BMO joins leading US banks in support of Ownership Works, to help create wealth for working families through employee ownership programs

• Ownership Works and founding partners to advocate for and implement employee  ownership programs that create economic opportunity for working families, advance racial equity, enhance employee engagement and build stronger companies

NEW YORK, April 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - BMO Financial Group (BMO) announced today its partnership with Ownership Works, a new nonprofit with a mission to increase prosperity through shared ownership at work – a mission that strongly aligns with BMO's own advocacy efforts and its Purpose to Boldly Grow the Good, in business and life.

BMO is one of a group of partners across the private, public and nonprofit sectors committed to helping Ownership Works develop and implement broad-based employee ownership programs. These programs will create better work environments and financial opportunities for employees, and help businesses improve their performance by attracting and retaining engaged employees who are invested in their company's success. By 2030, Ownership Works anticipates that the shared ownership movement will create hundreds of thousands of new employee-owners and generate at least $20 billion of wealth for working families.

"We've been advocating for public policy that enables greater levels of employee ownership because the benefits are clear: more employees that realize the benefits of ownership translates to more financial progress for all," said Dan Barclay, CEO, BMO Capital Markets. "As a leading lender in the US to employee owned companies, we're proud to support Ownership Works and the work they're doing to develop a more inclusive society."

Ownership Works' founding partners include financial services firms and pension funds to elevate shared ownership as a leading ESG strategy; public companies with employee ownership to share their knowledge and expertise; labor advocates to advance shared ownership as one core pillar of a quality job; and investment firms to co-create replicable models of shared ownership for implementation at over 50 companies by the end of 2023. The non-profit provides companies and investors with hands-on support to design and implement shared ownership programs, along with a suite of tools and best practices, based on a model that has four components:

1. Structuring & Implementing Broad-Based Ownership Programs
2. Developing a Culture of Ownership
3. Creating a Financially Inclusive & Resilient Workforce
4. Sharing Data, Best Practices & Insight

BMO's commitment to Ownership Works includes a $500,000 donation over five years, as well as ongoing expertise and guidance related to building effective and equitable employee ownership programs. In the coming months BMO will work with Ownership Works to build a partnership roadmap to support the movement and companies in their transition to employee ownership models.

For more information, including a list of the firms that have committed to Ownership Works please click here. For BMO's perspective on the public policy changes needed to increase employee ownership in Canada, click here.

Founded in 2021, Ownership Works is a nonprofit organization on a mission to increase prosperity through shared ownership at work. We partner with business leaders and investors to provide all employees with the opportunity to participate in the success they help create. Our shared ownership approach improves employees' financial security, helps them build wealth and increases their on-the-job engagement. By creating stronger workplace cultures, our model also sets the stage for businesses to enhance performance and competitiveness.

Serving customers for 200 years and counting, BMO is a highly diversified financial services provider - the 8th largest bank, by assets, in North America. With total assets of $1.02 trillion as of January 31, 2022, and a team of diverse and highly engaged employees, BMO provides a broad range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management and investment banking products and services to more than 12 million customers and conducts business through three operating groups: Personal and Commercial Banking, BMO Wealth Management and BMO Capital Markets.

SOURCE BMO Financial Group