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2023
Sustainable Investment Survey
July 5, 2023
This report was reuploaded on July 11, 2023, to reflect an update to the source tags on pages 16 and 18.
What GPs, LPs really think about Impact and ESG
Opinions on Impact investing and ESG frameworks in the private markets are often described as politically polarized, and there are no signs that portrayal could soon fade. But between the sustainable investing die-hards and the anti-ESG stalwarts, there’s a much bigger set of investors with nuanced views on how to balance investing for profit and investing for purpose, and that they need not be mutually exclusive.
Hundreds of private market players responded to our Sustainable Investment Survey in 2023, and our fourth annual report provides a window into their overlapping and sometimes conflicting views on Impact and ESG.
Table of contents
What GPs, LPs really think about Impact and ESG
Opinions on Impact investing and ESG frameworks in the private markets are often described as politically polarized, and there are no signs that portrayal could soon fade. But between the sustainable investing die-hards and the anti-ESG stalwarts, there’s a much bigger set of investors with nuanced views on how to balance investing for profit and investing for purpose, and that they need not be mutually exclusive.
Hundreds of private market players responded to our Sustainable Investment Survey in 2023, and our fourth annual report provides a window into their overlapping and sometimes conflicting views on Impact and ESG.
Table of contents
| 2023 survey by the numbers | 3 |
| About the survey | 4 |
| Trends over time | 6 |
| Geography | 9 |
| The allocator perspective | 12 |
| Asset managers: VC and non-VC | 15 |
| Contrasting views: ESG | 19 |
| Contrasting views: Impact | 23 |
| Challenges and measurement | 28 |
| Social and political landscape | 31 |
| The future of sustainable investing | 33 |
| Staying informed | 35 |
| Glossary and resources | 37 |