VINCENT TRIESSCHIJN | Global Head ESG and Sustainable Investing, ABN AMRO Bank N.V.1
ERIC ZUIDMEER | Senior Advisor Private Equity, ABN AMRO Bank N.V.

The European Union’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation2 (SFDR) aims to make the sustainability profile of investments better understood by end investors. The extent of required product-level disclosures depends on the sustainability profile. The SFDR defines three different potential categories for products, depending on their sustainability profile and the characteristics defined in Articles 6 (non-ESG), 8 (ESG promotion) and 9 (Sustainable Objective) of the SFDR. SFDR applies to “financial markets participants” including Private Markets and Private Equity Fund Managers or General Partners (“GPs”).

According to our experience from stakeholder conversations, GPs generally embrace ESG, if not for intrinsic (perhaps altruistic) motivation, then certainly through the lens of value creation, i.e., companies acquired today should become more sustainable in order to be sold successfully in the future. This paper provides an insight into the growing expectations of our stakeholders on ESG and sustainability and conversations with third parties in the Private Markets investment space.