In an interview with Private Equity International Magazine Tania Carnegie, Global and U.S. Lead, Private Equity and Asset Management—KPMG IMPACT, discusses how attitudes toward ESG and impact investing have evolved, inherent challenges in defining a successful approach, and opportunities for shared learning.
Key interview takeaways:
- While there are different views on what’s important, we’re now seeing increased interest by GPs and LPs to align on more consistent approaches—with value creation as a key connector.
- ESG is quickly becoming a regulatory priority, with new requirements having a significant impact on GPs globally as well as on portfolio companies who face data-collection challenges.
- GPs are increasing their investment focus on companies with female leaders and gender-diverse management teams and boardrooms, with women also at the forefront leading ESG and impact investing initiatives.
- Although investors want strong results, they recognize that many aspects of ESG are evolving and are looking for insights from lessons learned as they go through an iterative process themselves.
Understanding and demonstrating how the ESG and impact lens leads to better investment outcomes and better societal outcomes is the question. … Ultimately, financial returns matter to commercial investors, but the way those returns are generated also matters greatly.
— Tania Carnegie, global and U.S. lead for private equity and asset management at KPMG IMPACT
