UPDATED: Due to popular demand, Mergers & Acquisitions is extending the deadline. Nominations for 2021 PE Innovators in ESG are due end of day Fri. Oct. 8. CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT A NOMINATION.
Limited Partners are pushing private equity firms to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies into their investment programs. Many PE firms are still struggling to define, measure and achieve ESG goals but some are pioneering a new approach to investing that recognizes the importance of this issue.
Just last week, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and Carlyle Group Inc. helped rally a group of investors to share and privately aggregate information related to emissions, diversity and the treatment of employees across closely held companies, according to Bloomberg News. Blackstone Group Inc. and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the country’s largest pension fund, are also part of the effort. Boston Consulting Group was tapped to aggregate the data.
Building on our long history of recognizing the best in private equity, Mergers & Acquisitions will recognize firms that are leading the way in our inaugural 2021 PE Innovators in ESG. To borrow language from the ILPA ESG Assessment Framework, our list will name firms that are “Advanced” when it comes to ESG integration.
To be considered, candidates must be private equity firms (including growth equity funds, later-stage funds, independent sponsors and family offices), and a representative from the firm must submit a nomination through our electronic form by Friday, Oct. 8. Click here for the nomination.
To determine the winners, we are asking the ESG leader at the nominated firms to provide written answers to six questions: What role does ESG play in your PE firm’s investment strategy? How are you measuring ESG at your firm? In what ways is your firm “Advanced” in ESG integration? How does your firm work with portfolio companies to achieve ESG goals? Please describe 3-5 of the firm’s achievements in ESG over the last year. What Best Practices and advice can you share with other PE firms?
This is one of five annual Honors programs Mergers & Acquisitions produces, including The Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A; The Top 10 Middle-Market Deals of the Year; The Rising Stars of Private Equity and the recently introduced The 2021 Private Equity Leaders in DEI.
We’d love to see you at our upcoming virtual event: PE Innovators in ESG Speak on Dec. 1!
— Mary Kathleen Flynn
