Mergers & Acquisitions names the 2021 PE Innovators in ESG, including, MiddleGround Capital.
MiddleGround Capital is looking to technology to help standardize its ESG strategy and keep track of performance. The PE firm, which has offices in New York and Lexington, Kentucky, has a partnership with Tablecloth, an ESG reporting software company, that is designed specifically for private equity firms. The partnership allows MiddleGround to measure ESG performance across its entire portfolio quickly and chart trends so it can see how it is trending towards KPI targets.
MiddleGround is working with portfolio companies to establish annual ESG goals and corresponding KPIs at the beginning of the year through its Hoshin planning process. Hoshin planning is a 7-step process used as part of strategic planning in which goals are communicated and shared throughout the company.
“It is an incredibly important component of our ESG journey as we utilize these statistics to measure our performance and subsequently report out to our limited partners and the United Nation’s Principles for Responsible Investment, which we joined in September 2020,” said John Stewart, founding partner of MiddleGround.
MiddleGround is also doing work within the firm. It is measuring ESG by tracking diversity metrics, retention metrics (nearly zero professional turnover since inception, it claims) and soliciting feedback from employees. On the latter,
MiddleGround has recently entered into an agreement with DEI360 to conduct a customized opinion survey across its team of nearly 50 to solicit feedback, both quantitatively and qualitatively.
