Neuberger Berman Strengthens Global Equity Capabilities Adding Seven Investment Professionals in Europe

New Additions Continue Run of Top Investors Joining Independent Firm

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Nov 02, 2020, 09:00 ET

NEW YORK, Nov. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Neuberger Berman, a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager, today welcomed seven global equity investment professionals from NN Investment Partners where they managed over $10 billion in assets while notching an impressive investment track record. Three senior portfolio managers and four research analysts join the firm's office in The Hague.

"Enhancing our global investment capabilities has consistently been one of the firm's top strategic initiatives," said George Walker, CEO, Neuberger Berman. "Over the last seven-plus years, we have added over 230 investment professionals, including teams managing emerging market debt, European fixed income, real estate private equity, Japanese small-mid caps, China A shares and more. We are delighted these well-regarded global equity investors have chosen Neuberger Berman and I am confident that they will enhance our culture of fundamental investing and partnering with clients."

Joining Neuberger Berman is Hendrik-Jan Boer, who has 30 years of experience and has spent the last 16 years as the lead portfolio manager of NN Investment Partner's global and European sustainable equity strategies. Along with Mr. Boer, portfolio managers Alex Zuiderwijk and Jeroen Brand, both of whom average 20 years of experience, join. The four investment analysts are Philip Chau, Alex Kushev, Camiel Mulders and Mark van der Geest. The group has been early practitioners of ESG investing with deep expertise incorporating ESG risk factors into their investment approach.

Joseph Amato, President and Chief Investment Officer, Equities said "Our new global equity team enables us to offer a top performing investment capability with a strong ESG and Sustainable focus."

Having worked together for many years, the global equity team seeks to invest in high quality companies with resilient business models capable of maintaining high returns on invested capital and sustainable growth. The team conducts deep, bottom-up research with an emphasis on value chain economics and long-term trends and focuses its well established ESG factor assessment on materiality, momentum and engagement. The result is expected to be a concentrated global portfolio of 40-50 high conviction ideas with value chain diversification to limit downside risk.

The new global equity professionals join more than 650 investment professionals at Neuberger Berman, including 100 based in Europe. The firm manages $374 billion in client assets, including $101 billion in equity assets (all as of September 30, 2020).

Lead Portfolio Manager Hendrik-Jan Boer said, "Neuberger Berman's sole focus on investment management, alignment with clients, independence and stability were important factors in our decision to join this global firm."

The new global equity capabilities reinforce Neuberger Berman's commitment to ESG investing and to be an industry leader. In October 2020, the firm was awarded top scores (straight A+) in the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) assessment report for the second consecutive year, and was named a 2020 PRI Leader, a designation awarded to fewer than 1% of investment managers. Through proprietary ESG ratings, managers have evaluated nearly 900 credit ratings and 2,200 equity ratings. Currently, 75% of firm assets are managed with consistent and demonstrable ESG integration.

About Neuberger Berman

Neuberger Berman, founded in 1939, is a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager. The firm manages a range of strategies—including equity, fixed income, quantitative and multi-asset class, private equity, real estate and hedge funds—on behalf of institutions, advisors and individual investors globally. With offices in 24 countries, Neuberger Berman's diverse team has over 2,300 professionals. For six consecutive years, the company has been named first or second in Pensions & Investments Best Places to Work in Money Management survey (among those with 1,000 employees or more). In 2020, the PRI named Neuberger Berman a Leader, a designation awarded to fewer than 1% of investment firms for excellence in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices. The PRI also awarded Neuberger Berman an A+ in every eligible category for our approach to ESG integration across asset classes. The firm manages $374 billion in client assets as of September 30, 2020. For more information, please visit our website at www.nb.com.

All information is as of September 30, 2020 unless otherwise indicated and is subject to change without notice. Firm data, including employee and assets under management figures, reflects collective data for the various affiliated investment advisers that are subsidiaries of Neuberger Berman Group LLC. Firm history/timeline includes the history of all firm subsidiaries, including predecessor entities and acquisitions.

This material is being issued on a limited basis through various global subsidiaries and affiliates of Neuberger Berman Group LLC. Please visit www.nb.com/disclosure-global-communications for the specific entities and jurisdictional limitations and restrictions.

PRI grades are based on information reported directly by PRI signatories, of which investment managers totaled 1,119 for 2019, 1,120 for 2018 and 935 for 2017. All signatories are eligible to participate and must complete a questionnaire to be included. The underlying information submitted by signatories is not audited by the PRI or any other party acting on its behalf. Signatories report on their responsible investment activities by responding to asset-specific modules in the Reporting Framework. Each module houses a variety of indicators that address specific topics of responsible investment. Signatories’ answers are then assessed and results are compiled into an Assessment Report. The Assessment Report includes indicator scores, summarizing the individual scores achieved and comparing them to the median; section scores, grouping similar indicator scores together into categories (e.g. policy, assurance, governance) and comparing them to the median; module scores, aggregating all the indicator scores within a module to assign one of six performance bands (from E to A+). Awards and ratings referenced do not reflect the experiences of any Neuberger Berman client and readers should not view such information as representative of any particular client’s experience or assume that they will have a similar investment experience as any previous or existing client. Awards and ratings are not indicative of the past or future performance of any Neuberger Berman product or service. Moreover, the underlying information has not been audited by the PRI or any other party acting on its behalf. While every effort has been made to produce a fair representation of performance, no representations or warranties are made as to the accuracy of the information presented, and no responsibility or liability can be accepted for damage caused by use of or reliance on the information contained within this report. Information about PRI grades is sourced entirely from PRI and Neuberger Berman makes no representations, warranties or opinions based on that information.

75% of firm assets are managed with consistent and demonstrable ESG integration based on AUM as of 6/30/20 including strategies in late or final stages of approval by firm ESG committee.

The year 2020 represents the first year that asset managers became eligible for PRI Leader designation, which formerly included asset owners only. The new designation was awarded to only 20 of the 2100+ investment manager PRI signatories. The Leaders’ Group showcases signatories at the cutting edge of responsible investment, and highlights trends in what they are doing. PRI uses signatories’ reporting responses and assessment data to identify those that are doing excellent work in responsible investment – across their organizations and with a focus on a given theme each year. The 2020 theme is climate reporting. Information about PRI Leader is sourced entirely from PRI and Neuberger Berman makes no representations, warranties or opinions based on that information.

Media Contacts:

(Americas) Alex Samuelson, 212 476 5392, [email protected]
(Europe) Fiona Kehily, +44 (20) 3214 9087, [email protected]
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(Japan & Korea) Kiyoko Yamaguchi, 8135218196, [email protected]