2018 Annual Report

Sustainability Report

Artisan Partners' purpose is to generate and compound wealth over the long-term for our clients. The wealth we generate improves retirement outcomes, pays for education, funds charitable purposes and in general improves people's lives. We are proud of our track record for these people and dedicated to continuing and improving it.

In addition to delivering for clients, we work to promote success across a diverse group of employees—ideally over entire careers—and successful and sustainable financial outcomes for our shareholders. Operating ethically and with integrity are also fundamental to Who We Are and to our sustainability as a firm.

The following summary highlights certain of our Environmental, Social and Governance policies and practices.

Investment Activities

Investment Activities
  • We are a fiduciary with respect to all of our clients, meaning that the decisions we make on their behalf are made in their best interests.
  • We are a signatory to the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment. As a signatory, we are committed to implementing six principles which include, among other things, incorporating ESG matters into investment analysis and decision-making processes and reporting on our activities and progress in this regard.
  • Extensive fundamental research is critical to each of our investment team's investment process. Through this fundamental research, each team considers a range of factors, including environmental, social and governance factors.
  • As of December 31, 2018, we provided tailored environmental or social solutions for 35 separate account clients for whom we apply screens that reflect their views on religious, social or environmental matters. In the aggregate, these accounts represented approximately $5.9 billion of our AUM at December 31, 2018.
  • Artisan Partners Global Funds, the Ireland-based family of UCITS for which we serve as investment manager, excludes from all portfolios any form of securities issued by an entity the main activities of which are the manufacturing of cluster munitions, munitions and weapons containing depleted uranium or anti-personnel mines.
  • Except with respect to those clients who choose to vote their own proxies, we vote proxies on behalf of our clients pursuant to our publicly-available Proxy Voting Policy.

Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity and Inclusion
  • We are committed to maintaining an environment that fosters diverse thinking by hiring and retaining employees from different backgrounds, experiences and locations.
  • As of December 31, 2018, 39% of our employees were women and 15% of our U.S. employees self-identified as minorities.
  • We maintain equal employment opportunity and career development practices and policies.
  • We have formal policies that not only forbid discrimination based on protected classifications, but also require that all employees treat all individuals with respect, courtesy and fairness. These policies also set forth formal reporting and complaint procedures.

Employee Benefits and Work Environment

Employee Work Environment, Compensation and Benefits
  • We match 100% of employee 401(k) contributions dollar for dollar (fully vested), up to the IRS limit. In 2018, 58% of our US-based employees received the maximum match. We also maintain retirement programs or benefits for all non-US employees.
  • We provide equity or equity-linked incentives to all of our permanent employees.
  • We pay 100% of our participating employees' health care premiums, which amount to approximately $15,000 per employee annually. As of December 31, 2018, between employees and their dependents, our health insurance programs covered over 1,200 people.
  • We support continuing education for our employees with tuition reimbursement for applicable undergraduate, graduate, professional, and licensing education. In 2018, 54 of our employees (approximately 13%) took advantage of this program.
  • All of our benefit plans are available to all full-time employees regardless of title, role, or responsibility.

Governance and Transparency

Governance and Transparency
  • 6 of the 7 members of our board of directors are independent of management, including all three members of the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, and Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee.
  • Each share of our common stock has equal voting rights with one vote per share.
  • We provide updated information about our assets under management (a key performance indicator) to the public on a monthly basis, and we provide a fulsome review of our business and financial outcomes on a quarterly and annual basis.
  • Quarterly presentations (and the accompanying prepared remarks) by our CEO and CFO since our IPO in March 2013 are accessible to the public on our website.

Business Conduct

Business Conduct
  • We believe in, and believe that we maintain, a culture of compliance that promotes high standards of ethics and compliance for our business.
  • Our Code of Business Conduct sets forth expectations of our directors and employees with respect to integrity, conflicts of interest, compliance, transparency and reporting.
  • We maintain policies and programs directed specifically at prohibiting and preventing bribery and other corrupt business practices.
  • We maintain a whistle-blower policy and anonymous reporting website for the communication of employee concerns regarding accounting, auditing or other matters relating to violations of the federal securities laws or fraud to the Audit Committee or other non-management directors of our board.
  • All employees receive annual compliance training on key policies and procedures including our code of ethics (which includes policies on gifts and entertainment and conflicts of interest), anti-corruption and bribery policies, our anti-money laundering program and our policy on political contributions.

  • Our compliance program is overseen by our Global Chief Compliance Officer, who reports directly to our Chief Legal Officer and has direct reporting obligations to our Board of Directors. Our Audit Committee receives a quarterly update on legal and compliance matters and an annual report on the compliance program.

Privacy and Information Security

Privacy and Information Security
  • We maintain privacy policies, management oversight, accountability structures and technology design processes to protect private and personal data.
  • Our information security program is overseen by senior management, and our Board of Directors reviews our information security program at least annually.
  • We conduct mandatory employee training on information security annually.

Community Investment

Community Investment
  • Under our Matching Gift Program, we match eligible employee gifts up to $2,000 per year per employee. In 2018, we matched gifts made by 91 employees (21% of our employees as of December 31, 2018). Recipients of matching gifts are institutions and causes that our employees feel strongly about and include educational, religious, cultural and other charitable organizations in the communities in which we operate and our employees live.

Environment

Environment
  • Given the industry in which we operate and the small number of employees we have, we believe the environmental impact of our business operations is relatively modest.
  • We participate in recycling programs, energy-saving technology and the use of energy efficient equipment, materials and techniques in our offices.
  • We maintain business continuity policies to ensure the safety of our personnel and facilities and the restoration of our critical business functions in case of natural disasters.
  • 5 of our 12 US office locations are in LEED certified buildings.