Invest with a broader lens to make well-informed decisions. Manage portfolio risk and support value creation.
Sustainable Investing
Our most fundamental commitment is that of seeking superior risk-adjusted returns for our clients. To that end, we believe our investing practices should reflect an evolving understanding and treatment of the real-world risks and opportunities relevant to the assets that we manage for our clients. Investors who are better prepared to meet change will be better positioned to reduce the financial, operational, and reputational risk of their investment portfolios while enhancing value creation and revenue potential over the longer-term.
We are committed to generating compelling risk-adjusted returns for our clients over the longer term and believe that sustainable investing has an important role to play in protecting the value of private markets portfolios.
Natasha Buckley
Principal, Sustainable Investing
Our approach
Our portfolio risk monitoring
15,900
Active companies tracked by HarbourVest
750 +
GPs tracked by HarbourVest
As of December 31, 2024
Our commitments
HarbourVest has been a proud signatory to the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) since 2013.
HarbourVest’s Peter Wilson, Managing Director and EMC Emeritus, sits on the Private Equity CEO Taskforce of the Sustainable Markets Initiative (PESMIT).
We are an active member of the Initiative Climat International (iCI), a GP-led initiative for private equity action on climate change. We are proud to have acted as Global Coordinator in 2022 and 2023 through our Sustainable Investing Program Lead.
Launched in November 2023, the Private Markets Decarbonisation Roadmap (PMDR) provides a common language that enables private equity firms to track portfolio activity on decarbonization.
We are a member of GRESB through our infrastructure program which gives us access to data and analytical tools.
We support the ESG Data Convergence Project, an industry commitment to generate useful, performance-based, comparable sustainability data for private markets.
Our timeline
2008
Cleantech strategy
Launched first of two cleantech funds focused on investments catalyzing global sustainability.
2013
PRI Signatory
Committed to adhere to the six Principles for Responsible Investment.
2015
Sustainable Investing Policy
Adopted first Sustainable Investing Policy.
2016
Sustainable Investing Council
Established council structure to provide senior leadership and oversight of the Sustainable Investing program.
2019
Sustainable Investing Program Lead
Hired first lead of Sustainable Investing program.
HarbourVest Stewardship Initiative
Created to leverage investment strengths towards positive impact.
DEI Council
Created to drive opportunity for all, mutual respect, and global strength across the firm.
2020
RepRisk®
Implemented use by all HarbourVest investmnet teams to help identify and monitor sustainability and business conduct risks.
2021
GRESB Member
Joined the Global Benchmark for Real Assets.
Climate Disclosure
Published first TCFD Report.
2022
Initiative Climat International
HarbourVest's Sustainable Investing lead named global coordinator of iCI for 2022 and 2023.
Sustainable Markets Initiative
Peter Wilson joined the Private Equity CEO Taskforce of the Sustainable Markets Initiative.
Chief DEI Officer
Hired first Chief DEI Officer.
EDCI
Joined EDCI to signal support for streamlined and comparable sustainability data in private markets.
Greenhouse gas emissions data
Partnered with Persefoni to develop a database of estimated emissions for portfolio companies.
2023
Portfolio company data insights
Leveraged EDCI membership to access 13,000+ data points across over 850 companies.
PMDR
Through participation in PESMIT and the iCI, co-sponsored the development of the Private Markets Decarbonization Roadmap to aid in tracking asset-level decarbonization progress.
Sustainability Forum
Launched a global consortium of HarbourVest professionals support the work of our Sustainable Investing program.
2024
Altitude®
Onboarded a climate and biodiversity assessment software to enhance due diligence and monitoring of physical and transition risks and opportunities.
Natural capital
Engaged a specialist biodiversity consultant to advise on strategy aligned to Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).
Climate Opportunities Initiative
Constructed cross-asset class solution for investors to focus on decarbonization and climate technology.
