What we do
What | The EDCI is a global partnership of private markets stakeholders committed to streamlining the industry’s historically fragmented approach to collecting and reporting ESG data. Our mission is to create a critical mass of meaningful, performance-based, and comparable private company sustainability data
Why | We seek to overcome the disparate constellation of sustainability performance assessment frameworks and tools in the private markets. Converging as an industry on consistent definitions allows GPs and their portfolio companies to benchmark their position and generate progress on material ESG topics while enabling greater transparency and more comparable portfolio information for LPs.
How | The Initiative’s participating GPs agree to report on a core set of sustainability metrics drawn from existing frameworks and utilizing a standardized format. This data is then validated and aggregated into an anonymized benchmark by BCG, before being shared with LPs (either bilaterally or through the EDCI’s data sharing functionality).
Who | The EDCI’s members include 475+ GPs and LPs representing ~$38 trillion in assets under management across Private Equity, Infrastructure and Private Credit. Meanwhile over 20 data platforms are supporting the EDCI through data collection and submission or benchmark visualization.
ESG categories & metrics
GHG Emissions
Net Zero
Renewable Energy
Diversity
Work-Related Accidents
Net New Hires
Employee Engagement
How the EDCI is Creating Value for the Private Markets
GPs struggle with a mounting volume of bespoke ESG data requests from their LPs, while their underlying portfolio companies navigate an increasingly complex set of Sustainability frameworks. In GPs’ interaction with current or prospective portfolio companies, they have been unable to draw on meaningful private market data to develop an understanding of their own relative performance on key dimensions.
The EDCI helps GPs address these challenges. It simplifies their process of reporting to LPs by using standard definitions and templated methods, enabling voluntary in-platform data sharing with LPs, and provides them with benchmark-driven insights into how their portfolio companies compare to their peers.
Infrastructure investors similarly struggle with the volume of bespoke ESG data requests from their LPs, while helping their portfolio companies navigate an increasingly complex set of Sustainability and industry frameworks. Infrastructure funds seek meaningful private market data for insight on their relative performance on key Sustainability dimensions.
In 2024, an EDCI working group determined that the core EDCI metrics are fully relevant for Infra funds. With some slight adjustment to data submission fundamentals (e.g., asset stage changed to if it is in development or operational), the initiative now welcomes Infrastructure funds to join, contribute data and access the benchmark and insights.
Private Credit firms are increasingly needing to understand the ESG characteristics of the companies to which they are lending – both to enable their reporting requirements, and also to improve the quality of their investment decision making, effectively linking the cost of borrowing to the risk of the underlying assets. However, historically private credit funds have struggled to access this data, due to a lack of convergence around what to measure.
The EDCI has accelerated convergence around core ESG metrics for the private markets and is improving the availability of consistent, clearly defined, performance-based data. Private credit funds can now join the initiative as contributing members and benefit from accessing the EDCI benchmark, alongside requesting ESG data directly from participating GPs.
LPs have historically been unable to see meaningful, performance-based, and comparable ESG data across their portfolios.
The EDCI provides LPs with greater transparency on their portfolios by enabling industry-wide convergence on ESG metric collection and data submission. In addition, LPs can more effectively engage with their GPs based on an understanding of GP performance relative to the broader industry while requesting and accessing ESG data from their GPs directly in the EDCI platform.
Driving client engagement, increasing analytical functionality, and developing strategic partnerships are critical for ESG Data Platforms seeking to grow their business.
The EDCI offers Inbound and Outbound APIs which enable Data Platforms to connect with the EDCI to streamline EDCI data submissions for their clients while harnessing the benchmark’s data to unlock insights and increase engagement with EDCI member clients. Platforms are welcome to connect to one or both APIs.
