Navatar and Invest Europe Partner to Help Private Equity Fund Managers Find Their 'ESG Mindset' in Upcoming Virtual Roundtable

NEW YORK - Roughly one in four investors are now willing to reject a fund commitment based on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) principles. Leading private equity managers have responded by weaving ESG into their investment ethos, but many are still playing catch-up.

To help managers along, Navatar will host a virtual roundtable in partnership with Invest Europe, the European private equity trade body, featuring three responsible investment specialists from PAI Partners, APG Asset Management and KPMG. Among the topics covered will be Invest Europe's new ESG due diligence questionnaire published in November and how it can help managers meet investors' growing calls for responsible investment to become a central pillar of their investment strategies.

The virtual roundtable, Finding Your ESG Mindset with Invest Europe, scheduled for January 19th (11am ET), will provide managers a practical framework for converting declared ESG commitments into action. To register for the roundtable, please visit:

http://info.navatargroup.com/roundtable-finding-your-esg-mindset-with-invest-europe

The event arrives at a time of growing interest in ESG in the private funds sector. According to a PwC survey, 70 percent of managers have made a public commitment to invest responsibly. The comparative figure in 2013 was 57 percent.

Three members of Invest Europe's Responsible Investment Roundtable, a taskforce comprised of industry professionals that played a key role in the development of the DDQ, will take part. Marta Jankovic, Head of ESG Integration Alternatives at APG Asset Management, and Chair of the Roundtable, will provide attendees with a perspective on institutional investors' heightened ESG expectations. She will be joined by PAI Partners Head of Compliance and Public Affairs and Roundtable Vice Chair Blaise Duault, who will provide the GP perspective on creation of the DDQ; as well as KPMG Senior Manager James Holley, a fellow Roundtable member, who will provide a presentation on how managers can apply the DDQ in practice. 

"The creation of the ESG DDQ speaks to a wider trend of fund managers incorporating more discipline and formalized procedures into their appraisal of portfolio companies," says Navatar CEO Alok Misra. "It is yet another example of GPs desire for the right systems and tools to manage the entire due diligence process."