Asking any one industry to save the world is, admittedly, hyperbolic. But the fast-growing private equity industry is, in many ways, uniquely positioned to use its strengths, market position and capabilities to generate positive returns for society in specific areas as it generates returns for investors. In fact, the ways the industry creates value today is directly translatable to an environment in which we face an imperative to repair, rethink and reconfigure. PE’s edge has always been to create value by driving transformation more quickly and deeply than other owners can. In the industry’s first decades, that meant swiftly reducing costs and repositioning assets. Today and tomorrow, that can mean turning its catalysing power to decarbonisation and sustainability—and, to do so throughout large portfolios that cut across geographies and industry sectors.
