Evolving Views of Sustainability in Private Equity and Venture Capital

The long-term nature of private equity investment enables fund managers to work with company leaders in driving transformational change within investee businesses, as well as within private equity houses themselves. In recent years, one key area of focus has been the establishment of responsible investment and sustainability polices which enable environmental, social and governance issues to become a core component of business strategy. This study reports findings from a recent survey of private equity fund managers on sustainability issues, and compared and contrasts with previous results from 2009. While more remains to be done, overall private equity firms are increasingly working hard to introduce good processes and systems to manage the broader impact of their activities