NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, May 29, 2015

Seven out of ten institutional investors interviewed by PwC say they would decline to take part in a private equity fund raising or would turn down a co-investment on environmental, social and governance risk grounds.

Bridging the Gap – PwC’s analysis of investor attitudes to responsible investment in the private equity industry – explores Limited Partners (LPs) (typically institutional investors providing capital to the Private Equity sector for investment) and their attitudes to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investment issues. Respondents included major asset management investment companies and pension investors including the California State Teachers Retirement System, UK Universities Superannuation Scheme and Swedish Pension Funds.

97% expect responsible investment to increase in importance over the next two years, with fiduciary duty, reputational risk and corporate values ranked as the top three reasons for responsible investment.