08 Oct 2015

Apax and Palatine honoured at BVCA Responsible Investment Awards

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Apax and Palatine Private Equity are both double winners in the fifth annual BVCA Responsible Investment Awards, announced today at the BVCA Summit 2015.

The awards, sponsored by Ramboll Environ and media partner Responsible Investor, were established in 2009 to recognise and celebrate outstanding Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) practices within the private equity and venture capital community.

Entrants were divided into two groups: those with more than £1bn under management and those with less than £1bn. There are also two categories: one for ESG engagement with portfolio companies and another for the overall ESG framework in place at firm level.

The winners of the BVCA Responsible Investment Awards 2015 are:

Firms with more than £1bn under management

Winner: Apax

Category: Overall ESG framework
Category: ESG engagement with portfolio companies

The judges commented that Apax’s strong and aspirational submission demonstrated how seriously the firm takes responsible investment. Responsible investment was found to be fully integrated throughout the firm’s investment process with detailed questionnaires at entry to a portfolio firm as well as subsequent comprehensive action plans. The judges also remarked on the evident strong buy-in from Apax’s leadership and commended interesting nuances such as the firm’s cooperation with the Carbon Trust.


Firms with less than £1bn under management

Winner: Palatine Private Equity

Category: Overall ESG framework
Category: ESG engagement with portfolio companies

Palatine have continued to demonstrate an incredibly strong commitment to the improvement and evolution in their approach to responsible investment. It is ingrained in everything the firm does. The judges were particularly impressed by the use of independent reviews to rigorously assess Palatine’s ESG efforts, and the development of a continuous risk improvement process. The wide range of portfolio companies included in the submission only added to the impressiveness of their excellent entry.

  • Patricia Hamzahee , Founder, Integriti Capital
  • Jonathan Ord, Investment Manager, London Pensions Fund Authority
  • Dushy Sivanithy, Principal, Pantheon
  • Hugh Wheelan, Managing Editor and Co-Founder, Responsible Investor
  • David Williamson, Senior Environmental Adviser, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Jeremy Lytle, Investor Relations Partner, ECI, and Chairman of the BVCA's Responsible Investment Committee, said:
“The BVCA Responsible Investment Awards are the only awards of their type in Europe and were created to both showcase and applaud the commitment to Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance practices within UK private equity and venture capital.
And that is exactly what we have done this year. Special congratulations to both Apax and Palatine for two truly outstanding entries, and they were very much reflective of the quality of submissions we received. They demonstrated that, regardless of firm size, responsible investment is now firmly embedded within the investment strategies of our industry, demonstrating a robust approach to ESG that is now characteristic across the board and making a positive and practical difference to businesses around the country.”


Notes to editors

  1. The British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA) is the industry body for the UK private equity and venture capital industry. The BVCA has over 500 member firms, representing the vast majority of UK-based private equity and venture capital firms and their advisers.

  2. More information about the BVCA Responsible Investment Awards can be found here.




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