A company of LBBW
One World. One Goal. One Team.
Ecological. Social. Responsibility. As one of Germany’s leading real estate and Pfandbrief banks, we at Berlin Hyp support all efforts to ensure a more sustainable future and transform the financial and real estate industries into permanently sustainable and thus viable economic sectors. We are a reliable partner for all those who value quality when it comes to real estate and real estate financing. A partnership built on trust. This is true with regard to both our cooperation with customers and collaboration within our own team.
People who have a similar attitude will feel at home with us.
Our goal:
Innovation and sustainability
At Berlin Hyp, we have a very ambitious objective, which is to become the most modern real estate financier in Germany. For us, this also means meeting our responsibilities with regard to the environment, people and society – and conducting our business activities in a responsible manner. The associated three dimensions of sustainability have been categorised under the abbreviation ESG (environment, social, governance), which also sums up what our view of sustainability is all about.
Our firm belief: In order to be modern you need to be sustainable
We take specific action in order to achieve our goals and targets, and for this reason we currently have one of the most advanced sustainability strategies in the German banking industry. As early as 2013, we decided to integrate our existing policies and practices into a sustainability management system which covers numerous ESG criteria. In 2015, we issued the first Green Pfandbrief, thereby laying the foundation for a new segment in the real estate capital market. Today, Berlin Hyp is one of the most active issuers of Green Bonds amongst European commercial banks.
In 2021, we once again took on a pioneering role in terms of sustainability by becoming the first commercial bank to issue a Sustainability-Linked Bond. We use Sustainability-Linked Bonds to link our strategic sustainability goals and targets with our refinancing activities on the capital market. Seven years after we issued our first Green Bond, we rounded out our portfolio of ESG bonds by issuing a new Social Bond. The aim of our Social Bond programme is to promote affordable housing in Germany and the Netherlands, which is why the Social Bonds are used to refinance suitable residential real estate loans.
Our approach: Working as a team
Everyone needs to pull together in order to ensure that a company can remain sustainable over the long term. That’s why we get all employees at Berlin Hyp involved in activities relating to our sustainability goals and targets. We also make it possible for employees to contribute their ideas and thus help shape the transformation. It’s particularly important to us to ensure close and effective cooperation between our teams and our various divisions and units. That’s why we exchange information on best practices and overarching issues on a regular basis. This allows us to share our knowledge and experiences with one another and develop new ideas. And it also serves as a source of inspiration.
Our culture: Partnerships based on trust
Partnership-based collaboration is our top priority – not just in terms of our customer relationships but also with regard to the work environment we create for our employees. We work to ensure that our policies and decisionmaking procedures remain transparent, and we design our processes in a manner that makes them clearly understandable. We also seek to promote personal responsibility and give our employees the freedom they need to develop new ideas and approaches. These are the fundamental principles of good corporate governance at Berlin Hyp.
What drives us: Continuous further development
Digitalisation and the sustainable transformation of the economy and society are also changing the way real estate is conceived, planned, assessed and financed. Financing processes and workflows are being redesigned, as are forms of cooperation with customers and partners. New provisions and regulations are also being introduced. All of this offers new opportunities and possibilities to all organisations that continuously further develop their skills and expertise.
At Berlin Hyp, we offer support here with a broad range of internal and external continuing education and qualification programmes. We also promote context-related and ad hoc learning directly linked to specific work and change processes. We have created a digital Learning World that offers a varied training and education programme that employees can use as they wish. The programme focuses on the further development of specialised knowledge and expertise and the acquisition of soft skills relating to everything from agile work methods to cooperation and collaboration techniques.
What we offer:
The opportunity to take on responsibility, help shape the coming transformation and safeguard your own professional and personal development
The people who work at Berlin Hyp are fully committed to achieving our common goals – and they are also given the freedom they need to do this. We also offer them a range of possibilities for their professional development. In an environment marked by flat hierarchies, we define career development as the assumption of responsibility – in daily work and in projects, including those that are designed to develop our corporate culture. The further development of our employees is very important to us, and in many cases it can result in particularly talented staff members becoming managers (people leads) or experts (product/project leads). Those who are just starting their career will also find plenty of opportunities to join Berlin Hyp at the entry level. We offer trainees, full-time students, dual students and interns an exciting environment for learning and working, as well everything it takes to ensure a successful start to one’s career. Our young talents are integrated into our teams on an equal footing with their more experienced colleagues, and they are also well networked throughout our organisation.
Our work environment: Modern, innovative and sustainable
One of the most important things we need to do in order to become the most modern real estate financier in Germany is ensure the kind of work environment that makes the achievement of this goal possible. This is why we work together with our people on the further development of our office and work environment at Berlin Hyp. This involves choosing everything from the right spatial concepts to the right furniture, not to mention the implementation of solutions for mobile work. Our office environment establishes the framework for everything we stand for and also reflects our corporate values – for example collaboration based on partnership and networking, with a commitment to innovation and the development of viable long-term solutions. Our new corporate headquarters, which we are currently building at the Bank’s long-standing location at Budapester Strasse 1 (right near Tiergarten park), also embodies these values. The building, which was designed by the Danish architecture firm C.F. Møller Architects, combines a sustainable and efficient space concept with the highest standards for energy efficiency and resource conservation. This applies to both the building and the way it’s being constructed.
Information on sustainability aspects associated with the new building, as well as updates on construction progress, can be found in our buildingsite journal.
Our firm belief: Diversity as an opportunity
Treating all employees equally and fairly, regardless of their age, gender, ethnic origin, world view or sexual orientation – this is a given for us. Still, there’s more involved here, as we view the diversity of our employees as something that offers great potential.
By joining the United Nations Global Compact and signing the Diversity Charter, the Bank has also publicly underlined its position in this regard. Our Code of Conduct provides everyone at the Bank with clear guidance for their day-to-day activities.
Equal consideration of all genders when filling management positions is a firm component of our corporate culture. Our goal is to increase the share of women in the first and second management levels below the Board of Management to 33 per cent in each case by 2025. The figure at the moment is approximately 29.5 per cent in each of those levels. The Bank’s Board of Management currently comprises one woman and two men.
Our commitment: Berlin and beyond
It’s clear that a bank that has “Berlin” in its name and operates throughout Germany and beyond also takes on responsibility in areas other than those directly related to its business operations. Berlin Hyp’s charitable and corporate citizenship activities focus on supporting socially disadvantaged children and young people. We have been working with Kinderhaus Berlin-Mark Brandenburg e.V. – an association that houses children and teenagers – since 2005, for example. Berlin Hyp supports the association by providing funding, and also by organising a large number of joint activities. We also encourage our employees to get involved in charitable and corporate citizenship activities. For example, Berlin Hyp gives its employees the chance to take one “Social Day” off each year to do volunteer work for a charitable cause or project they feel strongly about.