DiligenceVault adds ESG, D&I questionnaires

DiligenceVault, a due diligence technology platform for asset owners, allocators and fund managers, has made available questionnaires from the ESG Data Convergence Project and the Asset Owner Diversity Charter on its platform. 

In addition, updated questionnaires from industry groups the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA), the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), and the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA) are also now available on the platform for DiligenceVault clients.

The Asset Owner Diversity Charter is an initiative created by the Asset Owner Diversity Working Group. The charter was formed with an objective to formalise a set of actions that asset owners can commit to improve diversity, in all forms, across the investment industry. Signatories, including consultants, commit to surveying asset managers via the questionnaire.

"The availability of the charter questionnaire on DilligenceVault is a great step forward as it aids standardization and equips signatories in gaining greater transparency on the actions being taken by asset managers to improve diversity in the industry," said Helen Price, Co-Chair, Asset Owner Diversity Working Group, Head of Stewardship, Brunel Pension Partnership.

The ESG Data Convergence Project is a collaboration between a number of GPs and LPs to streamline the private equity industry's historically fragmented approach to collecting and reporting ESG data in order to create a critical mass of material, performance-based, comparable ESG data from portfolio companies. GPs will track and report six metrics from their underlying portfolio companies, beginning with calendar year 2021. The data will be shared directly with invested LPs by GPs and aggregated into an anonymized benchmark. The initial six metrics are: Scopes 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy, board diversity, work-related injuries, net new hires, and employee engagement. 

In addition to these two new questionnaires, DiligenceVault has also made available updated ESG and DEI-focused questionnaires from LSTA, PRI and ILPA.

ILPA's updated Questionnaire and Diversity Metrics Template are intended to standardize the key areas of inquiry posed by investors during their diligence of managers and to provide a framework for ongoing monitoring of progress related to DEI. To that end, ILPA has introduced an updated DEI section of their DDQ, as well as a revised ILPA Diversity Metrics Template. In addition, ILPA has once again partnered with PRI to adopt in full the PRI's LP Private Equity Responsible Investment DDQ as the ESG section of the ILPA DDQ.

"We are excited to have the new standardized materials out in the industry as the enhancements represent a meaningful modernization in key areas like DEI and ESG, as well as other key topics of interest to LPs due the diligence process," noted Neal Prunier, ILPA director of standards and best practices. "The hope is that through the dual effort of greater standardization of diligence materials and through greater digitization from tools like Diligence Vault, the industry can see gains in both efficiency and calibre of transparency in key areas of decision making." 

"DiligenceVault is committed to supporting the ESG and DEI efforts led by these industry groups, as adoption of these standards bring much needed transparency and accountability to our industry," said Monel Amin, founder and CEO of DiligenceVault. "It's clear that the need for structured, well-defined data is a necessary input to conduct meaningful analysis and reporting, given the growing importance ESG and diversity themes are having in the investment management industry. DiligenceVault stands ready to assist in the process of improving the collection and reporting of key ESG and DEI metrics while providing modern technology to make it easy for fund managers and their portfolio companies to readily respond to these data collection efforts."