We believe responsible investment is crucial for long-term success and that private equity firms have a key role to play given their ability to invest and transform businesses
We believe it is essential that all aspects of ESG are equally and continuously addressed. This is why we are active at every stage of the investment cycle, applying proprietary methodologies to support our companies, building around five priorities that cover a broad ESG spectrum
Increasing the share of revenues which directly benefit the environment and/or society, whenever relevant
Beyond the positive impact for the planet and society, we believe that business models which channel a meaningful part of revenues to the benefit of the environment or society are more valuable as they create differentiation from competition, attract and retain top talent, limit some costs.
This is why, even if Apheon is not an impact fund, we are keen to systematically consider how our companies could generate further of these sustainable revenues.
Reducing emissions
We believe that climate change is one of the major challenges of our generation and we are convinced that, in addition to reducing the negative externalities on the planet, being a low-carbon business will increasingly become a key competitive advantage.
This is why we have ensured that each of our portfolio companies systematically conducts a full carbon assessment by the end of the first year of Apheon’s investment and should thereafter implement a carbon reduction plan.
Creating a positive working environment to attract, develop and retain the best talent
We believe that people are a company’s most precious asset and that a positive working environment is key to attracting, developing and retaining the best talent.
This is why we encourage our companies to perform social barometers on a regular basis and create accountability by implementing actionable follow-ups.
Fostering a more inclusive society
Beyond business, we believe we have a collective responsibility to foster a more inclusive society, in particular for the youth of today.
This is why we actively support youth, diversity & inclusion initiatives in our ecosystem by bringing together different stakeholders – our internal teams, portfolio companies, investors as well as charitable organizations across Europe – to raise funds, support mentoring programs and create job opportunities across Europe.
With the goal of having scalable and meaningful impact on youth, diversity & inclusion across Europe, we have established a comprehensive 3-pronged approach which consists of (i) raising funds (through our foundation Apheon Philanthropy and the Apheon Challenge), (ii) mentoring (through Apheon 1:1 Mentoring and Apheon Career Workshops) and (iii) offering internship and job opportunities.
Apheon’s in-house foundation supports projects related to youth, diversity & inclusion across Europe by providing grants and funds to charitable organizations that align with these goals.
Funding comes from 3 main sources: revenues generated from Apheon’s operations, donations from Apheon’s employees and stakeholders, and funds raised during the annual Apheon Challenge.
An annual sporting event organized by Apheon with the goal of raising funds for organizations across Europe that support youth, diversity & inclusion. All members from Apheon’s ecosystem – Apheon’s internal teams, portfolio companies and their employees, investors, external advisors and other stakeholders – are invited to participate.
Participants
1,500
Companies
20
Countries
10
Benefitted Organizations
10
While financial support is important, giving time and sharing experiences can also make a significant impact.
A student from an Apheon Philanthropy’s beneficiary organization is paired with a professional (who can be from Apheon or a portfolio company) for a period of 6 months. The professional acts as a mentor, sharing experiences and lending support where needed. This generally includes CV reviews, preparing for job interviews or acting as a general resource.
One-hour workshops each led by a professional (who can be from Apheon, a portfolio company or an investor) for a group of students from our beneficiary organizations. Key objective of the workshops is to share advice with students before they embark on their professional journeys. Topics of conversation include career paths and choices, professional ups and downs, and work-life balance.
Apheon aims to open internship and job opportunities to students from our beneficiary organizations in our portfolio companies across Europe.
Apheon’s portfolio companies in turn benefit from the access to a young pool of talent from diverse backgrounds.
Reporting on metrics transparently, and being transparent on potential obstacles
We believe transparency is key to a successful sustainability strategy and a pre-condition for progress.
This is why we ensure that each of our portfolio companies systematically reports on its non-financial KPIs by the end of the first year of Apheon’s investment. We further work with them to progressively implement the highest standards of good sustainability governance.
Where applicable, disclosures for funds categorized as Article 8 under SFDR can be found in the Investor Data Room.
While Apheon takes into account sustainability factors in its investment process, it does not consider adverse impacts of investment decisions on sustainability factors, as specifically set out in the SFDR. Apheon has chosen not to do so for the present time, since it considers its current ESG policies and procedures to be appropriate and proportional to the investment strategies of its funds. Apheon monitors regulatory developments with respect to the SFDR and other applicable ESG-focused laws and regulations, and will, as appropriate, make changes to existing policies and procedures.
As a part of its commitment to responsible investment, Apheon has identified two specific environmental and social characteristics that it will seek to promote in particular within its managed Funds’ portfolio companies. These are:
(a) promoting CO2 reduction plans within the Funds’ portfolio companies; and
(b) promoting diversity and inclusion amongst the management and staff of such companies.
In our view, it is important that non only Apheon’s teams but also all our stakeholders are part of this approach to sustainability. This is why we have developed a powerful ecosystem made up of people from our internal teams, managers and employees of our companies, investors, experts, charitable organizations and external institutions, who all contribute to and support our methodologies and initiatives
Our manifesto: contributing to the development of sustainable finance
To succeed with this strategy, Apheon believes a holistic and collective approach is fundamental.
Holistic: it is essential that all aspects of ESG are equally and continuously supported. This is why we are active at every stage of the investment cycle by applying proprietarily developed methodologies and initiatives which are built on 5 priorities covering the broad ESG spectrum:
We are a team of professionals located in seven offices across Europe — Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris, Munich, Milan, Madrid and Luxembourg — and who contributes collectively to Apheon’s sustainability initiatives.
Apheon’s sustainability strategy is led by Patrick Gavoty, Managing Director at Apheon, who was appointed Head of Sustainability in 2021. Patrick is responsible for defining our approach to sustainability and supervising ESG initiatives at a portfolio level across all our companies, as well as at a corporate level across all of Apheon’s offices.
Patrick works within Apheon’s Sustainability Committee, which he is a member of along with four other individuals: Wolfgang de Limburg (Managing Partner), Riccardo Collini (Partner), John Mansvelt (CFO, AIFM Conducting Officer) and Agnés Audier (Senior Advisor). The Committee meets on a quarterly basis to discuss ongoing projects.
To channel its efforts and boost impact on society, Apheon launched its in-house foundation, Apheon Philanthropy, in 2020 under the umbrella of the King Baudouin Foundation.
Apheon Philanthropy focuses on providing financial support to youth-related projects throughout Europe, focusing more specifically on education, equal opportunities and well-being. The foundation is governed by a Board, which is made up of the five members of the Sustainability Committee as well as two youths who must be in the process of pursuing tertiary studies (each who hold the position for a period of one year, renewable one time). As a foundation active in the youth sector, we believe it is important to invite students to the table to share their personal experiences and points of View The Board meets every quarter and decides on the allocation of the foundation’s funds to various projects.
Assisting Apheon Philanthropy’s Board are five independent Juries, one in each of Apheon’s core locations (Benelux, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) which were set up in 2022, and each which comprise of a junior professional from Apheon, a representative student from an organization supported by the foundation and an external student. The Juries operate under the supervision of Florentin Thévenet (Apheon’s Risk & Compliance, AIFM Conducting Officer). Together, these 15 young individuals assist the Board in identifying charitable organizations across Europe and monitor progress on the allocated grants. They bring diversity from a geographical, generational, social and gender standpoint.
As carbon and climate is one of Apheon’s key priorities, in 2023 Apheon set up an internal climate taskforce made up of one member from each of Apheon’s core locations: Alessia Negri (Italy), Herbert Vanden Eynde (Benelux), Sebastian Walter (Germany), Adrien Hautefeuille (France) and Pablo Marín (Spain).
The mission of the Climate Task Force is to closely monitor the progress on the carbon reductions in portfolio companies and deliberate and provide feedback on how Apheon can better tackle climate-related issues.
Our portfolio companies are at the heart of our sustainability strategy. It is through their actions that we believe we can generate the greatest positive impact for the planet and society. We work with them tirelessly to support all aspects of their ESG journeys, from setting the agenda, to establishing key KPIs and implementing ESG methodologies and initiatives.
Each and every company is an active participant on this sustainability journey, and we engage across all levels from management teams through to employees in different parts of the organization.
To promote and drive the discussion on gender diversity at Apheon, we joined Level 20 in 2022. Level 20 is a non-profit organization founded in the UK in 2015 with the aim to improve gender diversity in the private equity industry through several specific initiatives, such as networking events and mentoring programs.
Level 20 has “chapters” located in the IJK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, and the Nordic countries, therefore covering all Apheon’s core locations. Apheon’s female employees have enrolled in the program. As an active member, Apheon was instrumental in the opening of the Belgian chapter in 2022.
As a private equity manager, we acknowledge the importance of exchanging best practices with our peers. Since 2016, we have been an active member of Invest Europe, the association representing Europe’s private equity, venture capital and infrastructure sectors, as well as their investors.
As of 2023, Apheon has been part of Invest Europe’s ESG working group, to promote responsible investment practices and the consideration of ESG issues amongst members and the broader private equity community.
Initially launched by a collective of French private equity firms in 2015, ICI members share a commitment to reducing carbon emissions of private equity-backed companies.
Through knowledge share, experience and best practice, we work together with our peers to develop resources that Will help standardize practices across the industry.
Launched by a group of French private equity in 2021, the ESG Data Convergence Initiative is an industry-led effort by the private equity community to drive convergence of meaningful ESG metrics, and to generate comparable, performance-based ESG data. Apheon became a signatory in 2023.
Our investors play a vital role within our ecosystem. They bring extensive knowledge and have insights into different frameworks from the broader industry. Constant and open dialogue with them enables us to exchange ideas and learn from each other. We enrich our ESG initiatives with their input and feedback.
Whenever possible, our investors also participate in Apheon’s ESG initiatives such as our annual Apheon Challenge or our Apheon Career Workshops, which we host for students, in order to strengthen collective impact.
We work with a number of charitable organizations across Europe on our youth, diversity and inclusion-related initiatives.
We engage with external experts to continue to build and strengthen our expertise on sustainability frameworks. We also leverage them for operational support. As a core example, we developed our carbon footprint methodology together with Carbone 4, a leading independent consulting firm specialized in energy transition, and developed social barometers with Business & Values, a purpose-driven business consultancy firm.
