NorthEdge has launched its first ESG report in which it reviews the progress made by the firm in 2020 across sustainability, D&I and community, as well as setting out ambitious plans for the year ahead.
The report, titled Taking Responsibility, looks back on the achievements made at the private equity firm and across its portfolio.
These including gaining the United Nations supported Principles for Responsible Investment A+ status for Strategy and Governance for the third year running, placing NorthEdge in the top 12 per cent of all private equity firms with <USD1 billion AUM in this category, and gaining A status for the Direct Private Equity Assessment for the sixth consecutive year.
The private equity firm has also offset 100 per cent of its scope one and two carbon emissions in 2020, following its commitment to becoming carbon neutral in 2019.
The report also outlines the commitments NorthEdge is making in 2021 to further improve its ESG credentials – including the introduction of an internal data platform for portfolio ESG metric gathering, assessment and targeting.
The platform will provide a quantitative, portfolio-wide view of ESG metrics including sustainability, climate risk and diversity, helping the lower mid-market private equity firm make more informed decisions on important ESG-related initiatives and monitor the impact of its portfolio over time.
The business has refreshed its Investment Committee papers, bringing supply chain sustainability, climate change, diversity and alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals upfront in its investment reports. This provides greater visibility, analysis and debate of ESG and sustainability in the assessment of new investment opportunities at NorthEdge from the outset.
This is the first report of its kind for NorthEdge, which it says provides greater insight to its portfolio, investors and stakeholders on the progress the private equity firm is making on ESG, Sustainability and D&I. It is also an opportunity to showcase initiatives taking place across the portfolio.
Ray Stenton, Managing Partner at NorthEdge, says: “Transparency is crucial for matters relating to ESG. We want to show our community that we are committed to challenging ourselves as employers and investors to do better every year, we also want to lead by example for our portfolio companies.
“Since our inception in 2012 we have embraced ESG, becoming signatories to the United Nations backed Principles for Responsible Investment at the start of our journey, which is one of the reasons we’ve made so much progress over the years. But we also understand that the world is changing at pace, and we must continue to evolve.
“Our portfolio companies have also made great progress on their own ESG initiatives, a core component of their Value Creation Plans, which we’re pleased to be able to share. Knowing that we are not only backing commercially strong businesses, but also businesses that are committed to improving the impact they have on our climate and society is inspiring.
“By producing an annual report we hope we can share ESG best practice and learnings across our community, while setting ourselves our own benchmarks to improve against.”
