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Actis awarded A grades across the board in UN Principles for Responsible Investment assessment

27 July 2016
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Actis, a leading investor in growth markets, has been awarded an A grade in the UN Principles for Responsible Investment’s  (UNPRI) independent assessment.

Actis has retained an A grade status overall and for each of the assets classes in which it invests; Private Equity, Energy and Real Estate, well above the median scores for the industry which were B, C and B respectively.

Actis has a full-time, in-house team of ESG professionals and has been a signatory to the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) since 2009, and has reported publicly to the PRI since 2010. The transparency report for the period is available in full on the UNPRI website.

Responsible investing has always been central to Actis’ investment processes, from origination to exit. From promoting world-class standards in health and safety, environmental protection, social engagement and business integrity – to sound corporate governance and transparent accounting – right across the portfolio.

Shami Nissan, head of Responsible Investment at Actis, said: “We have repeatedly seen that investing responsibly creates businesses that are better able to manage ESG risks and opportunities; they are more resilient, more innovative, more able to deliver societal benefits – and ultimately more valuable as a result.”

The Principles for Responsible Investment were developed by an international group of institutional investors reflecting the increasing relevance of environmental, social and corporate governance issues to investment practices.

The process was convened by the then United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2005 in order to understand the investment implications of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and to encourage signatories to integrate these into their investment and ownership decisions.  The Principles were launched in April 2006 at the New York Stock Exchange.

Commenting on the announcement, Torbjorn Caesar, senior partner at Actis, said: “We believe that values drives value -capital can and should be transformational.  In nearly 70 years in emerging markets, we have seen no contradiction between responsible investment and excellent returns- our approach is not lip service or a bare minimum it is commercial common sense and it underpins every decision we make.

“The markets in which we invest have huge needs and opportunities. Sustainable value is best created by ensuring that Actis’ portfolio companies are good corporate citizens in their communities.”

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