ESG InitiativesInitiatives for Society

Human Rights Policy

Global Alliance Realty Co., Ltd. (hereinafter, the “Company”) aims to be an investment management company trusted and chosen by investors as a group of professionals in real estate asset management. To achieve this aim, the Company is aware that it is important to contribute to the sustainable development of society by solving social issues while achieving corporate growth through collaboration with each stakeholder.
The Policy defines the concept and responsibilities of respecting human rights, which is essential for the Company to conduct its business activities toward achieving the above.

1. Respect for International Norms on Human Rights

The Company endorses the International Bill of Human Rights (a collective term referring to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), which sets out the fundamental human rights all people are entitled to, the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work by the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact, which present the universal values on human rights, labor, the environment, and anti-corruption. The Company has formulated the Policy, and will promote its initiatives, in accordance with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

2. Governance and Management Frameworks

The Company’s human rights policies are decided by its Board of Directors and reviewed as needed. Compliance with the Policy and initiatives for respecting human rights are reported to the Board of Directors on a regular basis, with the latter implemented under the supervision of the Board.

3. Respect for Human Rights by Executives and Employees

The Company expects all of its executives and employees to respect human rights and does not tolerate discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation or gender identity, disability or serious illness, age, race, nationality, origin, or creed. Furthermore, it strives to prevent human rights issues, including all forms of harassment, and promotes DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion), such as by providing equal opportunities to all executives and employees and creating a worker-friendly workplace environment, as well as actively supporting the building of employees’ physical and mental health, the foundation of our corporate activities.

4. Encouraging Business Partners to Respect Human Rights

To fulfill its social responsibilities, the Company incorporates ESG perspectives, including respect for human rights, into its decision-making and dialogue with business partners. It also strives to understand, improve, and resolve human rights issues relating to business activities through constructive dialogue with its business partners to prevent or mitigate negative impact on human rights in its overall business.

5. Stakeholders

In its initiatives based on the Policy, the Company will strive to improve its efforts to respect human rights through dialogue and discussions with stakeholders involved in the Company’s business activities.

6. Verification and Prevention (Human Rights Due Diligence)

The Company continuously performs human rights due diligence to identify, evaluate, prevent, and mitigate any negative impact on human rights relating to its business activities.

7. Priority Issues Concerning Human Rights

The Company prioritizes human rights risks in view of the nature of its business and identifies human rights issues in consultation with outside experts. Priority issues are reviewed on a timely basis as they change according to the nature of the business and the social environment.

8. Remedies and Corrective Action

In the event a negative impact on human rights occurs, or in the event the Company discovers that it may be contributing to a human rights violation, the Company will take appropriate action to investigate the cause and prevent a recurrence, and will strive to remedy and correct the situation.

9. Reporting and Complaint Handling

The Company will work to build and improve effective reporting and complaint handling mechanisms to identify and respond to human rights issues of executives, employees, and stakeholders involved in its business activities in a timely manner.

10. Education and Training

The Company continuously provides the necessary education and training to ensure that all executives and employees understand the Policy and act in accordance with the Policy in fulfilling their respective duties.

11. Information Disclosure

The Company will regularly disclose information on initiatives to respect human rights under the Policy and the progress of the initiatives through its website, etc.

Cycle of initiatives to respect human rights (human rights due diligence)

Source: Human Rights Due Diligence Guidelines for Small and Medium Enterprises (partially modified)
Implement the above PDCA cycle each year and continue to make improvements

Specific initiatives

■ Evaluate the impact on human rights (identify and evaluate negative impact)

1. Confirm the Company’s business activities and business relationships; identify stakeholders.
2. Identify human rights issues.
3. Prioritize human rights issues.

■ Implement preventive and mitigation measures (improve internal environment and frameworks; carry out internal education and training)

Develop an implementation plan that includes preventive and mitigation measures for the identified human rights issues.

■ Monitor and evaluate effectiveness

1. Set the necessary indicators for effectiveness evaluation.
2. Monitor implementation of human rights due diligence.
3. Evaluate effectiveness of human rights due diligence.
4. Reflect the results of effectiveness evaluation in future human rights due diligence.

■ Disclose information

Disclose information on the status of human rights initiatives through GAR’s website on a timely basis.

■ Establish a consultation desk

Establish an internal contact point for all executives, employees, and stakeholders related to our business to receive consultation and reporting on human rights issues and various harassment.
There are no service hour restrictions for the internal contact point, and reports can be made anonymously.
Care is taken to protect whistleblowers by ensuring they are not treated adversely.
Click here for human rights consultation and reporting desk.

Human resources development and capacity building programs

Starting in FY2023, we are fundamentally reviewing our previous training system and re-establishing a systematic training system.
In FY2024, emphasis is placed on the following matters in order to establish proactive capacity building by all employees and to improve the skills required of each person, including professional real estate skills.

• Improvement of professional skills
• Further fulfillment of managers’ roles
• Training of executive candidates
• Promotion of career development and reskilling to adapt to environmental changes

GAR Has Systematically Defined the Skill Sets Required for Each Role and Responsibility in FY 2025; Clarifying the Goals and Development Vision Empowers Employees to Formulate and Implement Their Own Skill Development Plans.

Specific capacity building programs

[General internal training] For the purpose of acquiring the basic knowledge and skills required of all employees, we provide compliance and ESG training as a group training program with dispatched lecturers, and training programs using video materials, etc.

[Professional skills education]

1. Business skills training
   We provide lectures for learning expert knowledge and the latest trends necessary for real estate investment management operations. (Four times a year)
   Lectures for acquiring and improving skills in other professional areas, such as personnel, labor affairs, and accounting, are mainly conducted via video and e-learning, allowing participants to learn at any time and in any place (lectures on real estate and finance are primarily outside seminars since e-learning lectures are limited).
2. Specific qualification support
   In FY2023, we expanded the target qualifications in order to enhance expert knowledge and the willingness toward reskilling among all executives and employees.

[Level-specific training] We provide public lectures and other types of training programs for three employee levels--managers, mid-level staff, and general staff--to enable employees to make decisions and take action that suit the situation by recognizing the roles and skills required of each level, and to clarify their own career design. (twice a year)

[Self-development] We support the career development and reskilling of each individual by encouraging self-development that respects individual autonomy, including in fields other than those related to current work. Video and e-learning are introduced, as in professional skills education.

[Language training] Online English conversation training

[Education curriculum and training system chart for executives and employees]

[Main training themes]

• Management planning & strategy, management target formulation, internal control & compliance, harassment, risk management, human resources development, coaching, promotion of women in the workplace, communication, etc.
• Career development support (promotion of women in the workplace), internal control & compliance, harassment, risk management, labor management, personnel development, communication, etc.
• Career development (promotion of women in the workplace), business improvement, harassment, thinking skills, information utilization, communication, etc.
• Career development (promotion of women in the workplace), business improvement, ability to accomplish tasks, basic OA skills, communication, etc.

Since FY 2023, GAR has enhanced its compliance training programs to strengthen internal controls and compliance practices. Additionally, GAR’s ESG training, which has been conducted since FY 2018, encompasses a broad range of topics designed to foster ESG awareness among all officers and employees throughout the organization.

[Content of compliance and other major training]

[FY 2023]

• Preventing power harassment
• Training to deepen understanding of securities inspection—in light of recent cases of administrative punishment
  Including “Whistleblowing System on Pressure from Requestors”
• Labor training
• Measures against money laundering and terrorism financing
• Basics and key points of the Act on the Protection of Personal Information
• Cases of violation of laws and regulations compiled by the Association
• Self-care and line care

[FY 2024]

• Guidelines for the Use of Information Systems
• Compliance Manual — Reflecting the revision dated July 31, 2024
• Key Points of AML/CFT Measures Required of Financial Institutions
• Internal Control and Related Management Systems for Real Estate Fund Managers
• Insider Trading Regulations and Corporate-Related Information

[FY 2025]

• Key considerations in the asset management industry with a focus on customer-centric business operations
• Explanation of conflict-of-interest management and revised Compliance Manual
• About Act on the Protection of Personal Information
• Key points of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) measures required of financial institutions, relevant practical training
• Internal control systems for real estate fund managers in view of recent trends in financial regulations

[Content of past ESG training]

• ESG investment in real estate
• Trends in ESG investment and relationship to the real estate sector
• Expanding use of ESG assessment, disclosure of climate change information, ESG after the COVID-19 pandemic
• ESG investment and responses to climate change risk
• Trends in and disclosure of ESG investment, move toward a decarbonized society, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)
• Outline of and trends in ESG, climate change and TCFD, transition plan, embodied carbon
• Overview of ESG, Climate Change (Quantitative Analysis and Transition Planning), and TNFD (Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures)
• Trends in sustainable investing and the response to climate change—The importance of the real estate sector, analysis of climate-related risks and opportunities, introduction to GRESB and strategies for and economic impact of property management

Supporting Acquisition of Qualifications

The Asset Management Company encourages and supports employees to acquire a wide range of professional qualifications as part of human capital development to raise expert skills of employees by shouldering expenses for taking examinations for qualifications or retaining such qualifications, etc., deemed necessary.
The number of qualification holders is as follows.

Employee satisfaction survey and Individual in-person sessions

Since fiscal 2019, we have been annually conducting a third-party "Employee Satisfaction Survey" as part of our employee engagement initiatives. Since FY2023, GAR has revised the content of its “Employee Engagement Survey” to focus specifically on engagement-related items, aiming to create a better workplace environment. GAR also continues to monitor changes in the eNPS (Employee Net Promoter Score) (*) year-over-year to further enhance employee engagement.
Alongside this survey, the President and CEO conducts one-on-one interviews with all employees annually to cover topics such as work environment and system infrastructure, as well as to confirm work progress, support career development, and address other relevant matters.

*eNPS stands for "Employee Net Promoter Score". This is an index of the degree of recommendation on the workplace which we ask our employees how likely they recommend our workplace to their close acquaintances and/or friends.
In addition, President of GAR holds annual individual in-person sessions with all employees to confirm the status of their work and to contribute to their career development.

Highly transparent personnel evaluation system

From fiscal 2023, we linked personnel evaluation to corporate targets for integrated company management and adopted the job rank system based on job descriptions to develop the remuneration system according to the degree of difficulty and degree of contribution to performance with the aim of operating a fair and objective personnel evaluation system. (Multifaceted perspectives including ESG-related efforts are considered as before.)
From FY 2025, GAR will further advance its job-based human resources system. The introduction of a flatter organizational structure, coupled with the definition of skill sets that are the competencies required for each role and level, enables performance evaluations to consider not only achievement of targets under the goal management system but also the ability to execute duties effectively, thereby furthering GAR’s pursuit of a fairer and more satisfactory personnel evaluation system.

Improving the benefit programs

Enhancement of the Employee Benefits System

In FY 2025, GAR is undertaking a partial revision of its existing employee benefits system and introducing a new cafeteria plan designed to address the diverse life stages, lifestyles, and needs of its employees, with the intention of encouraging broader participation among all employees.

Investment unit ownership program

We decided to introduce the investment unit ownership program from fiscal 2023 with the intent to enhance unitholder value over the medium to long term by aligning the interest of GOR's unitholders with that of GAR's employees and increase the benefits for GAR's employees through the promotion of acquisition and ownership of GOR's investment units by GAR's employees.

Declaration of KENKO Investment for Health

As a real estate asset management company trusted and chosen by investors, the Company aims to contribute to the sustainable development of society by solving social issues while achieving corporate growth.
The indispensable driving force behind this is none other than each and every one of our employees. The Company regards its employees as important stakeholders and will continue to promote KENKO Investment for Health by actively supporting the building of employees' physical and mental health over the long term, so that each individual can maximize their job satisfaction and motivation.

Promoting flexible work and leave systems in consideration of work-life balance

GAR, as part of its efforts to promote more flexible working arrangements based on work style reforms, is implementing measures such as staggered working hours, hourly-paid leave, remote-work, and the use of coworking spaces. GAR is also introducing initiatives, including Anniversary Leave, Life Support Leave, Refreshment Leave, and the establishment of Early Leaving Days, to promote work-life balance and encourage employees to take more time off.
To further encourage employees to take consecutive leave, GAR provides incentive payments to those who take five consecutive days off.

Employee Data