AT the Sias Investors’ Choice Awards 2022, companies were recognised for excellence in adopting good corporate governance and sustainability practices. 

CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT) took home the award for the category of real estate investment trusts (Reits) and business trusts, while Singapore Post (SingPost) won in the diversity category. 

Here is what the companies have to say about their wins: 

SingPost

Corporate governance at SingPost is a journey of continuous improvement. Both our board and management are committed to achieving the highest standards of corporate governance and promoting effective stewardship in its practices and governance oversight.

Diversity is an important attribute of successful boards, and this award recognises our commitment to board diversity. Our board recognises the benefit of diversity in fostering robust discussions and guarding against groupthink, which leads to better decision-making.

SingPost’s board seeks to achieve and maintain a culture of diversity and inclusivity. Female representation on the board is one of the highest among the boards of companies publicly listed on the Singapore Exchange. The governance and nominations committee, audit committee and risk committee each have female chairs, and female directors are well represented on all board committees. The board is also ethnically diverse, and their ages range from 40 to 72.

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SingPost has implemented a policy on diversity and inclusivity since 2018, which gives due consideration to the benefits of diversity when seeking to appoint candidates to the board and to senior management. Diversity refers not only to gender but also other factors such as skill sets, sectoral experience, cultural ethnicity, age, and background.

– Simon Claude Israel, chairman of SingPost

CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust

Our firm commitment towards corporate governance – anchored on the tenets of accountability, transparency and sustainability – has been integral to CICT’s continuing success as Singapore’s first and largest Reit. It has helped us to gain the trust and goodwill of our stakeholders, whose support we rely on as we execute business strategies and initiatives that deliver CICT’s long-term strategic objectives.

The board of CICT’s manager, through the nominating and remuneration committee, reviews from time to time the size and composition of the board and each board committee, with a view to ensuring that the size is appropriate in facilitating effective decision-making, and the composition reflects a strong independent element as well as balance and diversity of thought and background. Currently, six out of nine directors, including our chairman Teo Swee Lian, are independent.

We are committed to reducing CICT’s carbon emissions intensity, in line with CapitaLand’s Sustainability Master Plan 2030. In 2021, CICT raised about S$1.6 billion of green/sustainability-linked loans, underpinned by a portfolio that, by net lettable area, is more than 95 per cent green-rated. 

In February 2022, we established CICT’s Green Finance Framework to concretise our commitment to sustainable financing, which motivates us to green our portfolio while diversifying funding sources.

– Tony Tan, CEO of the manager of CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust