(soft music)
Very good to see you, Christian
and great to have the opportunity
to discuss with you the importance of ESG.
Before we talk about EQT's approach and philosophy to ESG,
where do you see the private equity industry's stance
on ESG today,
and what do you think the sector as a whole
can do in order to maintain or even enhance
its license to operate?
-: There are green shoots everywhere, I must say.
And if you think about
where the private equity industry comes from,
30, 40 years ago it was about financial engineering.
Then it became operational improvement,
then it became active ownership or even transformation.
The next phase now is actually thinking a lot more about
all stakeholders that are involved
and really making a positive impact.
-: Can you give us some insights on the role ESG plays
within EQT itself?
-: I like to give the example
you have two different companies that are exactly the same.
Let's say two consulting companies, right?
And you can imagine one of them has the possibility
to become much more sustainable than the other.
Which one in five to ten years will attract
or have attracted and continue to attract the best people,
have the best relationship with regulators,
have the best brand,
have the most interest from society,
and probably also even better customer relationships?
We think it's the more sustainable one.
And as an investor,
which of those two consulting firms
would I then like to invest in?
It's obvious I want to invest in this one.
So we also think it's good business.
-: Do you have a couple of examples where EQT's ESG
commitment was really driving the value creation agenda?
-: We can find ESG or sustainability thinking
in all of our investments, I would say.
The one that's almost easiest to start with
is a company called Anticimex.
Anticimex we bought in 2012 or so.
It was a small regional pest control player.
Now we still own it,
and it's becoming one of the world leaders in pest control.
And you might say, "Pest control?
That's not sustainable."
But what we're doing with that company
is actually we're digitizing it,
and we're making it much more sustainable
in terms of working practices
and also the kind of chemicals, et cetera they use.
And then we have an infrastructure.
For example, we have GETEC
which is an energy services company in Germany,
where you're from.
And there we're transitioning all of the energy
to renewables.
And we're taking lots of add-on acquisitions
of let's say more old-fashioned companies
and bringing them up into the modern future.
-: If we look at other companies
that are now starting to push the ESG agenda
but stopping short of creating impact,
your portfolio companies seem to have actually achieved
that impact.
What advice would you give to CEOs
that have started on the ESG journey
but not seeing that impact yet?
-: I almost go back to that example of the two companies.
Think about it.
Why should I do this?
Well, it's good for the world and it's good for my business.
And those two things are gonna make my company
outperform the others.
I think that's what you got to do.
-: Sounds amazing.
And it also sounds like you and the company and EQT
have already come such a long way,
and you've pioneered the ESG topic
in the private equity world.
What are the initiatives that you're currently working on
in order to even more increase your ESG commitments?
-: We still have plenty of improvements to make.
One of those improvements is setting crystal clear-goals.
And those goals this year are focus on diversity
and focus on environment.
Those are, the kind of, the two axes.
And we're trying to simplify it again,
so just two axes.
So on diversity internally, EQT this year,
we're hiring 65% females. That's our target
because it's gender diversity
where our industry is particularly weak.
And we have broader diversity topics that are also important
but that's the big one.
We've asked all of our service providers, including you guys
to have at least 25% of the other gender in every team.
And that goes for investment banks, accounting firms,
everybody we work with.
That's actually having a very big impact
because it's rolling out through
all the people that we work with across the world.
On the energy side, EQT is either if all of our offices
aren't already on renewable energy,
they're making the transition
and we're doing the same in our companies.
So every single company,
no matter if they have zero renewable energy today,
or a hundred percent renewable energy,
they need to take the next step whatever that is.
-: It's fantastic.
Thanks a lot Christian for taking the time.
Really amazing to see how you put your purpose
into practice.
-: Thank you, Michael.
Good to see you.