ICG Enterprise Trust | ESG

We recognise that environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) issues can be an important driver of investment value, as well as a source of risk.

Our manager, ICG plc, has been highly active on the ESG front for a number of years. It became a signatory of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2013 and was rated ‘A+A+A’ in its 2020 assessment. It has a well-defined, firm-wide Responsible Investing Policy and ESG framework in place.

Within ICG Enterprise Trust, we operate an ESG framework tailored to our investment strategy and the level of influence we have. ESG considerations are integrated throughout the investment process with a view to generating long term sustainable returns for investors which are in line with our corporate values.

The ICG Enterprise Trust investment team receives formal training on ESG and is provided with the skills and tools necessary to identify and investigate ESG issues throughout the investment process.

In the first instance, we engage with private equity managers to understand their overall approach to ESG and whether they are signatories of the PRI or other ESG-related standards.

We have greater control of ESG considerations in our High Conviction Investments given we have clearer visibility of the underlying companies when making an investment decision. We operate an Exclusion List to ensure we do not make direct investments in companies considered incompatible with our corporate values. Our ESG due diligence considers risks associated with the company’s sector and geography, along with environmental (including climate change), social, corporate governance and ethical concerns.

For Third Party Funds, given that we do not directly influence a manager’s portfolio construction, we seek to partner with managers who share a similar approach to ESG. We perform due diligence to understand a manager’s approach to ESG as well their strengths and weaknesses. Areas of focus include a manager’s approach to ESG due diligence, reporting and climate risks.

For both our High Conviction Investments and Third Party Fund commitments, the results of our ESG due diligence are formally presented to our Investment Committee as part of the investment case.

Post investment, we maintain active engagement with managers to identify and mitigate any potential ESG risks.

We have strong relationships with managers in our portfolio, regularly discussing investment activity and ensuring their strategy remains aligned with our Responsible Investing Policy.