About / ESG
Environmental, Social & Governance
ESG considerations are an important principle in Palisades’ approach to delivering value to clients, investors, counterparties, employees, communities and stakeholders.
Our Philosophy
Environmental, Social & Governance (”ESG”)
Palisades is committed to delivering value to our clients and investors by providing investment management strategies tailored for residential loans and real estate markets. We believe ESG factors can influence the quality of our residential loan and real estate-related investments and our professionals recognize the importance of integrating ESG factors into Palisades’ core investment management processes. We believe that sustainable value creation and long-term risk mitigation are best achieved when considering ESG factors in our investment management process.
"...we’re not trying to create some sort of separate approach, but instead improve core processes that drive the way we invest, because we have a perspective that incorporating these additional considerations actually will make us better investors across time."
ESG In Practice
Palisades considers ESG factors based upon its core business of
01.
Investing in various types of consumer and business purpose residential loans
02.
Managing risk by taking an active role in asset level credit decisions
03.
Overseeing the disposition of property and real estate-related assets
Investment professionals at Palisades consider a wide range of macroeconomic, demographic, socioeconomic and geographic factors when developing an outlook with respect to investment strategies, portfolio construction and credit risk management activities.
These considerations include analyzing the suitability of credit products for individuals and businesses, providing credit to small business and self-employed borrowers, supporting the development of updated and energy efficient housing structures, developing strategies to assist credit-challenged borrowers, selecting vendors that support ethical consumer lending and default management activities, and ensuring proper maintenance of properties. Palisades and its subsidiaries maintain a commitment to planning, operating and responsibly scaling our business with strict ESG principles in mind.
Environmental
Investments in real estate-related assets, and in particular residential housing, can have a direct impact on the environment; conversely, Palisades also recognizes that the environment can directly impact real estate-related assets. Palisades considers environmental factors not traditionally contemplated by non-ESG conscious firms when investing in residential loans and managing real estate-related assets. Palisades seeks to ensure properties are well maintained and materially unaffected by natural disaster through its network of vendors during the investment due diligence and ongoing asset management processes.
Social factors may impact our loan and credit-based portfolios due to considerations concerning credit availability, default management processes, and the communities our real estate projects inhabit. Palisades’ investment professionals consider a borrower’s ability to repay the debt obligations when acquiring loans for investment in the context of state or federal consumer lending laws. Upon acquisition, Palisades takes an active role in managing credit and asset level defaults. Alongside strict adherence to consumer protection policies, our investment professionals seek to engage with vendors and partners that are experienced in handling credit defaults in a socially responsible manner. Palisades engages in analytical review of all credit default scenarios in partnership with vendors and servicers to ensure our borrowers will be in a position to afford a modification in light of their evolving financial situation. This review, which is in line with our underwriting review at acquisition, reduces the potential for future re-defaults that harm borrowers and the communities they inhabit. Finally, Palisades considers the social context in which property development or re-development projects securing loans in our portfolio fit. Palisades’ professionals review and consider a finished project’s adherence to comparable transactions in terms of size and finished value ensuring the project is sustainable.
Failing to maintain socially responsible standards surrounding the elements of our strategies may expose our portfolios to risks such as (i) Federal, state and/or local fines or sanctions, (ii) consumer or borrower perceptions of Palisades’ or its associated vendor’s business practices, (iii) costs and losses incurred during default management and loss mitigation activities, and/or (iv) losses incurred due to lack of instrument or underlying property liquidity.
Palisades believes governance plays a multifaceted role when investing in and managing consumer and business purpose loan products. Palisades’ professionals consider how vendors and counterparties maintain standards with respect to the protection of personally identifiable information (“PII”). Our firm maintains policies and procedures for maintaining PII within internal systems as well as the means our professionals transmit such data to third parties. Palisades' professionals seek to avoid investing alongside lenders or loan servicers with a poor record of corporate governance. We perform due diligence on our vendors to ensure proper processes are in place to avoid violations of consumer lending or protection laws, breaches or mismanagement of PII, and lending practices that fail to identify borrower fraud. Failing to adhere to governance standards may expose our client portfolios to substantial financial risk and our firm to reputational risk. To the extent these processes fail to function properly, Palisades works with our vendors to monitor and ensure issues are remedied.
Research has shown that companies with strong sustainability ratings and a diverse workforce, drives better results in performance. Palisades’ commits to Diversity and Inclusion in its leadership team. Palisades Professionals understand that by having a diverse team with different walks of life, each team member may have a unique perspective to share. The leadership at Palisades facilitate intellectual diversity by ensuring every team member’s perspective is heard to optimize our investment strategy.
Adding value for Stakeholders through a commitment to Environment, Social, and Governance factors.
Terms Of Use
BY ACCESSING OR USING OUR WEBSITE, YOU ACCEPT AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS OF USE (“TERMS OF USE”) AS THEY MAY FROM TIME TO TIME BE MODIFIED BY THE PALISADES GROUP, LLC, ITS DIVISIONS, SUBSIDIARIES OR AFFILIATES (COLLECTIVELY, “THE PALISADES GROUP”).
Use of Website
Our Website contains information, names, images, pictures, logos, icons, documents, and other material (the “Contents”) for your use and information. The Contents are solely for your personal use. You may not copy (other than a copy for personal use), modify, distribute, transmit, display, perform, reproduce, transfer, resell or republish any of the Contents of this Website without the prior written consent of The Palisades Group, which may be withheld in its sole discretion.
No Offer or Advice
This Website is for general, informational purposes only and nothing contained herein should be relied on as investment advice. In addition, no offer or solicitation of an offer to sell or purchase any security is made pursuant to this Website and the information contained herein should not be used or relied upon in connection with the purchase or sale of any security. No representation or warranty is made concerning the investment strategies and products described on this Website, which are described only in general terms and may not be offered as described. The Palisades Group is an SEC registered investment adviser; however, SEC registration does not imply any certain level of skill or training.
Modifications
The Palisades Group, at its sole discretion, may at any time make modifications, changes, and alterations to the Contents of this Website, including these Terms of Use, without notice. You are responsible for regularly reviewing these Terms of Use. Your continued use of this Website following any modifications, changes or alterations shall constitute your acceptance of such modifications, changes or alterations.
Transmissions to and from this Website
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Copyrights and Other Intellectual Property
Except where otherwise expressly noted or as noted below, all Contents of this Website, including the graphics, icons and overall appearance of the Website, are the sole and exclusive property of The Palisades Group. The posting of the Contents of this Website neither constitutes a waiver of any of The Palisades Group’s proprietary rights or any other party’s proprietary rights, including but not limited to, copyrights, trademarks, service marks, patents and other intellectual property, nor a transfer by implication, estoppel or otherwise of any such rights or of any license to the Website user or to any third party. Contents of this Website are protected by United States and international copyright laws, both as individual works and as a collection and by United States and international trademark laws. You agree not to delete any copyright, trademark or similar notice from any Contents that you obtain from the Website.
Linked Sites
We may provide links to third-party Websites solely as convenient pointers to information on topics that may be useful to users of our Website and we have no control over the content on such third-party Websites. Should you choose to visit, via our link, a third party Website, The Palisades Group makes no warranties, either express or implied, concerning the content of such site, including the accuracy, completeness, reliability or suitability thereof for any particular purpose, nor does The Palisades Group warrant that such site or content is free from any claims of copyright, trademark or other infringement of the rights of third parties or that such site or content is devoid of viruses or other contamination. Links to non-The Palisades Group sites do not imply any endorsement of or responsibility for the opinions, ideas, products, information or services offered at such sites, or any representation regarding the content at such sites.
Passwords and Security
We may restrict certain portions of this Website to certain persons who have registered and obtained a password. You are responsible for the confidentiality and use of your password. Your password is an important means of protection for you. You agree to contact us immediately if you believe that an unauthorized person has obtained access to your password.
Cookies
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The Palisades Group’s Customer Information Policies
We respect the privacy of our clients and are committed to protecting their information on our Website with the same care that we utilize for all The Palisades Group company transactions. By using our Website, you agree that The Palisades Group can use your personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policies and Privacy Notice, a copy of which is attached to this Website. To obtain the most recent version of our Privacy Notice, please contact us.
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Limitation of Liability
IN NO EVENT WILL THE PALISADES GROUP, ITS REPRESENTATIVES, CONTRACTORS, OR OFFICERS, DIRECTORS OR EMPLOYEES BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, LOST PROFITS OR REVENUES, WHETHER UNDER A CONTRACT, TORT OR ANY OTHER THEORY OF LIABILITY, ARISING IN CONNECTION WITH ANY PARTY’S USE OF OUR WEBSITE, ANY FAILURE, ERROR, OMISSION, INTERRUPTION, DEFECT, DELAY, COMPUTER VIRUS, LINE SYSTEM FAILURE OR LOSS OF DATA; ANY LOSS OF USE RELATED TO OUR WEBSITE; ANY WEBSITE OPERATED BY ANY THIRD PARTY; OR ANY CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE OR ANY OTHER WEBSITE, EVEN IF THE PALISADES GROUP IS AWARE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
Available Only Where Permitted by Law
The products and services of The Palisades Group are available only in the United States and other countries where permitted by law.
Governing Law
These Terms of Use shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of the State of Texas, without regard to the conflict of laws thereof, and the laws of the United States.
Venue
Disputes arising from the use of this Website shall be exclusively subject to the jurisdiction of federal or state court located in Travis County, Texas.
Severability
If a court of competent jurisdiction determines that a portion of our Terms of Use is unenforceable, such portion shall be modified solely to the extent necessary to cause such portion to be enforceable and these Terms of Use as so modified shall otherwise remain in full force and effect.
Waiver
No waiver by The Palisades Group of any right under or term or provision of these Terms of Use will be deemed a waiver of any other right, term, or provision of these Terms of Use at that time or a waiver of that or any other right, term, or provision of these Terms of Use at any other time.
Service Contact
If you have questions or problems regarding this Website, send us an e-mail at fraser.armstrong-watters@palisades.us.com or call us at 512-361-2018.
Privacy Policy
This policy is effective as of January 2021
At The Palisades Group, LLC, we consider privacy to be fundamental to our relationship with our Clients. We are committed to maintaining the confidentiality, integrity and security of our current and former Clients’ non-public information. Accordingly, we have developed internal policies to protect confidentiality while allowing Clients’ needs to be met.
We respect your right to privacy. We also know, however, that you expect us to conduct our investment program in an accurate and efficient manner. To do so, we must collect and maintain certain non-public information about you and our other Clients. We collect this information from sources such as investment management agreements and other documents.
We will not disclose any non-public personal information about Clients who are individuals, except to our affiliates and service providers as allowed by applicable law or regulation. In the normal course of serving our Clients, information we collect may be shared with companies that perform various services, such as our accountants, auditors, attorneys, broker-dealers and fund administrator. Specifically, we may disclose to these service providers non-public personal information, including:
- Information we receive on investment management agreements or other documents, such as name, address, account or tax identification number, and the types and amounts of investments; and
- Information about transactions with us, our affiliates, or others, such as participation in other investment programs, ownership of certain types of accounts or other account data.
Any party that receives this information must agree to use it only for the services required and as allowed by applicable law or regulation, and is not permitted to share or use this information for any other purpose. To protect the personal information of individuals, we permit access only by authorized employees who need access to that information to provide services to us and to our Clients.
To guard Clients’ non-public personal information, we maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with U.S. federal standards. An individual investor’s right to privacy extends to all forms of contact with us, including telephone, written correspondence, and electronic media, such as the Internet.
We note, however, that notwithstanding the foregoing, we reserve the right to disclose non-public personal information about Clients to any person or entity, including without limitation any governmental agency, regulatory authority or self-regulatory organization having jurisdiction over us or our affiliates, if (i) we determine in our discretion that such disclosure is necessary or advisable pursuant to or in connection with any United States federal, state, or local, or non U.S., law, rule, regulation, executive order or policy, including, without limitation, any anti-money laundering law and the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 and (ii) such disclosure is not otherwise prohibited by law, rule, regulation, executive order or policy.
Social Media Disclosures
The Palisades Group, LLC (collectively with its divisions, subsidiaries and affiliates, “Palisades”) is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Palisades may sponsor and post content on or through pages, profiles, accounts, feeds, channels or other portions of various social media platforms, including but not limited to LinkedIn and Twitter for educational, promotional or other business reasons.
About Palisades Social Media Posts
No content posted by Palisades on any social media platform constitutes an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, shares of any investment product to any person in any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation, purchase or sale would be unlawful under the laws of such jurisdiction. Additionally, all content posted by Palisades on any social media platform is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation to invest in any particular security, strategy or investment product.
Content posted by Palisades on social media may include statements concerning financial market trends, and are based on current market conditions, which will fluctuate and may be superseded by subsequent market events or for other reasons. Historic market trends are not reliable indicators of actual future market behavior or future performance of any particular investment which may differ materially, and they should not be relied upon as such. The investment strategy and broad themes discussed in content posted by Palisades may be unsuitable for investors depending on their specific investment objectives and financial situation. Information contained in content posted by Palisades has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but Palisades does not make any representations regarding the accuracy of such information. Content posted by Palisades on social media is posted "as is" without any express or implied warranties. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. All investments involve a degree of risk, including the risk of loss. Content posted by Palisades on social media may not be reproduced in any form, or referred to in any other publication, without express written permission from Palisades.
Content posted by Palisades on social media may contain links to third-party websites only as a convenience, and the inclusion of such links does not imply any endorsement, approval, investigation, verification or monitoring by Palisades of any content or information contained within or accessible from the linked websites. While Palisades makes every attempt to provide links only to those websites that it thinks are trustworthy and accurate, it cannot be responsible for the content or accuracy of the information presented on those websites. Palisades specifically disclaims any liability for any loss or damages which you may incur, directly or indirectly, as a result of your use of such websites. Palisades reserves the right to terminate a link to a third-party website at any time. Palisades is not subject to any obligations of confidentiality regarding information submitted to it through any Palisades social media page or otherwise through any social media platform.
Third-Party Posts on a Palisades Social Media Page
While Palisades may monitor third-party content posted on any Palisades social media page, such content is not reviewed before being displayed. Third-party content posted on any Palisades social media page represent the viewpoint of the third-party and are the responsibility of the third-party. Palisades cannot guarantee the appropriateness, accuracy or usefulness of any third-party content or of any third-party hyperlink, nor is Palisades responsible for any unauthorized or copyrighted materials posted by a third-party on any Palisades social media page. Palisades reserves the right to remove or edit any third-party content on any Palisades social media page that are inappropriate or that violate (or may violate) applicable regulations.
Palisades does not post or otherwise disseminate statements relating to current or former clients’ positive experiences with or endorsements of Palisades, and Palisades expects you to refrain from making such posts on any Palisades social media page. You should limit your posts on any Palisades social media page to investment themes rather than commenting, positively or negatively, on Palisades, its products, services or personnel. Although Palisades’ clients may follow this account, this should not be interpreted as a testimonial regarding any client’s experience with Palisades.
Any descriptions of, references to, or links to other products, publications or services do not constitute an endorsement, authorization, sponsorship by, or affiliation with Palisades with respect to any hyperlinked site or its sponsor, unless expressly stated by Palisades. Palisades expressly disclaims any responsibility for the posts, the accuracy of the information, and/or quality of products or services provided by or advertised on these third-party sites, as posted by third parties on any Palisades social media page.
Use Social Media Platforms at Your Own Risk
Palisades is in no way affiliated with any social media site and has no responsibility for any social media site’s operations and services. Palisades and its respective affiliates, directors, officers, or employees are not liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, punitive or special damages arising out of or in any way connected with your access or use of, or inability to access or use, a social media platform, any Palisades social media page thereon or reliance on any Palisades content posted thereon or any failure of performance, interruption, defect, delay in transmission, computer viruses or other harmful components, or line or system failure associated with a social media platform or any Palisades social media page thereon. Use of a social media platform or any Palisades social media page thereon is at your own risk.
Privacy Policy
Palisades is not responsible for the terms of use or privacy policies of any social media platform on which Palisades content may appear, including on any Palisades social media page. For additional information regarding account security and privacy, refer to the Palisades Privacy Policy, which is available on the Palisades website.
For additional information about Palisades or to contact Palisades, please visit www.palisades.us.com.