The Embankment Project for Inclusive Capitalism

Changing the way value is measured to help companies focus on the long term​

The Embankment Project for Inclusive Capitalism (EPIC) was founded on a simple idea: for societies and economies to thrive, business needs to focus on the long term. The Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism and EY brought together more than 30 global business leaders, including asset owners, managers, and companies representing almost $30 trillion of assets under management (AUM), to develop a standardized, material, and comparable set of metrics for the measurement of activities that create long-term value and that affect a broad range of stakeholders including customers, employees, suppliers, communities, and shareholders.

A series of workshops were held over 18 months to reach consensus on existing and new metrics to standardize the measurement of activities generating long-term value. The methodology focused on outcomes, measured the execution of a company’s strategy, and linked the metrics to long-term financial value for shareholders.

The result is an open-source framework and an initial set of metrics with principles, guidance, and tools for companies to better articulate their long-term performance. The full report, which attracted the attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Congress, is available online at www.epic-value.com.

To guide business decisions, metrics for non-financial performance need to reflect what decision-makers and their businesses value. EPIC participants determined the following as core issues for long-term value creation.

TALENT

There is need for comparable metrics where a company’s actions could influence its long-term prospects: human capital deployment, organizational culture, and employee health

INNOVATION & CONSUMER TRENDS

Companies must measure areas that impact whether consumers and other stakeholders are likely to interact with a company.

SOCIETY & ENVIRONMENT

Businesses have difficulty quantifying the social value they create. EPIC participants recommended using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as a baseline.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

As boards become more involved in strategic planning, metrics are needed to gauge whether the board is equipped to help shape a company’s long-term strategy and value.

Coming out of this work, the Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism encouraged the following actions for participants:

Asset Owners

Set and communicate longer-term mandates for asset managers (see Pension Fund Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism).

Asset Managers

Engage more strategically with companies

Explore the link between intangibles and financial value

Companies

Select and develop metrics and a narrative appropriate to their business

Review and change current reporting practices

CEOs of participating Companies

Mark Bertolini

Aetna

Martin Brudermüller

BASF

Edward Breen

DowDuPont

Doug Baker

Ecolab

Alex Gorsky

Johnson & Johnson

Mark Schneider

Nestlé

Vasant Narasimhan

Novartis

Indra Nooyi

PepsiCo

Paul Polman

Unilever

asset managers

Pascal Blanque

Amundi

Thomas Finke

Barings

Laurence Fink

BlackRock

Abigail Johnson

Fidelity Investments

Hendrik du Toit

Investec Asset Management

Mary Erdoes

J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management

George Walker

Neuberger Berman

Vijay Advani

Nuveen

Peter Harrison

Schroders

Cyrus Taraporevala

State Street Global Advisors

William McNabb

Vanguard

Asset owners

Oliver Bäte

Allianz

Thomas Wilson

Allstate

Christian Hyldahl

ATP

Marcie Frost

CalPERS

Jack Ehnes

CalSTRS

Mark Machin

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Hiro Mizuno

Government PensionInvestment Fund

Deanna Mulligan

Guardian Life

Steve Kandarian

MetLife

Matt Whineray

New Zealand Super Fund

Theresa Whitmarsh

Washington StateInvestment Board

Advisory Council

Daryl Brewster

CECP

Paul Druckman

Financial Reporting Council

Robert Eccles

University of Oxford

Richard Howitt

International Integrated Reporting Council

Martin Lipton

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

Colin Mayer

University of Oxford

Barry Melancon

Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, American Institute of CPAs

Andy Neely

University of Cambridge

Adam S. Posen

Peterson Institute for International Economics

Dov Seidman

LRN

George Serafeim

Harvard Business School

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld

Yale University

Robin J. Stalker

Individual capacity

Laura Tyson

University of California

Sarah Williamson

FCLTGlobal

The 2018 EPIC report