Best practices in ESG management are dynamic; changing with new regulation, lawsuits, investigative journalism, and research. Every month, our team evaluates these changes to provide the best advice to our clients. We’re happy to present a curated list of what we’re reading, which we’ll send on the last Thursday of each month. We hope you enjoy. – Ryan Miller
On ESG and Impact:
KKR and TPG will turn in their first disclosure reports under the IFC Operating Principles for Impact Management in April, the world is watching (Financial Times)
The focus on ESG in China has grown as new regulations compelling disclosure are due in 2020 (Nikkei Asian Review)
Lithium producers find that meeting ESG standards can mean financing that is 600-1000 basis points cheaper (BNN Bloomberg)
Investment funds with high “sustainability ratings” outperform the S&P 500 (Barron’s)
State Street joins Blackrock in committing to vote against climate stragglers (Financial Times)
Eurazeo’s €1.5 billion credit facility tied to ESG (Private Funds CFO)
On Private Equity:
ESG practitioners call for LPs to review financial engineering, compensation, and tax avoidance when conducting diligence on fund managers (Impact Alpha)
Private equity firms in the 2010’s focused on lining their pockets at the expense of the companies they bought, says Bloomberg Opinion columnist (Bloomberg)
Fewer than one in 10 senior private equity professionals are women, investors are starting to notice (The Deal)
Blackstone and KKR played a vital role in lobbying against regulation that would cap surprise billing (Bloomberg)
A private equity firm wants to buy the “.org” domain; a group of internet advocates says private equity doesn’t belong there (New York Times)
The Fairway bankruptcy has revived a common concern: private equity investing in real estate and over-leveraging assets (Bloomberg)
On Business:
Taco Bell says it will make all of its packaging recyclable, compostable, or reusable by 2025 (Fast Company)
Microsoft has pledged to remove all of the carbon it has ever emitted from the atmosphere (NPR)
On the other side, Microsoft has waged a battle to avoid taxes by moving profits to Puerto Rico (ProPublica)
For Bumble, the perception of being female-friendly might be more important than being actually female-friendly (Bloomberg)
A facial recognition company is scaling significantly; the founder says it might lead to a “dystopian future or something” (NY Times)