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Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield

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Unibail Rodamco Westfield

“Our purpose is to create places for communities, where people can meet up, connect, shop, work and enjoy.” — Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield1

Company

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield2
www.urw.com

Headquarters

Paris, France

Market Cap

USD $27.8 billion

Company History

1959 Westfield opens in Sydney
1968 Unibail founded in Paris
2007 Unibail & Rodamco merger
2018 Westfield acquired

Properties

113

Green Building Certifications

38

*Data as of June 30, 2018.

Wroclavia Shopping Center
Wroclavia shopping center in Wroclavia, Poland Source: Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, www.urw.com

Who is Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield?

You might recognize the Westfield name – you see it emblazoned on the side of malls in sweeping red lights. Unibail-Rodamco, a European REIT, recognized that brand value and purchased the Australia-based Westfield in 2018. Now ‘URW’ is one of the largest owners of shopping centers in the world. They also count major airports like LAX, Miami, O’Hare and JFK in their portfolio. Iconic properties include the World Trade Center in NYC, and the Paris Expo, a major sporting venue hosting the summer Olympics in 2024.4

URW buildings often feature a mix of modern steel and glass that are architecturally interwoven. The properties use abundant glass to allow natural light to illuminate the indoor spaces. They are often located close to mixed-use transport hubs and where feasible have installed electric plug-in stations.

Consumers today are more aware than ever of how their purchases affect people, and the planet. How can shopping centers take a leadership role in developing solutions?  URW has a comprehensive framework for tackling many environmental and social issues with “The Better Places 2030 Strategy.”

The Better Places 2030 Strategy

The Better Places 2030 Strategy

By creating better places, we move towards a low-carbon economy, anticipate new modes of sustainable mobility, fully integrate our business activities with local communities, and engage all
of our teams and stakeholders. The strategy emphasizes 4 pillars with the simple mindset of “less is better.”5

  1. Less Carbon Emissions, Better Buildings
  2. Less Polluting Transport, Better Connectivity
  3. Less Top-Down, Better Collective Power
  4. Less Local Unemployment, Better Communities

Strategy Spotlight: Less Local Unemployment, Better Communities

URW recognizes they can play an important role in alleviating unemployment and the shortage of skilled labor.The retailers in URW centers don’t have to “go it alone” as the URW team provides many resources across their communities to help get locals good jobs.

  • URW for Jobsis a program that aims to train up and find jobs for 1,000 unskilled young people each year. Training programs build skills capacity and provide economic value to retailers who need help finding quality employees. Thus far, the program is active at 15 centers in Europe.
  • URWs “Grand Prize for Young Retail Entrepreneurs” is in its 12thyear. The competition awards entrepreneurswho develop and deploy innovative retail concepts. There are three prizes that share €1.5M ($1.6M USD) towards leasing space or a pop-up shop at one of URW’s shopping centers.
  • URW Linkis a 4-month program that allows start-ups to test drive their application with retail tenants. For instance, the tech company Merito helps retailers recruit temporary staff. Start-up Sous les Fraises (Under the Strawberries), created a rooftop urban farm at one of the Paris locations with an accompanying pop-up farmer’smarket in the center.
  • Lastly, URW requires 100% of its shopping centers to hold an event in partnership with a local or national non-profit organization.

Memberships and Awards

CDP Climate Change A List6

gresb

Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark Sector Leader 20177

1 Unibail-Rodamco (2017). “Sustainability: Shaping Tomorrow – Our CSR Ambition.” Available: https://www.urw.com/en/sustainability
2 Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield is 3.05% of the Vert Global Sustainable Real Estate Fund (VGSRX) as of December 31, 2018.
3 BREEAM is Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method, one of the world’s first green building certification systems.
4 In 2000, a congress & exhibition division was formed after the takeover of Paris Expo in collaboration with Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This formed VIPARIS in 2008, the European leader in the sector. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (2018). “Unibail-Rodamco Company History.” Available at: https://www.urw.com/en/group/history/history-of-ur
5 Unibail-Rodamco (2017). “Sustainability: Shaping Tomorrow – Our CSR Ambition.” Available: https://www.urw.com/en/sustainability.
6 CDP is an international non-profit that drives companies and governments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard water resources and protect forests. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield scored a place on the Climate Change A List by CDP. The Westfield acquisition was finalized after CDP’s assessment. This assessment covers the Continental European perimeter only. For their 2018 results, Westfield scored A- in the CDP Climate Change List.
7 GRESB – the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark collects data each year on real estate entities who pay to participate. Sector leaders perform the best in their peer categories. They are the real estate companies and funds taking measurable steps to incorporate sustainability into their operations and communicate their performance to investors and other stakeholders.

Please refer to the Prospectus for full risk disclosures. All data as of June 30, 2018 and subject to change daily.

The Vert Global Sustainable Real Estate Strategy operated as mutual fund from October 31, 2017 and prior to the fund reorganization on December 4, 2023. The investment objectives have not changed.

Investing involves risk. Principal loss is possible. Investors should be aware of the risks involved with investing in a fund concentrating in REITs and real estate securities, such as declines in the value of real estate and increased susceptibility to adverse economic or regulatory developments. Investments in foreign securities involve political, economic and currency risks, greater volatility and differences in accounting methods. A REIT’s share price may decline because of adverse developments affecting the real estate industry. REITs may be subject to special tax rules and may not qualify for favorable federal tax treatment which could have adverse tax consequences. The Fund’s focus on sustainability may limit the number of investment opportunities available to the fund and at time the fund may under perform funds that are not subject to similar investment considerations. Diversification does not assure a profit or protect against loss in a declining market.

Please refer to the prospectus for important information about the investment company including investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses which must be considered carefully before investing. You may also obtain a hardcopy of the prospectus by calling 1-844-740-VERT. Read it carefully before investing.

The performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when sold or redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost and current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. Performance is annualized for periods greater than 1 year. For performance current to the most recent month end please call 1-844-740-VERT. Standardized performance of the Fund is viewable under the Information tab. Click here for standardized performance of the Fund.

Fund holdings and/or sectors are subject to change at any time and are not recommendations to buy or sell any security. Current and future holdings are subject to change. Click here for the Fund’s current top ten holdings.

Basis points are otherwise known as bps or “bips,” are a unit of measure used in finance to describe the percentage change in the value of financial instruments or the rate change in an index.

The Fund is offered only to United States residents, and information on this site is intended only for such persons. Nothing on this web site should be considered a solicitation to buy or an offer to sell shares of the Fund in any jurisdiction where the offer or solicitation would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.

ETFs are subject to additional risks that do not apply to conventional mutual funds, including the risks that the market price of an ETF’s shares may trade at a premium or discount to its net asset value, an active secondary trading market may not develop or be maintained, or trading may be halted by the exchange in which they trade, which may impact a Fund’s ability to sell its shares. Shares of any ETF are bought and sold at market price (not NAV) and are not individually redeemed from the Fund. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria refer to activities that contribute to the business that not quantified in typical financial reporting.

The Vert Global Sustainable Real Estate ETF is distributed by Quasar Distributors, LLC.

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