Seventy-two percent of private equity investors and managers always screen potential portfolio companies for environmental, social and corporate governance risks and opportunities before making the investment, results of PwC survey show.
Another 56% of those surveyed have refused to enter general partnership agreements or declined investments for ESG reasons.
More than a third — 36% — of survey respondents consider climate change during due diligence, to understand or mitigate the risk to portfolios. Half of the 47% of survey respondents that do not measure the impact of climate change on portfolios, plan to do so in the next year.
Meanwhile, less than half of respondents, 46%, have set gender, and ethnic or racial diversity targets for their workforces. Of those that have set gender, and ethnic or racial diversity goals, 36% set only gender goals, 9% have set goals for both gender, and ethnic or racial diversity, and the remainder set goals for ethnic or racial diversity only.
More than 200 firms from 35 countries or territories responded to this year's PwC's Global Private Equity Responsible Investment Survey. Some 198 respondents were general partners and 41 were limited partners.
