Hamilton Lane joins iCI private equity initiative to support climate change action

Leading private markets investment firm Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ: HLNE) announced it has become a signatory to Initiative Climat International (iCI) as part of the firm’s ongoing commitment to ESG and sustainability.

iCI is a platform of leading private equity investors dedicated to understanding and reducing carbon emissions from private equity-backed companies. It was founded by a group of French private equity investors in 2015 to help ensure the private equity industry plays its part in meeting the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. Its members commit to active engagement with portfolio companies to manage and reduce emissions and to promote sustainability.

The firm’s commitment to iCI encompasses the following:

• A recognition that climate change will have adverse effects on the global economy, which presents both risks and opportunities for investments.
• A pledge to contribute to the objective of The Paris Agreement to limit global warming to well-below two degrees Celsius, and in pursuit of 1.5.
• Meaningful engagement with private equity firms under which funds are entrusted to develop an emissions reduction and climate change action plan.

Hamilton Lane’s membership of iCI is part of its broader climate policy and its net zero pledge, and is the most recent development in the firm’s ongoing enhancement of its ESG capabilities.

• Hamilton Lane recently became one of the founding partners in the consortium behind Novata, which launched in October 2021. Novata is a technology platform providing an on-ramp to ESG data collection, reporting and insights specifically for the private markets. Other consortium partners include the Ford Foundation, S&P Global and Omidyar Network.
• The firm also partnered with climate and sustainable development expert ClimateCare, an environmental and social impact company, to offset carbon emissions associated with its business. The partnership aims to offset carbon dioxide emissions through initiatives including a wind power project in India and two world-leading clean cooking projects in Bangladesh and Ghana.
• Principal Alistair Galloway has also joined the Pensions for Purpose Advisory Group, where he will help to identify areas of untapped potential and better ways to advance Pensions for Purpose’s mission of getting more capital to flow towards impact investments. Pensions for Purpose exists to help pension schemes channel funds towards impact investments, including sustainable investments.

Paul Yett, Director of ESG and Sustainability, Hamilton Lane, commented: “Limited partners increasingly and correctly expect their investments to not only produce attractive risk-adjusted financial returns but to achieve environmental and social objectives. The private markets industry is making great strides in terms of the resources and energy investors are willing to commit to get ESG right. 

“Hamilton Lane has adopted a comprehensive approach to ESG: We are working with key industry partners such as iCI, ClimateCare and Pensions for Purpose to take action and create awareness on ESG issues; with our GP partners to track, monitor and manage their environmental impact; and with our industry peers, through Novata, to provide top-quality ESG data to private markets participants.”