GWL Realty Advisors Takes the Number One Spot in Canada on the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark

This amidst increasing pressure for real estate managers from investors to understand how returns are generated

TORONTO, Sept. 27, 2017 /CNW/ - GWL Realty Advisors today announced that the Global Real Estate Benchmark (GRESB) has ranked it number one in Canada. This enhanced result was earned after participating in GRESB for only three years, over which time the company has consistently improved its ranking to take the number one spot in Canada and earn a Green Star ranking for the third consecutive year. Further, the company has increased its overall global ranking among real estate management firms, moving from the top ten percent in 2016 to the top eight percent in 2017.

"We view the management of environmental, social and governance factors as part of our duty to our clients, being important to reducing long-term risk and improving financial outcomes," said Paul Finkbeiner, President, GWL Realty Advisors. "Securing a top spot on GRESB is a demonstration of the strong ESG practices that are behind our proven performance of delivering stable long-term returns for our clients."

GRESB, is the world's leading benchmark for evaluating and ranking the sustainability practices of real estate companies. It is used by the investor community to better understand real estate companies' environmental, social, and governance (ESG) activities and the sustainability performance of their portfolios.

"GWL Realty Advisors' results confirm their commitment to creating long term investments for their clients. This sector leader position was obtained after a few years of continuous improvements, demonstrating a systematic and resilient strategy for improvement. We would like to congratulate GWL Realty Advisors for its engagement and the amazing efforts for stronger communities", said Roxana Isaiu, Director, ESG & Real Estate, GRESB.

With investors increasingly seeking to better understand how real estate investment returns are generated, companies like GWL Realty Advisors are rising to the challenge. "The results that we have achieved in a short period of time are a direct result of the strengthening of our policies, processes, and programming, supporting the management of the assets under its direction and its submission into GRESB," said Finkbeiner. "We are proud to have exceeded the GRESB environmental, social and governance global averages and are constantly evolving our practices and procedures. We view our latest GRESB rank not as an end-point but rather a gauge of our current progress and future journey."

In 2017, 850 global real estate companies, with total assets under management of more than USD 3.7 trillion, participated in the GRESB survey.

About GWL Realty Advisors
GWL Realty Advisors Inc. is a leading real estate investment advisor providing comprehensive asset management, property management, development and specialized real estate advisory services to pension funds and institutional clients. To learn more, visit gwlra.com.

About GRESB
GRESB is an industry-driven organization transforming the way capital markets assess the environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of real asset investments. 850 property companies and funds, jointly representing more than USD 3.7 trillion in assets under management, participate in the GRESB Real Estate Assessment. The Infrastructure Assessment covers 64 funds and 160 assets, and 25 portfolios complete the Debt Assessment. To learn more, visit GRESB.com.

SOURCE GWL Realty Advisors