CNS AR24 Digital - Book - Page 31
Failure to maintain adequate business continuity plans in the event of a catastrophic event could have a material
adverse effect on the Company and its products.
Our operations are dependent on our ability to protect our personnel, offices and technology infrastructure against
damage from catastrophic or business continuity events that could have a significant disruptive effect on our operations. We
and our third-party intermediaries, service providers and key vendors could experience a local or regional disaster, such as an
epidemic or pandemic, weather event such as an earthquake, flood, hurricane or fire, terrorist attack, security breach, power
loss and other failure of technology or telecommunications systems or operations. Events like these could threaten the safety
and welfare of our workforce, cause the loss of client data or cause us to experience material adverse interruptions to our
operations. Infectious illness outbreaks or other adverse public health developments in countries where we or our clients or
investors operate, as well as restrictive measures implemented to control such outbreaks, could adversely affect the
economies of many nations or the global economy, the financial condition of individual issuers or companies and capital
markets, in ways that are not within our control and cannot be foreseen. A sustained decline in the performance of or demand
for the portfolios and strategies we manage as a result of negative market, financial and economic conditions caused by
catastrophic events could adversely impact our assets under management and the fees we earn, and these conditions could
lead us to experience operational issues and interruptions, require us to incur significant additional costs and negatively
impact our business.
Significant portions of our business operations and those of our critical third-party service providers are concentrated in
a few geographic areas, including New York and New Jersey. Critical operations that are geographically concentrated include
portfolio management, trading operations, information technology, data centers, investment administration and portfolio
accounting services for our products as well as corporate accounting systems. Should we, or any of our critical service
providers, experience a significant local or regional disaster or other significant business disruption, our ability to remain
operational will depend in part on the safety and availability of our personnel and our office facilities as well as on the proper
functioning of our network, telecommunication and other related systems and operations. We cannot ensure that our backup
systems and contingency plans will be adequate under all circumstances or that material interruptions and disruptions will not
occur. In addition, we rely to varying degrees on outside vendors for disaster recovery support, and we cannot guarantee that
these vendors will be able to perform in an adequate and timely manner. Failure by us or any of our critical service providers
to maintain up-to-date business continuity plans, including system backup facilities, would impede our ability to operate in
the event of a significant business disruption, which could result in financial losses to the Company and our clients and
investors.
We could experience loss of client relationships and other harm to our business if our reputation is impaired.
Our reputation is important to the success of our business. We believe the Cohen & Steers brand has been, and
continues to be, well received globally both in our industry and with our clients, reflecting the fact that our brand, like our
business, is based in part on trust and confidence. Our reputation may be harmed by a number of factors, including, but not
limited to, poor investment performance, operational failures, cyber incidents, negative publicity, the dissemination by
current or former clients of unfavorable opinions about our services, changes in key members of an investment team or in our
senior management and the imposition of legal or regulatory sanctions or penalties in connection with our business activities.
In addition, we must routinely address and manage actual or potential conflicts of interest, as well as the perception of
conflicts of interest, among our disparate business lines and/or among us and our clients, employees and/or affiliates,
investment vehicles or joint venture partners. While we have policies, controls and disclosure protocols in place to manage
and address actual or potential conflicts of interest, identifying and mitigating conflicts of interest can be complex and subject
to regulatory scrutiny. Addressing conflicts of interest is complex and difficult, and we may fail or appear to fail to deal
appropriately with such conflicts. Actual, potential or perceived conflicts could give rise to investor or client dissatisfaction,
adverse publicity, litigation or regulatory enforcement actions or penalties, any of which may harm our business reputation
and reduce the fees we earn and our revenue.
Moreover, environmental, social and governance related activities have been the subject of increased focus by certain
investors, legislators and regulators in the asset management industry, and an inability to meet applicable requirements or
expectations may adversely impact our reputation and business. If our reputation is harmed, existing clients and investors
may reduce amounts held in, or withdraw entirely from, funds or accounts that we manage, or funds or accounts may
terminate their relationship with us. In addition, reputational harm may cause us to lose current employees and we may be
unable to attract new ones with similar qualifications or skills, which could negatively affect our operations. If we fail to
address, or appear to fail to address, successfully and promptly, the underlying causes of any reputational harm, we may be
unsuccessful in repairing any damage to our reputation and our future business prospects would likely be affected, and the
loss of client relationships could reduce our assets under management, revenue and earnings.
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