Avista Capital Partners (“Avista”), a leading private equity firm focused exclusively on healthcare, today announced that it has become a signatory to the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), joining the leading international network of institutional investors committed to developing a more sustainable global financial system.
The Principles for Responsible Investment provide a framework for navigating the increasing relevance of environmental, social and corporate governance (“ESG”) issues to investment practices. By joining the 4,500 plus existing signatories, Avista will advance its existing ESG policy rooted in firm accountability and transparency, while pledging to align its investment decision-making and ownership practices to the aspirational ESG standards detailed in the PRI.
“At Avista, we have always believed that incorporating ESG factors into our investment process and company culture allows us to deliver superior returns and better fulfill our fiduciary obligation to all of our stakeholders,” said Amanda Heravi, Managing Director and Head of IR and ESG at Avista Capital Partners. “Because of this, we continually strive to improve and evolve the prism through which we examine our corporate responsibility. Becoming a signatory of the PRI will help us to define an even stronger framework for responsible action that resonates across Avista’s investment process, ownership period, and firm-wide operating philosophy.”
The PRI was developed in early 2005, when then United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan invited 20 investors from institutions across 12 countries and 70 interdisciplinary experts to join a process to create this enduring framework. The resulting principles were launched in April 2006 and, since then, the number of signatories has grown from 100 to over 4,500.
“We are very pleased to welcome Avista Capital Partners as a signatory to the Principles for Responsible Investment,” commented PRI’s CEO Fiona Reynolds. “It is great to see Avista’s commitment to incorporating ESG factors into its investment processes and company culture, and we look forward to working together in the future and continuing to drive important responsible investment considerations.”
The six key principles are:
Principle 1: We will incorporate ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes.
Principle 2: We will be active owners and incorporate ESG issues into our ownership policies and practices.
Principle 3: We will seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues by the entities in which we invest.
Principle 4: We will promote acceptance and implementation of the Principles within the investment industry.
Principle 5: We will work together to enhance our effectiveness in implementing the Principles.
Principle 6: We will each report on our activities and progress towards implementing the Principles.
ABOUT AVISTA CAPITAL PARTNERS
Founded in 2005, Avista Capital is a leading New York-based private equity firm with over $6 billion invested in more than 40 growth-oriented healthcare businesses globally. Avista partners with businesses that feature strong management teams, stable cash flows and robust growth prospects – targeting product and technology businesses with clear scale potential across six sub-sectors experiencing strong tailwinds. The team is supported by a group of seasoned Strategic Executives enhancing the entire investment process through strategic insight, operational oversight and senior counsel, which helps drive growth and performance, while fostering sustainable businesses and creating long-term value for all stakeholders. For more information, visit www.avistacap.com.
About Principles for Responsible Investment:
The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) is the world’s leading proponent of responsible investment. Supported by the United Nations, it works to understand the investment implications of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and to support its international network of investor signatories in incorporating these factors into their investment and ownership decisions. The PRI acts in the long-term interests of its signatories, of the financial markets and economies in which they operate and ultimately of the environment and society as a whole. Launched in New York in 2006, the PRI has grown to more than 4,500 signatories, managing over $121 trillion AUM.
MEDIA CONTACTS
Daniel Yunger and Hallie Wolff
Kekst CNC
212.521.4800
daniel.yunger@kekstcnc.com / hallie.woff@kekstcnc.com