ESG Is More Important Than Ever to Private Equity Investors.

Are You Making the Most of It?

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Signatories to the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) jumped 28% last year to more than 3,000 institutional investors and PE firms, representing a staggering $103 trillion of assets under management.

Yet of the 431 PE firms from around the world on the list, only 16 of them disclose ESG’s impact on financial returns, and only half use ESG principles in monitoring more than 90% of their portfolio companies.¹

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Through the unrivaled reach of the 3BL Media network, you have the tools to share your ESG content with a global audience passionate about corporate social responsibility, including new financial and CSR outlets to ensure your content goes further. 

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3BL Professional is the most comprehensive news and content publishing platform of its kind, providing blanket coverage for audiences passionate about environmental, social, governance (ESG) issues.

Below you'll learn more about how we've upgraded to help your company share your ESG progress with stakeholders. Continue on to hear about our expanded distribution, enhanced analytics suite, and the support you receive with a subscription

From the fringes to the center

According to Bain & Company, as ESG matures, the PE firms leading the charge have come to consider ESG a core part of what differentiates them as competitors. They are baking ESG principles into due diligence, building stronger value-creation plans and preparing  more compelling exit stories.¹ 

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As environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues become more important than ever to limited partners, investors, consumers and the workforce at PE-owned companies, there seems to be a gap where many private equity firms could be telling their ESG stories.

The opportunity is now for PE communicators to step into the moment and become a leading voice for ESG.

1. Institutional Investor 

Investor's interest in ESG surges

Strong ESG performance and disclosure have become integral to investors when assessing the overall quality of a company. With stakeholders looking to business more than any other institution for the answers to today’s most pressing societal issues, the importance of demonstrating progress to investors will only increase.

For customers, it can make all the difference

Porter Novelli reports that 73% of Americans are willing to forgive a purpose-driven company in the event of a misstep. An effective way to protect and bolster a company’s reputation is to consistently communicate its ESG performance to stakeholders.

Embed ESG into your long-term value story 

As ESG becomes more important for corporations, so too does it for Private Equity. Companies that rank well on ESG metrics have outperformed the market by up to 3% per year over the past five years.¹ It's becoming an integral part of the value creation story.

ESG news is hard news

Driven by the rising focus in the broader community on issues such as as climate change, social justice and human rights, ESG is no longer "niche." The community, governments and the media are watching how companies, both public and private, respond.

Limited Partners are expecting action

95% of Limited Partners are already evaluating or intend to focus more on ESG risk factors when considering investments.² Public funds and private investors are increasingly making investment decisions that consider social and environmental impacts.

Reporting standards are evolving

Generally, ESG reporting from Private Equity is inconsistent at the moment. But as it becomes increasingly important for boards, financial markets and regulators, standardized, comparable and consistent reporting will become the norm.

Communicate consistently and regularly

Delivering a steady drumbeat of content on ESG topics helps keep your company’s message at the top of stakeholders’ newsfeeds and inboxes. Consistent distribution ensures your company defines its own story, rather than someone else defining it for you.

Benchmark against your peers

Examine how other companies in your industry are communicating their ESG agendas. What has been working for your direct competitors and within your industry? How are companies outside your industry  communicating purpose?

Tailor your ESG messaging for different audiences

Share a diversity of content - environmental, sustainability, diversity, philanthropy. Tell the story from different perspectives to appeal to diverse stakeholder groups. C-suite voices and third party experts may carry more weight with investors.

Break up existing content and reports

You likely have more content than you realize. If you publish a sustainability report already, repurpose it and extend the shelf life by breaking down the narrative into multiple, easy-to-digest stories suitable for distribution over many months. Did your CEO or portfolio CEO's make statements about the climate crisis recently? It's all part of your ESG story.

Measure the impact of your ESG communications

After communicating about an initiative or completing a campaign, be sure to check back in on the goals you set. Shifting perceptions around ESG will take time. So it is important to communicate regularly, monitor, track engagement and adjust.

Live benchmarks & portfolio company tracking

Evaluate the performance of your content against that of your peers and compare and track your portfolio companies. Report your total portfolio's ESG performance to investors and other stakeholders.

Point-in-time data

Point-in-time data allows you to track how a piece of content performs from the minute you publish it

Learn and adapt

What it means to be a good corporate citizen is always evolving. Is your Climate content outperforming Philanthropy stories? Do blogs and video perform better than press releases? Your communication strategy and initiatives should evolve too. There’s always room to learn and grow.

Amplify your ESG news

Through the unrivaled reach of the 3BL Media network, you have the tools to share your ESG content with buy- and sell-side investors, mainstream media, financial media, rating agencies, key stakeholders and a global audience passionate about corporate social responsibility.

Expert advice at your fingertips

Count on our team for expert advice, seamless formatting, content uploads, scheduling, tracking and more. Our people make all the difference.

Advanced analytics

Track your content’s performance in real time with 3BL Professional’s built-in analytics suite. With advanced tracking across the 3BL media network, the 3BL Professional analytics module provides insights on content performance, audience composition and benchmarking against peers.

Experience our network

From the fringes to the center

According to Bain & Company, as ESG matures, the PE firms leading the charge have come to consider ESG a core part of what differentiates them as competitors. They are baking ESG principles into due diligence, building stronger value-creation plans and preparing  more compelling exit stories.¹ 

Investor's interest in ESG surges

Strong ESG performance and disclosure have become integral to investors when assessing the overall quality of a company. With stakeholders looking to business more than any other institution for the answers to today’s most pressing societal issues, the importance of demonstrating progress to investors will only increase.

For customers, it can make all the difference

Porter Novelli reports that 73% of Americans are willing to forgive a purpose-driven company in the event of a misstep. An effective way to protect and bolster a company’s reputation is to consistently communicate its ESG performance to stakeholders.

ESG news is hard news

Driven by the rising focus in the broader community on issues such as as climate change, social justice and human rights, ESG is no longer "niche." The community, governments and the media are watching how companies, both public and private, respond.

Embed ESG into your long-term value story 

As ESG becomes more important for corporations, so too does it for Private Equity. Companies that rank well on ESG metrics have outperformed the market by up to 3% per year over the past five years.¹ It's becoming an integral part of the value creation story.

Limited Partners are expecting action

95% of Limited Partners are already evaluating or intend to focus more on ESG risk factors when considering investments.² Public funds and private investors are increasingly making investment decisions that consider social and environmental impacts.

Reporting standards are evolving

Generally, ESG reporting from Private Equity is inconsistent at the moment. But as it becomes increasingly important for boards, financial markets and regulators, standardized, comparable and consistent reporting will become the norm.

Communicate consistently and regularly

Delivering a steady drumbeat of content helps keep your company’s message at the top of stakeholders’ newsfeeds and inboxes. Consistent distribution ensures your company defines its own story, rather than someone else defining it for you.

Benchmark against your peers

Examine how other companies in your industry are communicating their ESG agendas. What has been working for your direct competitors and within your industry? How are companies outside your industry  communicating purpose?

Tailor your ESG messaging for different audiences

Share a diversity of content - environmental, sustainability, diversity, philanthropy. Tell the story from different perspectives to appeal to diverse stakeholder groups. C-suite voices and third party experts may carry more weight with investors.

Break up existing content and reports

You likely have more content than you realize. If you publish a sustainability report already, repurpose it and extend the shelf life by breaking down the narrative into multiple, easy-to-digest stories suitable for distribution over many months. Did your CEO or portfolio CEO's make statements about the climate crisis recently? It's all part of your ESG story.

Measure the impact of your ESG communications

After communicating about an initiative or completing a campaign, be sure to check back in on the goals you set. Shifting perceptions around ESG will take time. So it is important to communicate regularly, monitor, track engagement and adjust.

C-suites and directors are on board

With business currently sitting at the top as the most trusted institutions in the world, 86% of stakeholders now expect CEOs to prioritize societal engagement in addition to delivering on profits, per the Edelman Trust Barometer.

C-suites and directors are on board

With business currently sitting at the top as the most trusted institutions in the world, 86% of stakeholders now expect CEOs to prioritize societal engagement in addition to delivering on profits, per the Edelman Trust Barometer.

C-suites and directors are on board

With business currently sitting at the top as the most trusted institutions in the world, 86% of stakeholders now expect CEOs to prioritize societal engagement in addition to delivering on profits, per the Edelman Trust Barometer.

Live benchmarks & portfolio company tracking

Evaluate the performance of your content against that of your peers and compare and track your portfolio companies. Report your total portfolio's ESG performance to investors and other stakeholders.

Point-in-time data

Point-in-time data allows you to track how a piece of content performs from the minute you publish it

We've put together some resources here to help PE communicators navigate their ESG path.

1. The Expanding Case for ESG in Private Equity

1. The Expanding Case for ESG in Private Equity

1. 2019 Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research

2. Pitchbook 2020 Sustainable Investment Survey

2. Pitchbook 2020 Sustainable Investment Survey

1. 2019 Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research