoing financial burden and risk beyond what may be best for the individual. Unison seeks to change this by making equity financing an option and helping homeowners reduce this overexposure. Unison’s social objective is to re-allocate this risk by providing an alternative — financing a home through equity investments.
Unison provides a choice for homeowners to sell that risk to better-suited parties — institutions with large diversified portfolios. In addition, reallocating this risk has substantial potential benefits for the broader economy. We are helping to deleverage households’ balance sheets and diversify the property-specific risk that individual households face. Unison is in a unique position to help homeowners while seeking to help prevent foreclosures and preserve homeowner equity.
The nature of our investment process is inherently environmentally efficient. Our investment decisions are built to structurally favor homes in cities and high-density areas which creates a barrier to suburban sprawl and contributes to the preservation of greenfield areas. Our investment process leverages quantitative tools, and we rely on local property appraisers and inspectors which limits our carbon footprint in the investment due diligence process.
Transparency underlies our relationships with homeowners and investors. Our customer education process and careful suitability analysis ensures homeowners understand what an agreement with Unison means for them now and in the future. For investors, we deliver unparalleled transparency and are committed to industry-leading controls and compliance.
Decreasing leverage
With Unison, consumers are able to proactively lower their household debt. In 2020, Unison continued to contribute to a reduction in both homeowner consumer and mortgage 15 debt, resulting in credit improvement for households who received Unison Agreements.
$27,228,078
Mortgage debt paid off
$162,033,480
Consumer debt paid off
Homeowners, investors, and society benefit from the reduction of leverage and risk carried by individual consumers. Through Unison, homeowners are able to improve their financial health, resulting in decreased credit risk which is sustained beyond the 16 immediate impact of reducing balances.
| 740
Median FICO for assets originated in 2020 | 769
Median FICO after 3 months | 768
Median FICO after 6 months | | --- | --- | --- |
To our Homeowners
Unison’s Asset Management division — the Home Partnership Team (HPT) leverages data insights and new technologies to drive industry-first Asset Management interventions that generate strong returns for our investors and better financial outcomes for homeowners. Our active management strategy is focused on reducing unnecessary risk and helping our homeowners achieve their financial goals.
To our Investors
Unison’s platform powers efficient capital deployment and active management at scale. Our investment philosophy is ingrained in the models, systems, and processes we build. Unison Investment Management (UIM) is committed to providing investors unrivaled transparency and innovative product offerings within ESG investing.
- Unison Investment Management: Internal Calculations 2021
- Unison Investment Management: Internal Calculations 2021
Protecting Homeowner & Investor equity
Unison has the opportunity to act as a true ally, aligning investors and homeowners during times of financial duress to create win-win scenarios. Homeowners are able to exit their home with their hard-earned equity and protect investor returns from the catastrophic effects of a distressed sale. The Unison Home Partnership team has many ways to protect homeowner and investor equity in distressed situations, including Protective Advances. Given the impact of Home Partnership efforts to perform preventative measures to help customers avoid distressed situations, zero Protective Advances were necessary in 2020.
Two examples from 2020 demonstrates some of the preventative measures applied and their impact.
• A homeowner was delinquent on their mortgage and trying to negotiate a payment plan or modification with the lender. The lender stopped responding to communications as they neared foreclosure proceedings. Our Home Partnership Team contacted the lender’s Chief Compliance Officer to inform them that their company was not responding to delinquency and foreclosure related communications. The lender immediately resumed negotiations with the homeowner — they are still in the home today.
• The Home Partnership Team bids on homes that go to foreclosure auctions to protect both the homeowner’s and investor’s interests. We bid up the sale price to ensure there are funds to pay out the investor and excess funds may go to the homeowner. HPT would flip the home on the open market if we acquire the property. We have not won at auction yet because we have been outbid — which is a win for both the investor and homeowner.
Increasing resilience
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates 569 million tons of construction and demolition debris were generated in the United States in 2017 17 (EPA, 2020). Promoting beneficial environmental stewardship helps to minimize the impact associated with the extraction and consumption of virgin resources while also conserving landfill space. All Unison homeowners are required to perform regular maintenance and repairs of their homes. By requiring the preservation of the real asset, Unison inherently encourages environmental stewardship that will increase the lifespan of the housing stock and reduce waste associated with property demolitions and reconstruction. Unison encourages home renovations and upgrades by offering a remodeling adjustment. This lets homeowners truly own the upgrades they make in their homes, resulting in alignment of incentives and increased property values over the life of the investments.
In 2020
28.32%
of homeowner deals responded their primary reason for the proceeds was 18 “home improvement”.
6.08%
of homeowners that exited their agreement in 2020 used the 19 remodeling adjustment.
Remodeling adjustment is a mechanism to adjust a home’s final valuation to allocate all of the increase in value due to the remodeling to the homeowner.
- Construction and Demolition Materials composition Study November 2020
- Unison Investment Management: Internal Calculations 2021
- Unison Investment Management: Internal Calculations 2021
Natural disaster support
Unison tracks natural disasters and contacts consumers that may be at risk of being affected. In 2020, Unison developed a live fire map that tracks the proximity of fires to Unison homes and notifies our team to conduct wellness checks by email and phone when properties are at risk.
5
! !! !
Unison offers to pay hotel accommodations at no cost to help alleviate the burden to our customers during difficult times.
Forbearance education / COVID communications
In 2020 Unison conducted a survey and developed monthly reporting that tracks new forbearances. Out of 316 respondents, 46% did not know what their repayment plan was and 15% of homeowners thought they had a balloon payment at the end of their forbearance period. The CARES act states that balloon payments at the end of the forbearance are not required for Fannie/Freddie backed mortgages. Our Home Partnership Team contacted balloon payment homeowners to make sure they were aware.
Our Home Partnership Team works with homeowners at the end of their forbearance through two main interventions:
• Advising homeowners of their options under the CARES Act and how to communicate with their lenders. Many lenders want a balloon payment at the end of the forbearance but homeowners usually have other options. Some lenders do not present all options to homeowners or are too short staffed to assist them properly. We have helped many homeowners understand their options and extend their forbearance periods or avoid balloon payments.
• Helping the homeowner decide if they should sell. We do not give them explicit advice, instead we point them to resources that help them understand all their choices and the consequences. For example, going delinquent and fighting foreclosure is possible but harms your credit which can impact future lending options.
Refinance negotiation assistance
The Home Partnership Team (HPT) reviews all homeowner refinance documents. Because Unison subordinates to senior-ranking mortgages, we seek to ensure homeowners are making decisions that are in their best interests. HPT identifies high fees or predatory lending practices and alerts the homeowner to help them make better informed decisions. Some examples include:
• Identify and help homeowners eliminate excessive fees from refinances.
• Clarify and explain terms the homeowner does not understand or is not aware of, like points and broker fees.
• Helping homeowners avoid refinancing into mortgages with less favorable terms than their current one.
• Point out inflated or above-market interest rates and refer to lenders that offer more competitive rates.
Practicing corporate sustainability
Our ESG best practices are incorporated into our asset management approach, corporate decisions, and our investment processes. Unison aims to be a thoughtful and reliable partner to our investors and homeowners by incorporating ESG best practices for years to come.
Corporate carbon footprint
Commitment to a low carbon footprint investment process:
The investment due diligence process for real estate can be incredibly carbon intensive because it often involves significant personnel travel. For example, a single round-trip flight between San Francisco and Chicago emits nearly 1 ton of carbon²⁰, roughly equivalent to 21 the annual carbon sequestration of an entire acre of forest. We consider our investment process to be “Carbon Conscious Asset Management” by using technology and local third party appraisers and inspectors to minimize the carbon impact of our investment decisions.
Greenhouse gas emissions
0 miles
0 miles
| Traveled during Unison due diligence | Traveled in active management |
|---|---|
| to perform property valuation and condition assessment. | to actively mange and dispose of real estate investments in 2020. |
In 2020, Unison Investment Management sought to measure its Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative²²
Scope 1: Direct GHG emissions = 0
Scope 2: Electricity indirect GHG emissions = 0
Looking forward, our goal is to measure and reduce our Scope 3 emissions, defined as other indirect GHG emissions, through the following metrics:
• Purchase of electricity
• Employee business travel (air/car)
• Employees commuting to and from work
• Corporate Value Chain Emissions
MyClimate.org:Carbon Footprint Calculator
United States Environmental Protection Agency: Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator
World Resource Institute: “Greenhouse Gas Protocol
The Unison workplace
Working from home
The way we work changed with the unexpected onset of COVID-19. The initial response to work exclusively from home in the interest of personal safety created an opportunity to reevaluate how we work and what we need to be successful. As a company, Unison is committed to providing its team members with a safe and flexible workplace. We also acknowledge that the ability to balance work with personal obligations is equally important. Therefore, Unison provides its team members with two options:
A flexible, hybrid work schedule in the San Francisco Bay Area
The ability to work fully remote from all other locations. The flexibility to choose their location allows them to be most productive while also satisfying their needs outside of work.
Health and wellbeing:
To promote team member health and wellbeing, we created LIV; our health and wellness program. Throughout 2020, we focused on mental and physical health, implementing regular meditation classes and encouraging our team to be outdoors. Each team member received a Fitbit and were encouraged to take walking meetings and be active. The team took more than 11,376,808 steps in 2020.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at Unison
We are committed to doing the right thing. We are passionate about building and nurturing an inclusive workplace that promotes, respects, and values the unique backgrounds and perspectives of our employees, customers, and partners. We seek out and celebrate differences because they make us strong — they make us better. Everyone has a home at Unison.
We are committed to advocating for our customers and communities through initiatives that promote fairness and transparency in homeownership. As stewards to our investors, we are committed to providing equitable and responsible exposure to residential real estate.
How we practice inclusion
| People
We hire, promote,and strive to include people of all backgrounds. We are proudly at 41% underrepresented talent and 46% female. | Product
We audit our products and investment guidelines for equity and fairness. | Communities
We contribute time and financial support to housing equity and give team members 2 volunteer days per year to contribute to their community. | | --- | --- | --- |
Transparency through engagement
At Unison, we believe that the integration of our ESG considerations into our investment management processes and ownership practices helps us better understand investment risks and maximize long-term investment returns. We believe this connection provides an outlet for Unison to engage with homeowners on sustainability for the benefit of individuals, investors and the community at large. Unison’s commitment to proper governance ensures that its portfolios are aligned with investor objectives, and is key to confirming the suitability of our agreement with the homeowner.
Transparency for our customers
Transparency is everything. The education we provide to potential homeowner customers serves to ensure they understand their current and future rights and responsibilities should they decide to co-invest with Unison. Ensuring the suitability of the product for our customer is a key step in the process.
After investing alongside our homeowner, we provide a transparent view of how the estimated price of the property has changed, along with the corresponding value of our investment through our Homeowner Platform. The goal of the platform is to provide homeowners with education on sustainable homeownership and resources for financial wellbeing. We continue to grow the resource center to provide information about the environmental impact of their choices as homeowners.
Our education process is designed to ensure that the homeowner understands what an agreement with Unison represents for them now and in the future. Our consumer education process is comprehensive and continuous:
• We provide a calculator tool and detailed FAQs on the website demonstrating how the program works. Each applicant is assigned a dedicated Program Specialist during origination to ensure continuity of messaging and appropriate disclosures for all customers.
• We provide a detailed Program Guide clearly explaining the agreement and we confirm understanding through a Program Knowledge Review.
• Our Offer Package includes a summary of all key financial terms of the deal, reiterates the key product features, and provides additional tools to assess the program, such as the estimated cost of the home co-investment based on various home price appreciation scenarios.
• After origination, Unison sends quarterly statements that serve as reminders about key product features and provides a transparent view of how the current estimated value of the property and corresponding value of Unison’s investment.
Transparency for our Investors
For our investors, we provide regular reporting with detailed analysis of performance and market conditions. We deliver industry-leading transparency through our interactive investor dashboard, providing real-time in-depth information on individual assets and portfolio-level analysis. At the portfolio level, the dashboard provides investors with information spanning FICO scores, Loan-to-Value levels, geographic diversification, and property types. At the individual investment level, investors have full transparency of property attributes (e.g. lot size, bed/bath count, age) and current valuation estimates.
Unison is committed to industry-leading controls and compliance and follows key governance practices which include:
• Engagement with top-tier independent third parties to produce and verify valuations of investments and to provide audit and administration services to our investment vehicles.
• Comprehensive compliance policies and controls tailored to the specific risks applicable to Unison and our investment strategy.
• Public disclosures and filings consistent with our status as an SEC-registered investment advisor.
• GIPS compliant financial reporting and verification.
UN Principles for Responsible Investing
Unison provides additional transparency as a signatory to the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investing (UN PRI). The annual Public Reporting and Assessment feature of the program enables our investors, homeowner customers, and other stakeholders to review and assess our progress in achieving compliance with UN PRI. More information about the UN PRI can be found at: https://www.unpri.org/
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Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures
Unison considers climate risks to be material to our investment strategy. Measuring and responding to physical, liability, and transition risks associated with climate change allows us to align our disclosures with the long-term nature of a Unison investment. We support the TCFD and report in accordance with the recommendations.
Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures
| Governance | ||
|---|---|---|
| Describe the board's oversight of climate-related risks and opportunities. | Unison has developed technology to track and monitor homes at risk of being impacted by natural disasters. | |
| Describe management's role in assessing and managing climate-related risks and opportunities. | Unison's portfolio management efforts use climate risk factors to identify physical risks to the portfolio. | |
| Strategy | ||
| Describe the climate-related risks and opportunities the organization has identified over the short, medium, and long term. | Unison has developed mapping technology to assist in the identification of exposure to climate-related risks and is developing a methodology to guide how to implement climate-risk into the acquisitions process, and how to engage in climate-aware ownership. Over the short term we are conducting research to implement climate risk into our decision-making procedures. Over the medium and long term, we intend to implement climate-risk into decisioning of property acquisitions and offer resources on climate-related risk to our partner owners. | |
| Describe the impact of climate-related risks and opportunities on the organization's businesses, strategy, and financial planning. | As an asset manager of real assets, Unison considers the impact of climate-related risks on the assets under management to be material, including Physical risks, both acute and chronic: | |
| Acute | ||
| • Increased severity of extreme weather events such as cyclones and floods | ||
| Chronic | ||
| • Changes in precipitation patterns and extreme variability in weather patterns | ||
| • Rising mean temperatures | ||
| • Rising sea levels | ||
| Describe the resilience of the organization's strategy, taking into consideration different climate-related scenarios, including a 2° C or lower scenario. | Unison's preliminary analysis of its exposure to climate-related sea level rise is relatively negligible both in a low emissions scenario as well as in a 2° C scenario. Preliminarily we have found that Unison's climate risk is relatively negligible in the scheme of the portfolio. |
| Risk management | ||
|---|---|---|
| Describe the organization's processes for identifying and assessing climate-related risks. | At present we have identified that weather events such as cyclones, floods, changes in precipitation, rising mean temperatures, and rising sea levels. We intend to establish better frameworks for integrating these identified risks into our acquisitions methodology and asset management procedures. | |
| Describe the organization's processes for managing climate-related risks. | Unison collects data about its existing assets and analyzes whether they exist in geographies which are likely to be impacted by climate-related disasters. | |
| Describe how processes for identifying, assessing, and managing climate-related risks are integrated into the organization's overall risk management. | Unison has begun to establish frameworks for integrating climate-related risks into its selection of properties. Furthermore, Unison continues to seek process improvements to allow its asset management team to better respond to homeowners whose homes are threatened by emergent natural disasters | |
| Metrics and targeting | ||
| Disclose the metrics and targets used to assess and manage relevant climate-related risks and opportunities where such information is material. | Disclose the metrics used by the organization to assess climate-related risks and opportunities in line with its strategy and risk management process. | At this time, Unison currently measures the risk of mean temperature and sea level rise. Our strategy remains offering homeowners a responsible partner during their homeownership journey. Unison's metrics are likely to eventually include the integration of geographic data and the incorporation of internationally-accepted projections about which characteristics will come to define our changing physical world. |
| Disclose the metrics and targets used to assess and manage relevant climate-related risks and opportunities where such information is material. | Disclose Scope 1, Scope 2, and, if appropriate, Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and the related risks. | Unison has currently determined its scope 1 emissions to be zero as no GHG emissions occur from the sources owned wholly by the company. Unison's scope 2 emissions have also been determined to be zero as Unison leases its offices and maintains no control of how the energy consumed in its office is produced. |
| Disclose the metrics and targets used to assess and manage relevant climate-related risks and opportunities where such information is material. | Describe the targets used by the organization to manage climate-related risks and opportunities and performance against targets. | At this time, Unison is investigating appropriate metrics to manage climate-related risk and measure performance. |
Unison is committed to being a leader in impact investing. For us, that starts with delivering unparalleled transparency to both investors and our homeowner customers as we forge a more balanced, sustainable path towards homeownership. In the coming years, Unison will continue to promote responsible investing while continuing to advocate for greater ESG engagement across our industry.
Unison Home Ownership Investors
650 California Street, Suite 1800
San Francisco, CA 94108
unisonim.com