Introduction
A message from our CEOs
The investment landscape is being reshaped by technological disruption, shifting regulatory expectations, and a heightened focus on operational resilience.
At Apax, investing responsibly means focusing on what is material, measuring it well, and acting where it can move the needle and create value. We embed this in our execution rigour, financial discipline, and risk management to build stronger, more resilient businesses.
For portfolio companies, the business case for decision-useful sustainability data is strong. In 2024, 98% of Apax Buyout funds portfolio companies participating in our annual survey received requests from customers, lenders, or other stakeholders for sustainability KPIs. Furthermore, 90% of these companies agreed that sustainability affects brand equity, and 85% say it matters to employees.1
We’ve responded by scaling our efforts in data and climate. We streamlined the quantitative and qualitative information we collect annually from portfolio companies and achieved 98% participation from majority-owned companies in our 2024 survey.2 We continue to upgrade the Apax Intelligence Platform (AIP) and leverage AI to bring financial, operational, and sustainability KPIs into a decision-ready dataset. On climate, we performed our first portfolio-wide climate risk assessment and reported financed emissions for the first time in our Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) aligned report. To advance portfolio emission reductions, we hosted our inaugural decarbonisation workshop for portfolio companies in London in August 2025.
Andrew Sillitoe & Mitch Truwit Co-CEOs
Looking ahead, we are focused on moving the highest-emitters from measurement to credible targets and near-term plans aligned with operational strategy. We intend to keep materiality at the centre, prioritising levers that reduce cost, protect revenue, and manage risk. We will also continue to strengthen data quality and coverage, expand financed-emissions reporting, and use AI to accelerate measurement and performance tracking.
When companies have reliable data, understand their exposures, risks, and opportunities, and embed these into strategy, they can lower costs, build more resilient workforces, strengthen brands, and be better positioned for the future. This philosophy continues to guide our engagement with management teams, and we look forward to sharing our progress next year.
- Percentages represent share of respondents selecting ‘Somewhat,’ ‘More than average,’ or ‘Significantly’ when asked how much sustainability/ESG affects (i) brand/competitiveness and (ii) employees (‘Not at all’ excluded).
- Percentage of Apax funds' portfolio companies that received and responded to the annual Apax sustainability survey, which is sent to all majority owned and a subset of minority owned companies.
