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Aligning Private Asset Portfolios with Net-Zero
Harness the power of MSCI ESG Research1 and Burgiss Data to take climate change into account across unlisted asset classes
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Climate-Aligned Private Asset Intro
Institutional investors are sharpening their focus on the financial impacts of climate change in private-asset portfolios. Though climate risk affects every asset, the challenge of addressing it intensifies with private portfolios because of the opacity that can characterize such assets.
Limited Partners (LPs) are aligning their strategies with global temperature targets and assessing climate-related risks and opportunities.
General Partners (GPs) are examining the climate resilience of portfolio companies and other unlisted assets, pursuing climate engagement and offering investors insight into the impact of transition and physical risk on valuations.2
See how investors use MSCI ESG Research and Burgiss Data to take climate change into account across public and private asset classes.
Why Climate-Aligned Private Asset Portfolio?
What is Carbon Footprinting of Private Equity and Debt Funds?
Carbon Footprinting of Private Equity and Debt Funds offers comprehensive data and analysis for measuring and monitoring greenhouse gas emissions within private equity portfolios. The tool, which combines performance data produced by Burgiss Data, a market leader in data and analytics for private assets, with climate risk models developed by MSCI ESG Research, helps investors measure and compare carbon emissions of private companies and other unlisted assets, and to see how climate risk may affect private company valuations.3
Carbon Footprinting of Private Equity and Debt Funds is available as an extension of Burgiss Transparency Data delivered through the Burgiss Private i® Analytics Platform, MSCI Analytics and other third-party platforms.
How can clients use Carbon Footprinting?
Carbon Footprinting of Equity and Debt Funds helps investors understand the long-term implications of climate change in private asset portfolios.
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LPs
- Measure and monitor the greenhouse gas emissions of private equity portfolios, based on estimates for more than 15,000 companies in more than 5,500 active private equity and debt funds
- Aggregate and compare emissions by fund, asset class, strategy or portfolio
- Align private-asset portfolios with global temperature targets
- Identify carbon-intensive investments and low-carbon investment opportunities
- Assess how general partners engage portfolio companies on climate and ESG
- Meet net-zero commitments and report on decarbonization of private asset investments pursuant to the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
GPs
- Measure exposure and optimize portfolios based on climate change metrics
- Model and set the baseline for portfolio company emissions
- Inform climate engagement
- Monitor decarbonization efforts and progress against climate targets
- Meet net-zero commitments and report climate change metrics to limited partners
- Create value through decarbonization engagement and alignment with global temperature targets
How Climate-Aligned Private Asset Portfolio works
Using Analytical Tools to Address Climate Change in Private-Equity Portfolios
Measure Carbon Footprint | Assess resilience to risks and opportunities | Create climate-aligned strategies | Conduct due diligence | Climate risk and ESG reporting | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Limited Partners | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
General Partners | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Companies | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
Consultants | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Cutting-Edge Climate Insight Across Your Entire Portfolio
MSCI helps investors address the financial impacts of climate change at every stage and better understand how the risks and opportunities of a warming climate may affect their portfolios.

Carbon Emissions
Determine and benchmark companies’ complete carbon footprint (Scope 1, 2 and 3).

Transition Risk
Assess risks companies may face in the transition to a net-zero economy.

Physical Risk
Estimate exposure of companies’ operations to extremes of weather, flooding and other physical risks.

Implied Temperature Rise
Estimate alignment of companies or portfolios with global temperature targets.

Climate Scenario Analysis
Stress test the performance of portfolios for varied climate transition and physical risk scenarios.

Real Estate Climate Value-at-Risk (Climate VaR)
A forward-looking and return-based valuation assessment for individual assets and portfolios.
Request a demo of Carbon Footprinting of Private Equity and Debt Funds. Or get in touch to discuss aligning your portfolio with growing climate considerations.
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1 MSCI ESG Ratings, research and data are produced by MSCI ESG Research LLC, a subsidiary of MSCI Inc. MSCI ESG Indexes, Analytics and Real Estate are products of MSCI Inc. that utilize information from MSCI ESG Research LLC. MSCI Indexes are administered by MSCI Limited (UK).
2 “Private markets are a hot topic for 2022,” FT, January 14, 2022, https://www.ft.com/content/45ecf00a-0efe-4bc5-8c54-ca626ada4ecd?shareType=nongift
3 Information containing any historical information, data or analysis should not be taken as an indication or guarantee of any future performance, analysis, forecast or prediction. Past performance does not guarantee future results. MSCI ESG Research products and services are provided by MSCI ESG Research LLC, and are designed to provide in-depth research, ratings and analysis of environmental, social and governance-related