NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE) – Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE: NLY) (“Annaly” or the “Company”) today announced that it is one of 380 companies in 11 sectors included in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index 2021 (“GEI” ) are included. ). The GEI was expanded to 44 countries and regions in 2021, including, for the first time, companies headquartered in Indonesia and Bermuda. Companies range from a variety of industries including automotive, banking, consumer services, engineering and construction, and retail. Annaly was included in the index every year based on her eligibility.
“We are honored to be included in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index 2021 for the fourth year in a row,” said David Finkelstein, Annaly’s chief executive officer and chief investment officer. “Gender diversity has always been a business imperative at Annaly and a hallmark of our strong culture of inclusion. We were pleased to publish our first Corporate Responsibility Report in 2020, which includes improved disclosure of our gender diversity and human capital initiatives. We constantly strive to improve this information and believe that our commitment to diversity enables us to generate higher returns for our shareholders. ”
“Annaly has advocated a diversity and inclusion environment since our inception,” noted Wellington J. Denahan, Annaly co-founder, vice chairman of the board of directors and chairman of the risk committee. “We are proud that all board committees are chaired by women for the first time and are determined to continue searching for various candidates to offer the board new and distinctive prospects.”
The GEI brings transparency to gender-specific practices and policies in publicly traded companies and increases the breadth of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data available to investors. The comprehensive, transparent GEI rating method enables investors to evaluate company performance and compare cross-industry peer groups. The benchmark index measures gender equality across five pillars: female leadership and talent pipeline, pay and gender equality, inclusive culture, sexual harassment guidelines, and branding for women. The GEI 2020 comprised 325 companies with headquarters in 42 countries and regions. Annaly was also inducted into the GEI 2018, 2019 and 2020.
“The companies included in GEI 2021 are adding gender-specific data to the ESG data universe that investors are demanding today,” said Peter T. Grauer, chairman of Bloomberg. “Your disclosure obligation makes the business model for inclusion and promotes transparency in the markets.”
By disclosing gender metrics using the GEI framework, companies included in the GEI 2021 are committed to providing a comprehensive view of their investments in gender equality in the workplace and the communities in which they operate, and setting the bar for higher expectations to set other companies within the same industry Annaly was included in this year’s index to score at or above a global threshold set by Bloomberg to reflect high levels of disclosure and overall performance across the five pillars of the framework.
With 50% of all employees in 2020 identifying as either female or racially different, Annaly is driven by the belief that a diverse group of employees will support the company’s continued long-term growth. Annaly further strengthened its diversity and human capital initiatives in 2020 by appointing its first Head of Inclusion and establishing an Inclusion Support Committee of Executive Sponsors. In addition, all of Annaly’s board committees are currently chaired by women, and the board changed its corporate governance policy in 2020 to formalize its commitment to finding highly qualified candidates of different sex and race. As part of our focus on community engagement – a pillar of our diversity and inclusion initiative – we welcomed interns last summer through our ongoing partnership with Girls Who Invest to foster a gendered talent pipeline in the wealth management industry.
For more information on Annaly’s Human Capital and Corporate Responsibility initiatives and the first Corporate Responsibility Report, please visit www.annaly.com/our-responsibility.
About Annaly
Annaly is a leading diversified capital manager that invests and finances residential and commercial real estate. Annaly’s main business objective is to generate a net profit for distribution to shareholders and to optimize the return through careful management of diversified investment strategies. Annaly is managed in-house and has chosen to be taxed as a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) for federal income tax purposes.
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