Few issues shaping the private equity ecosystem promise to be as transformational as ESG. For the better part of the past decade, in one form or another, ESG has evolved from a “nice to have” item relegated to the final minutes of boardroom discussions and portfolio company management meetings to a new category of fraud risk and a material compliance requirement with enforcement teeth. And the tectonic plates keep shifting: FTI Consulting’s Todd Rahn believes we’re starting to discover that ESG may be the key to long-term value creation in private equity.
Has the private equity industry embraced ESG matters? My team and I confront this question every day. We partner with private equity managing directors and portfolio firm CFOs, COOs and CEOs to help them anticipate and respond to forensic and litigation challenges emerging from their firms’ approaches to ESG matters when things go wrong. Other FTI Consulting teams specialize in all other phases in the private equity lifecycle, from origination to exit. So, the answer depends on your perspective.
But regardless of where you come from on this issue, there can be little doubt that ESG has the potential to put firms ahead of their…
