ESG and sustainability: transforming investments, shaping the future of business

Who are you and what do you do at Preqin?
I’m Jaclyn Bouchard, Head of ESG Solutions & Corporate Responsibility at Preqin. I lead a talented, global team of passionate sustainability professionals across product, marketing, research, and more to create and deliver innovative ESG data products that compel transparency in a market that is inherently opaque.

What does ESG mean to you? What’s your background and relationship to ESG?
To me, ESG means having the full picture, all of the information necessary, before making a decision. All choices can have positive or negative impacts, and investors should be empowered to make decisions with confidence by understanding this.

I started my career as a sustainability professional over 11 years ago, with the aim of pioneering positive change within my company and the stakeholders/communities it interacts with by pushing the sustainability agenda. Today, my purpose is to facilitate the ESG transparency and impact data revolution to the best of my abilities, to bring long-term positive change to the world.

What one word comes to mind when you think of ESG?
Responsibility.

Why is ESG important?
Over the past few years, there has been a huge need and a demand for ESG and sustainability data metrics across asset classes, and ESG factors are increasingly being embedded into every part of the investment process. Referring to these factors allows investors to make more informed and conscious decisions when screening investments and companies, as well as evaluate the way they do business and ensure their business operations are geared toward the future. ESG is becoming an increasingly critical element in investor due diligence, reporting, and GP risk-management. On the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) front, our industry has made some progress, but there’s more we can do to improve. Setting meaningful targets, collecting data, measuring impact, and holding ourselves accountable are key priorities if we are to move the needle.

What are the current challenges with ESG implementation?
There is a general lack of accurate and reliable data in private markets for investors and fund managers looking to make investment choices that reap the maximum returns. When it comes to ESG, this data has been practically non-existent in private markets. In a recent survey we conducted across private market players (LPs, GPs, and SPs) earlier this year, 66% cited the lack of reliable and accurate ESG data as their biggest challenge when making informed sustainable investing decisions. With Preqin ESG Solutions, our purpose is to unlock for our clients the power of decision-useful, non-financial data points, enabling them to make informed future-resilient decisions. We bring to the table actionable ESG data readily embedded into investment workflows.

What does ESG data from Preqin look like? How is it used?
Preqin ESG Solutions provide ESG data at the LP-level, GP-level, fund-level, and asset-level, giving you a solid view of the ESG investment landscape. Our data aligns with all leading ESG frameworks and standards like the UN SDGs, the UN PRI, and the ILPA. We provide a range of ESG metrics that can be combined and leveraged to fit your own unique ESG-related goals, whether you’re an investor, fund manager, or service provider. These metrics include LP and GP management indicators, regulatory disclosures, affiliations & memberships, mandates, key ESG contact information, risk exposure and impact potential estimates, among others. For example, if your goal as a fund manager is to find investors that align with your sustainability objectives while keeping track of your direct competitors, then you can use our LP ESG mandates, key ESG contacts, fund labels, affiliations, and LP and GP management indicators to accomplish this goal and raise capital accordingly.

How is this data collected?
Relying on our strongest asset, our trusted relationships with LPs and GPs globally, we have successfully developed the largest database of ESG profiles in alternatives. To gather ESG-related data points from every possible corner, we leverage our relationships with private markets participants. When these data points don’t exist, we provide viable estimates, based on multiple auxiliary data sources (both proprietary and public) and innovative models scaled by our data-science engine, developed by the Preqin ESG team. All our ESG products are powered by the foundation of Preqin data – a large database of top-quality private market financial data. The capacity to merge informed proxies with financial data enables us to deliver solutions that scale all the way from a single asset, through a portfolio and a fund manager, up to an institutional investor level.

What do you plan to do next to build on your work in this area and influence how this important part of the market evolves?
I feel that at Preqin, I have an important role to play in bringing ESG data in private markets forward. Looking ahead, we want to nurture and utilize Preqin relationships, and our expert knowledge of our clients and their needs, to create ground-breaking ESG tools ‘fit for purpose’ for the alternatives industry. This also includes being the voice of Preqin in regulatory conversations and creating tools that facilitate seamless collection and integration, and support industry initiatives. On a personal level, I aim to use my voice to address unconscious bias as one of the largest obstacles still facing women in the workforce.

Preqin's market-leading data forms the foundation of Preqin ESG Solutions. Designed for private markets by private markets experts, our full suite of tools gives you the data and insights you need to integrate ESG into every stage of the investment decision-making process.

Read why Preqin became the go-to place for ESG intelligence for Orchard Global.

_{The opinions and facts included within the above do not constitute investment advice. Professional advice should be sought before making any investment or other decisions. Preqin providing the information in this content accepts no liability for any decisions taken in relation to the above.}