As COVID-19 (coronavirus) continues to spread and global market volatility persists, we are closely monitoring the evolving situation. This is a time fraught with anxiety for many people around the world, and we believe that proactive preparation and clear communication are critical. Our clients and employees are our number one priority and we intend on providing you with regular updates.
Business continuity is an ongoing process of evaluation, testing and refinement and we are confident that our comprehensive plan will provide uninterrupted active management of all of our strategies, as well as allow us to stay connected to you in the event of any emergency or crisis.
We maintain a comprehensive, business continuity plan (BCP) designed to support continuous active management of our strategies in the event of a cyber-security incident, a pandemic, a regional natural disaster or a building-related emergency. The BCP, developed by the business operations team, provides associates step-by-step procedures to follow in the event of an emergency or crisis. For example, our next work from home test will take place on Friday, March 6, 2020.
In addition, we have installed a task force specific to the coronavirus that meets daily to evaluate the outbreak status, local and global government responses, and any possible or ongoing impact to our global investment operations and employee base. We are actively engaging with government, medical and industry organizations to ensure we have real-time information and guidance.
We have a tradition of openness and transparency with our global clients and we plan to continue that practice over the coming days and weeks. We realize many of you are also experiencing fear and uncertainty while putting your own business continuity plans in place. We are committed to both remaining in close contact with you and providing uninterrupted service and support.
We have a series of communications available to all clients, including a detailed overview of our business continuity plans, quick market reactions from our investment teams and a blog post on the potential impacts of the coronavirus from our macro strategies team. If you have questions, please reach out to your Loomis Sayles contact at any time.
We have revised our sick policy and provided all employees with updated guidance. We are actively encouraging sick employees to stay home. Those who feel able can work from home and we are tracking absences closely for business continuity purposes.
Business travel restrictions have been put in place for high impact locations. We are also tracking all personal travel plans to know where employees have been/will be during this situation. A 14-day quarantine period is in place for employees who have traveled to impacted areas. While our travel bans are limited at this time, we want to ensure that we are doing our part to limit the spread of the virus.
In our offices, we have increased the availability of hand hygiene and other environmental cleaning supplies and are educating all offices on ways to minimize the spread of germs at the workplace.
All Loomis Sayles offices – Boston, Chicago, Detroit, London, San Francisco and Singapore – are open and operational. We’re also following local government guidance for employees in our Singapore office, who are working on a staggered schedule and utilizing work from home capabilities, as appropriate. In an abundance of caution, we have restricted travel from that office to the other Loomis Sayles offices.
Please be assured our business continuity plans and technology infrastructure are designed to allow us to continue seamless operations for you.
Wishing you, your colleagues and family good health.
Kevin P. Charleston
Chairman & CEO
