ESG positioning in private infrastructure fundraising
研究了私募基础设施基金在营销材料中强调ESG定位是否影响募资成功，发现整体上无显著影响，但早期有微弱正相关，近年已消失。
We examine if environmental, social and governance (ESG) positioning by private equity infrastructure funds affects fundraising success. We use novel hand-collected data from a proprietary sample of fund marketing documents. By adapting methodologies from the extant literature on private equity fundraising, we directly address the fundraising event rather than the time between successor funds. Our results from private equity infrastructure fundraising events between 2006 and 2021 indicate that ESG positioning in fund marketing documents does not have a significant impact on fundraising success. This is an important finding as it suggests that investors do not respond to ESG-related claims in marketing materials at the fund level. However, there is some evidence of a weak positive relationship between ESG positioning and fundraising success that we observe in the earlier sample period that has dissipated in more recent years. This might be explained by firms trying to materialize value from “cheap-talk” due to first mover advantage. Date: August 2023.