Team size: Twelve

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

Being part of the legal team of a pension fund manager in Chile in the last five years has taught us everything about instability periods, since the discussions around the proposed reforms to the pension system and the Chilean Constitution have been a rollercoaster ride. Knowing the business and the needs of the organisation is key to aligning interests between the legal team and the rest of the organisation, to give the advice that the company needs to navigate through crisis or turbulent times. Also, to be prepared to promptly act and get ahead of such issues, it is important to be aware of, and make the executive team also conscious of, industry changes and legislative debates around subjects directly and indirectly impacting or having the potential to somehow change the course of the business.

What measures has your company taken to embed sustainability practices into its core business operations, and how does the role of the general counsel contribute to driving and ensuring sustainable practices within the company?

At AFP Capital, we say that sustainability can be referred to as “doing things right”, and this is part of our day-to-day operations. AFP Capital is a signatory of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment. The legal team plays a key role in establishing sustainable practices within the company, by fostering adequate and strong corporate governance. All the members of the board of directors are independent, and they are encouraged (and educated) to put the interests of the pension funds managed by AFP Capital before their own (or even the company’s itself) interest, therefore complying with our fiduciary role to our clients, who trust their savings to us. Also, strong efforts are constantly made to educate about, and ensure compliance with, our crime prevention programme.

The legal team also works with the sustainability team to encourage sustainability good practices in the financial market. We strive to negotiate better and more sustainable terms on contracts, side letters and other legal documentation with our counterparties and intermediaries and exercise our shareholder rights to vote on policies and actions that advance in sustainability goals. AFP Capital integrates Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria into their investment decision-making processes, of which the legal team is also participant.

How do you prioritise diversity and inclusion within your legal department, and what initiatives have you implemented to foster a more inclusive and equitable work environment?

The first thing is being conscious that diverse teams develop different skills, improving their productivity and achieving better results. At AFP Capital, half of the attorneys are women, and within the team different backgrounds might be found. There is no predominance of lawyers graduated from a single University (or just a couple of them) and they all are of different ages and have different expertise (from highly skilled litigators to corporate lawyers and financial experts). Diversity is also aided by creating an environment where debate is encouraged, everyone is heard and respected and people can feel safe and integrated while being their authentic selves. Also, the leaders of the team have pursued a culture where errors are embraced as a component of development and collective learning, creating psychological safety in the workplace.