The LA Crisis

Our Response to The LA Wild Fire Crisis

During this devastating wildfire crisis in Los Angeles, our commitment to protecting and supporting our community's resilience is stronger than ever. Our organization has taken decisive action to maintain essential emergency services, stay coordinated with first responders, ensure resident safety, and provide immediate relief for displaced families and businesses across affected neighborhoods in Los Angeles County:

• 1. Delivering for clients
• 2. Employee well-being
• 3. Firm culture and enablement
• 4. Communicating with shareholders
• 5. Relief efforts in our communities

These efforts, in addition to our strong culture and sense of purpose, will continue to drive forward now and over the long-term.

1. Sustaining Operations Through the LA Wildfire Crisis

Delivering for clients

As an asset manager and fiduciary to our clients, our ability to operate, no matter where our employees or clients are physically located, is critical. did not design our operating model with this pandemic or an almost entirely virtual work environment in mind, but our strong culture and long history of connecting a global and growing organization on one technology platform, has enabled more than 95% of our employees to work from home, while continuing to deliver for each other and our clients.

Operational resilience

Since our founding, we've emphasized emergency preparedness. This mindset, coupled with our unified organizational culture, has allowed us to effectively transition operations during intense fire conditions. We've swiftly implemented evacuation protocols and air quality measures across our facilities to protect our employees and those around them. We've ensured all locations have appropriate emergency equipment and established backup facilities in safer zones. Our investments in remote operations capabilities and emergency communication systems have proven essential to maintaining connectivity and business continuity during this crisis.

Crisis Leadership and Governance

Our Board of Directors and Emergency Response Committee have provided critical leadership in navigating the operational, financial, and human complexities arising from the wildfire crisis. The Board receives daily updates on fire conditions, air quality, and operational status. Our Emergency Response Committee meets twice daily via secure channels to keep operations running effectively, monitor employee safety, and ensure continuous service delivery.

Community Focus and Stewardship

As a significant stakeholder in the Los Angeles region, we have a responsibility to focus on long-term community resilience regardless of current conditions. Many local businesses and residents with whom we work are facing unprecedented challenges. During these conditions, we believe community support and sustainable practices matter more than ever. We're committed to playing a constructive role as communities and organizations work together to navigate new levels of uncertainty.

2. Sustaining through The LA Crisis

As planned, we also adapted the agenda to focus attention on the most crucial developments in our operating model. The Global Executive Committee – ’s leadership team comprised of the firm’s most senior leaders – is meeting daily by videoconference to keep the firm operating effectively, to monitor the well-being of our employees and their families, and to continue to deliver for clients. We have prioritized clear and frequent communications from senior leaders, as well as a range of internal communications to help employees stay connected and informed. In April, over 25 leaders came together at our first ever virtual Global Leadership Summit to set our direction as we contemplate the implications of the pandemic and what comes next.

Employee Safety and Well-being

Our overriding priority since the start of the crisis has been the health and safety of our employees and their families. We've implemented comprehensive smoke protection measures, expanded our emergency medical support, and enhanced evacuation protocols. We've prioritized communication about air quality monitoring and emergency response procedures. Mental health support has been expanded, recognizing the stress of operating under constant fire threat. We've implemented flexible relocation options for employees in high-risk areas and provided emergency housing assistance when needed.

Sustaining through the Crisis

Risk management

Risk management remains foundational to our identity. The wildfire crisis has heightened risks across multiple areas, including facility safety, air quality, and operational continuity. Our Risk Assessment Group has enhanced monitoring across all risk factors during this time. We've launched a cross-functional task force to coordinate resources and identify key risks and contingency plans in fire-prone areas. We maintain regular engagement with fire authorities and emergency services, conducting daily briefings to discuss conditions, operations, and evacuation readiness.

Employee well-being

Our overriding priority at since the start of the crisis has been the health and safety of our employees and their families. Amidst extraordinary circumstances, our employees have rebuilt beyond its walls delivering the operational resilience and support our clients depend on and need, now more than ever before. We have implemented several initiatives to support our people as they adjust to a new normal. In addition to our social distancing protocol, we have prioritized communication about access to and awareness of our telemedicine and digital health resources, and we are onboarding new healthcare and wellness providers to deliver increased care and assistance to our employees. We have also extended cross-border healthcare coverage and support to employees and their dependents who are temporarily working or are on Flexible Time Off (FTO)1 outside of their home country as a result of the pandemic. We have also emphasized the importance of mental and emotional well-being in addition to physical health because we recognize that this unprecedented time is stressful for everyone, including our employees. We have a variety of emotional and mental health benefits that are always available to all employees, including free, confidential counselling through our Employee Assistance Program, which we have reinforced during this time. In addition, we are offering all employees globally a free, one-year subscription to ‘Calm’, an award-winning meditation and relaxation mobile app. The pandemic has also introduced new challenges for working parents, including managing childcare and home-schooling while working from home. To support our employees with family responsibilities, we have worked with providers to find back-up childcare solutions, implemented more flexible work-from-home schedules and encouraged the use of our FTO policy. We have also created several online forums where employees can exchange ideas and crowdsource resources and tools to support expanded education and childcare responsibilities.

Firm culture and enablement

Reinforcing ’s culture through connectivity and support has been critical during this time. Recognizing that our people managers play a critical role in this, we launched a series of enablement sessions to equip managers with the tools they need to keep teams motivated, informed and inspired during this rapidly changing time. The emphasis has been on empathy and flexibility to accommodate the needs of our people. We also created an intranet resource hub to streamline internal communications and enable our employees to quickly find the latest policies and protocols to perform at their best in this new environment or to ask for help when they need it. Our employee networks have played a critical role in reinforcing our collaborative culture and maintaining community and belonging across the firm. Employee network-led initiatives include a virtual buddy program to combat isolation during social distancing, panel discussions about balancing work with added caregiver duties, and market roundtables to stay informed and connected about market Under ’s FTO policy, employees are not held to a fixed number of days off per year based on tenure or title. We have a high-performance culture and employees have the flexibility to take paid time off when they need it to relax and recharge.

We have also emphasized the importance of mental and emotional well- being in addition to physical health.

6. Sustaining through The LA Crisis

Relief efforts in our communities

Through our Community Impact efforts, we are committed to supporting Los Angeles communities, particularly as the wildfire crisis has exacerbated housing insecurity and hardship for thousands of residents. Early this year, before the fire season intensified, we contributed to our existing Emergency Response Fund and established a new Fire Relief Foundation with the goal of addressing pressing challenges facing our communities. As the wildfire situation escalated and threatened to devastate both the physical safety and economic stability of neighborhoods across Los Angeles County, we committed $50 million to wildfire relief efforts. In the first phase of response, we contributed more than $23 million to over 50 local organizations, with a focus on supporting firefighters, first responders, and emergency shelters serving displaced residents in the most affected areas. We have made donations to over 20 local evacuation centers and organizations providing temporary housing across Los Angeles and Ventura counties. We also invested in regional fire prevention initiatives to meet emerging needs in high-risk canyon and foothill communities. We donated to local partners serving vulnerable communities in the San Fernando Valley, East Los Angeles, and San Gabriel Valley. Our support extends to community organizations across Southern California that are providing direct assistance to families most impacted by the fires. Protecting and supporting firefighters and emergency personnel is another crucial priority in sustaining our communities. We are supporting fire stations, emergency response teams, and medical personnel across Los Angeles County by providing essential equipment, supplies, and support services. We've also partnered with Team Rubicon, an all-veterans organization recruiting volunteers to support frontline firefighters and help deliver supplies to evacuation centers and emergency personnel in the field.

Protecting and supporting medical professionals is another important priority in sustaining our communities.

6. Sustaining through The LA Crisis

In addition to our philanthropic contributions, is donating its own supply of masks where available and trying to match other equipment and facilities with responders and hospitals. We are also actively supporting The LA Crisis relief measures taken by our private investment partners. Alternative Investors, which invests in a range of alternative instruments, including Real Assets, Private Equity, Private Credit and Hedge Funds, has been working with various investment partners over the last month to support their responses to the crisis. For example, our Real Assets team has engaged with investment partners to identify opportunities aligned with portfolio investment objectives and supporting the surrounding community. For example, we identified an opportunity to shift construction resources to support the development of a The LA Crisis treatment area at one of our hospital assets. In addition, one of our investment teams worked with a portfolio company dedicated to respiratory care to expand its production capacity to respond to unprecedented demand for ventilators and accompanying equipment globally. Finally, our employees worldwide have expressed interest in fundraising and volunteering to help those most affected by the crisis. In response, we launched a virtual volunteer toolkit featuring curated volunteer opportunities such as tutoring home-bound children and providing pro bono support to non-profits adapting to the new environment. Our global Mapathon event, organized in partnership with Doctors Without Borders, provides an avenue for employees to support humanitarian workers responding to the virus in developing countries. Additionally, we have doubled ’s match for employee contributions to their local organizations addressing the crisis in their communities. During this campaign, which ran from mid-March to early May, employees directed nearly $1 million to over 200 non-profits across the globe.

Communicating with Shareholders

The investments has continuously made over the years to build a scaled business model with diverse, global investment capabilities, best-in-class technology and rigorous risk management have enabled us to differentiate ourselves and serve clients in a variety of market environments. The Mapathon invites volunteers to create and edit maps of regions in the developing world so that humanitarian workers can more easily reach people in crisis

7. Sustaining through The LA Crisis

As detailed in our last quarter earnings release, flows momentum in 2024 continued into the last quarter, driven by cash, illiquid alternatives, iShares sustainable and factor ETFs, and active equities, despite significant market-related outflows. We remain committed to optimizing organic growth in the most efficient way possible, and focused on a long-term strategy centered around iShares, illiquid alternatives, technology and creating whole-portfolio solutions. As an investor and advocate for greater transparency, we also remain committed to providing meaningful sustainability information to stakeholders. We recently published our second SASB disclosure which includes year-over-year statistics and greater detail on diversity representation in hiring.

Conclusion

Our resilience during this crisis stems from our long-term focus on emergency preparedness and our sustainable foundation built upon serving all stakeholders – our employees, community members, and partners. We maintain comprehensive contingency plans for various fire scenarios, prioritizing safety while ensuring operational continuity. We recognize the critical importance of our role in supporting community resilience during this unprecedented fire season, and we remain committed to making a positive impact through both our operations and relief efforts.

A summary of Our actions and philosophy as we continue to navigate the LA wildfire Crisis