In September 2020, I was honoured to join Triovest as the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer. At the time, people, families, communities and businesses around the world were still facing the devastating impacts and unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Triovest was no exception. However, I believe Triovest – with our client-focused, values-based approach – is well positioned to meet these challenges while also building on our successes through several growth opportunities.
As I look back at 2020, I first want to recognize everyone who works on Triovest’s behalf for how well they performed during a year of so many uncertainties. Our team members worked closely with clients to manage their real estate assets responsibly and effectively. Guidance on health and safety protocols to manage the virus required frequent communications with property managers and clients to ensure buildings across our portfolio were implementing best practices related to sanitation, air quality, path of travel, social distancing, personal protective equipment and more. The company also experienced an unprecedented downturn in the collection of rents and a rise in defaults, especially in the retail space, and our property management and accounting teams did a tremendous job of working with tenants and managing this challenge.
Triovest also went through several organizational changes. Some of these were precipitated by the pandemic and others were necessary to drive the company to the next phase of growth. We re-examined our organization and shifted resources toward the “front office”– that is, those functions and efforts that improve the client experience and directly support the growth of our business.
Another significant change we initiated at Triovest during the year was the digitizing of several processes. The sudden shift to remote working during the pandemic accelerated some of these efforts with the deployment of technology and paperless solutions.
Our change management process is underway to support employees as we reposition the organization to grow our lines of business, streamline processes, attract the best and brightest talent, and further establish Triovest as one of the best real estate managers in Canada.
Integrated throughout our strategic plan and day-to-day management of our properties is sustainability. Triovest’s strong track record of sustainability leadership is a differentiator, and we believe our advice on how strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices can drive superior returns is an important value-added service for our clients.
To demonstrate our commitment, we set three-year targets for our operations to manage energy and water use, greenhouse gas emissions and waste. The targets are embedded in individual performance evaluations, and each property has a performance scorecard that tracks its performance against the target objectives.
Because assets with a high sustainability rating are more attractive to investors, sustainability is a key consideration when Triovest invests in a property. We are striving to increase the percentage of our portfolio that has a green building certification from the most widely recognized standards organizations, such as BOMA BEST, Fitwel and LEED. Around 71 percent of our current portfolio has at least one green building certification, and we would like to grow that to be closer to 80 percent of all our buildings and assets.
We also plan to expand our advisory services beyond property-level sustainability issues to include counsel on broader and emerging issues such as net-zero carbon emissions strategies. Supporting this goal is the role of Energy Manager, who acts as an advisor to the Property Manager, and we plan to hire additional Energy Managers in 2021.
I am very proud of all that Triovest accomplished in 2020, growing the overall business despite headwinds from the pandemic. Among Triovest’s four areas of real estate – office, industrial, retail and multi-family residential – Triovest offset a slowdown in demand in the office and retail segments by expanding our industrial property portfolio. We now have 29 industrial properties under development across Canada, making Triovest one of the leading industrial developers in the country.
Triovest has a bright future as we grow our business and deliver greater value to our clients by realizing the full potential of our assets and portfolios under our management. Our continued commitment to operate responsibly will be vital for achieving our mission to create sustainable places that enhance communities and enrich relationships.
Ted Willcocks
President and Chief Executive Officer
Triovest Inc.