NABTU Updates Scorecard on Real Estate, Infrastructure Managers

North America's Building Trades Unions released a scorecard of real estate and infrastructure managers Wednesday, based on how well they follow the labor organization's responsible contractor policies.

The latest version of the NABTU Responsible Contractor Policy Scorecard now has 10 categories instead of five, and places greater emphasis on how well the managers implement their policies. Scoring categories include how widespread the policy is within a manager's operations and products, policy enforcement and labor neutrality provisions, labor disputes, and any labor liaisons.

The updated scorecard was designed to be more objective and useful to the investor community, NABTU officials said. "We encourage pension funds to examine which asset managers are high-road leaders in responsible contracting, and to fully engage with firms like Brookfield, Stonepeak and BlackRock, who've failed to manage workforce risks and live up to their commitments," NABTU director of capital strategies Dan Pedrotty said in an email.

The objectives of the scorecard are twofold: holding investment management firms to a high standard of business operations and to clearly indicate how such firms can improve their policies and practices in the years ahead, he said.

NABTU's affiliated pension funds manage $550 billion in assets, and the union organization's goal is to have $3 trillion invested through firms signing responsible contractor policies over the next five years, roughly triple the current amount.

On the real estate scorecard, the top five scores were Washington Capital Management, SROA Capital, AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust/PNC, Intercontinental Real Estate and MEPT Edgemoor, ranging from 91% to 86%, in descending order. The lowest five scores were BlackRock Inc, DWS, Morgan Stanley, NY Life Madison Core, and UBS Realty Investors, ranging from 56% to 28% in that order.

On the infrastructure scorecard, the top five scores were Ullico, GCM Grosvenor, J.P. Morgan, Carlyle Group and Argo Infrastructure, ranging from 100% to 69%. The lowest five scores were Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, Barings, Alinda Capital Partners, BlackRock and Meridiam, ranging from 64% to 10%.

Twenty-two firms did not respond to the surveys.

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