Koramco selected Asia sector leader by global ESG evaluator
The Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) picked Koramco REITs Management and Trust as the Asia office sector leader in ESG efforts. Korea Times file
By Yoon Ja-young
Koramco REITs Management and Trust was selected as the office sector leader in Asia according to a global environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) benchmark.
According to the country's leading REIT asset management firm, Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) picked it as the top performer in Asia's office sector.
GRESB is one of the leading ESG benchmarks for financial markets, collecting, validating, scoring and independently benchmarking ESG data to provide business intelligence, engagement tools and regulatory reporting solutions for investors, asset managers and the wider industry. It evaluates real estate assets and their management firms regarding how they affect the environment and society as well as their relations with other parties involved.
This year, a total of 1,820 entities from 74 countries around the world had their real estate assets, worth $6.9 trillion, evaluated in terms of ESG efforts.
Koramco REITs Management and Trust was given five stars, which is the top rating in the real estate category, by GRESB earlier last month. Its selection as the office sector leader in Asia is an encouragement for the Korea asset management industry as well since the honor was previously dominated by Japanese and Singaporean firms.
The achievement is attributed to Koramco's environmentally friendly asset management expertise it has built from its foundation. It set up its own environmentally friendly asset management standard back when the country didn't even know what ESG was, and has been managing assets based on the standard. It has been continuing upgrading its ESG competence in the environment and energy, including setting up an energy consumption database of all buildings under its management.
For example, Seocho Majesta City Tower 2 of KOCREF No. 41 REITs, was evaluated with LEED Platinum status, which is the top environmentally friendly rating, by the U.S. Green Building Council. It was the first time for a Seoul office building to be evaluated as such. The building has substantially cut gas emissions by adopting solar power generation and an automatic energy management system, while it also maintains a circular economy by adopting a wastewater reuse system and reusing other waste.
“Achieving five stars and being designated as a sector leader has officially proved that Koramco's asset management capacity is the world's best,” said Jeong Joon-ho, CEO and president of Koramco REITs Management and Trust.
“We will continue strengthening the ESG initiatives of the local real estate investment industry by engaging in genuine ESG efforts that come with tangible data for investors, instead of greenwashing that only beats around the bush,” he added.
Koramco has been one of the country's top private sector REITs for the past 21 years.