Globally recognised excellence in ESG

In 2021 EMK Capital was the GP selected by the BVCA for its 'Excellence in ESG' Award. The firm's impressive response to the pandemic across its portfolio was noted by the BVCA, as well as strong evidence for each EMK portfolio company regarding their ESG targets and achievements.
In 2022 EMK, again, achieved 'special recognition' for its ESG excellence by the BVCA. EMK portfolio companies, Bright Data and Williams Advanced Engineering were also given 'special recognition' and Reconomy Group won 'top recognition' in the Portfolio Company category.

In 2017 EMK was selected as winner of the Capital Finance International award for 'Best Responsible Investing Team UK' for 2017, the year during which EMK raised and closed its first fund.

Our investment strategy integrates the following responsible investment principles:

We invest in companies that we believe can positively contribute to shaping a more efficient, sustainable and just future economy or where we can add value by transforming a business by elevating sustainability as a key strategic priority.

We do not invest in companies that could be deemed to significantly cause harm to society or the environment.

We recognise the future economy is decarbonised, circular, more nature-based and with less inequality

At EMK we look to both catalyse this future through the companies we choose to invest in as well as continuously exploring systematic ways of creating value and positive impact, future-proofing the companies we invest in and integrating environmental and social considerations throughout their operations.

Responsible Investment Policy

EMK Capital endeavours to uphold the United-Nations backed Principles of Responsible Investing, with a focus on ensuring high environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards across our portfolio and operations. We believe that improving ESG performance is a critical part of ensuring long term success for any business today. Our approach is governed by our Responsible Investment Policy and our ESG Policy.

View RI policy View ESG policy

Collaborations in responsible investment

EMK has been a signatory to the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment Initiative (UN PRI) since July 2017, at our inception. The UN PRI is a network of international investors working together to ensure that ESG issues are given appropriate consideration in the investment process. Signatories incorporate environmental, social and governance principles into investment analysis, decision-making processes, ownership policies and practice.

EMK has been a member of UKSIF since early 2020. UKSIF is the membership association for sustainable and responsible financial services in the UK. Membership provides the ability to share best practises in sustainable investment over the wider financial services spectrum.

In 2022 EMK became a sponsor to the UK Government’s All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on ESG. The APPG on ESG exists to deepen parliamentarians’ engagement with investors and industry on fundamental matters concerning the dynamic between British business’ operations and strategies, and environmental concerns, social issues, and governance decisions. The APPG engages with government, investors and industry to ensure that ESG principles are fully embedded, and to aid in unlocking billions of pounds of investment.

Diversity & inclusion in private equity

We are delighted to be a Sponsor of Level 20, the not-for-profit organisation established to inspire women to join and succeed in the private equity industry. Our firm supports Level 20’s mission to encourage greater female representation across the private equity industry with the goal of having 20% of senior positions in the industry held by women and with a particular focus on increasing the number of women in investment roles. We support Level 20’s five key initiatives to achieve this mission: mentoring and development; networking and events; outreach; advocacy; and research.

We encourage our employees irrespective of gender to be active members of Level 20 by contributing to Level 20-led research, discussion groups and outreach events and participating in the annual mentoring programme. Our firm’s engagement with these activities is led by our internal Level 20 Ambassador.

We are also proud sponsors of Out Investors, a global organisation that was founded with the mission to make the private investing industry more welcoming for LGBT+ individuals. The OI network operates through local chapters in major financial city centres and is formed in partnership with investment organizations. Current chapters include New York, London and San Francisco. The role of these chapters is to foster community, hold networking events and facilitate mentorship in the industry.

Diversity within the private equity industry relies on fostering social mobility. Starting in 2019 EMK are working with the London Academy of Excellence, a state school that started in 2012 to serve the brightest pupils in one of the most economically disadvantaged areas of London. The Academy model relies on sponsorship, and the Managing Partners are personally sponsoring a number of pupils. The investment team are providing mentoring to those students keen to learn more about the world of finance.

Climate action

EMK support the Paris Agreement and are working with our all stakeholders to:
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Scale up efforts and support actions to reduce emissions
Build resilience and decrease vulnerability to the adverse effects of climate change
Uphold and promote regional and international cooperation

EMK became a supporter of the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosure (the TCFD) in 2021, committing ourselves to improve and increase reporting of climate-related financial information.

In order to help us progress and align with the TCFD’s three phase action plan, we have become a signatory of the initiative Climat International (iCI), joining a global community of private equity investors who seek to better understand and manage the risk associated with climate change, reducing the climate impact of their own investment strategies, as well as the carbon intensity of their portfolios.

In 2021 and 2022, EMK signed the Investor Agenda's statement to global governments as a call for action on the climate crisis.

EMK measures and has offset its GHG emissions for Scope 1, 2 and 3 (not including investments) at the GP level since 2019. We offset our emissions and positively contribute to (donating beyond our emissions offset) two projects – a Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) avoided deforestation programme in the Brazilian Amazon and a regional tree-planting program in the UK planting native British broad-leaved tree species within schools in the South-East of England.

We believe every business big or small should account for its impact on climate and has a responsibility to, as well as an opportunity to, work towards mitigating impact through both reduction strategies and carbon offsetting. In 2021, we engaged with our portfolio companies on the drive to Net-Zero and facilitated them to measure and understand their climate impact and climate-related exposures. This has enabled us to analyse where we, collectively, can make the biggest positive contribution towards reducing emissions.

Reporting and disclosure

We aim to communicate transparently on RI matters with our investors, portfolio company management, and other stakeholders. We include ESG information from portfolio companies in our quarterly investment reports to investors as well as producing a detailed Responsible Investment report to investors annually. As a signatory to the PRI we report our progress on our RI approach in an annual Transparency Report.

SFDR Disclosure