NORD Holding
ESG and Values
Since NORD Holding’s inception we have been creating value to all our stakeholders. We strongly believe that our investors and company owners not only trust in us because of our approach, but because of our core values that go beyond our investment processes.
Investing in the best private equity funds
Despite the ever-increasing global capital allocation to the private equity asset class, we believe that capital should always be considered a scarce resource. We are very much aware that the impact of our work reaches as far as local economic prosperity, employment and social benefits – therefore besides our responsibility towards our investors and companies we also take our social responsibility very serious.
Before taking an investment decision, NORD Holding assesses the funds to confirm that they are focused on sustainable value creation that goes beyond the holding period of the fund. We only target those teams where we believe that they can bring their companies to the next level and build better companies which are able to grow further under a new owner. We do not believe in passive ownership structures and therefore we only invest with teams that consider operational improvement to be the main value driver for an investment.
Investing in the market leaders of today & the “hidden champions” of tomorrow
Through over 50 years of partnering with exceptional management teams and founders, we built an unparalleled wealth of experience and network of senior experts. We aim to bring together outstanding people and ground-breaking ideas, shaping the future of the "German Mittelstand". At NORD Holding, we truly believe in creating real and lasting value beyond the time of our ownership. Based on this philosophy, we are not only committed to support our companies and teams, but also to contributing to our communities – today, tomorrow and for at least another 50 years.
EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation
The Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (“SFDR”) applied from March 2021. The SFDR requires financial market participants such as NORD Holding to provide information to investors with regards to the integration of sustainability risks, the consideration of principal adverse impacts, the promotion of environmental or social characteristics, and sustainable investment.
Our policies required by the SFDR can be found at the following links:
UNPRI - Principles for Responsible Investment
Together with its international network of signatories, the UNPRI Initiative is dedicated to the practical implementation of the six principles for responsible investment. The aim is to improve understanding of the impact of investment activities on environmental, social and governance issues, and to support signatories in integrating these issues into their investment decisions. The Principles for Responsible Investment were developed by an international group of institutional investors and reflect the increasing relevance of environmental, social and governance issues to investment practice. The process was launched by the UN Secretary-General.
By signing the Principles in May 2019, we as investors publicly commit to their adoption and implementation, to the extent consistent with our fiduciary obligations. We also commit to evaluating the effectiveness of the Principles and improving their content over time. We believe this will enable us to better meet our obligations to our beneficiaries and better align our investment practices with broader societal objectives.
Level 20
We are delighted to be a Sponsor of Level 20, the not-for-profit organisation established to inspire women to join and succeed in the private equity industry.
Our firm supports Level 20’s mission to encourage greater female representation across the private equity industry with the goal of having 20% of senior positions in the industry held by women and with a particular focus on increasing the number of women in investment roles.
We support Level 20’s five key initiatives to achieve this mission: mentoring and development; networking and events; outreach; advocacy; and research. We encourage our employees irrespective of gender to be active members of Level 20 by contributing to Level 20-led research, discussion groups and outreach events and participating in the annual mentoring programme. Our firm’s engagement with these activities is led by our internal Level 20 Lead Partner Sponsor.
NORD Holding is a Member of Level 20 since 2022.
Climate Neutral Now
The Climate Neutral Now Initiative is one of several initiatives launched by the UNFCCC secretariat to increase climate action by engaging non-Party stakeholders (sub-national governments, companies, organizations, individuals). It was launched in 2015 based on a mandate to promote the voluntary use of carbon market mechanisms recognized under the Convention.
It has evolved to become a much wider tool for awareness-raising, capacity building, partnership development, promoting and facilitating the estimation of carbon footprints, the reduction of those footprints, and voluntary compensation (offsetting).
The Climate Neutral Now Initiative encourages and supports organizations and other interested stakeholders to act now in order to achieve a climate neutral world by 2050 as enshrined in the Paris Agreement. The initiative is NOT a certification scheme for its participants. It is a tool to promote additional voluntary action on climate, and to provide recognition for it. Claims of carbon neutrality, net zero or similar are out of the scope of Climate Neutral Now, even when participation in the initiative can help stakeholders advance in their path to achieve those certifications through suitable standards and processes.
WEP - Women's Empowerment Principles
The Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) are a set of Principles offering guidance to business on how to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community. Established by UN Global Compact and UN Women, the WEPs are informed by international labour and human rights standards and grounded in the recognition that businesses have a stake in, and a responsibility for, gender equality and women’s empowerment.
WEPs are a primary vehicle for corporate delivery on gender equality dimensions of the 2030 agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. By joining the WEPs community, the CEO signals commitment to this agenda at the highest levels of the company and to work collaboratively in multistakeholder networks to foster business practices that empower women. These include equal pay for work of equal value, gender-responsive supply chain practices and zero tolerance against sexual harassment in the workplace.
We signed WEPs in 2022.
iCI - Initiative Climat International
The initative Climat International (iC International) was originally launched as the iC20 (Initiative Climat 2020) in November 2015 by a group of private equity firms who decided to join forces and contribute to the Paris Agreement’s objective of limiting global warming to well-below 2 degrees Celsius.
Private equity is an integral part in the global economic system, facilitating sustained growth across industries and market sectors. In light of this, iC International’s call to action is clear: the global private equity industry has to play its part in tackling climate change by leveraging tried-and-tested methodologies to analyse and mitigate carbon emissions and exposure to climate-related financial risks in their portfolios.
NORD Holding is member of this initiative since 2022.
Responsible investing principles
NORD Holding is committed to following a responsible and ethical approach across its activities. We believe this is a key point to ensure long-term success in a rapidly changing environment. Companies which are dedicated to carefully follow ESG principles (Environmental, Social and Governance) will find themselves perfectly positioned to face the challenges of tomorrow, such as the anticipated environmental changes, plummeting resources, and increasing changes in regulation. Therefore, we have integrated ESG considerations as a full step of our investment process. This ensures that the allocation of our capital will be made in a way which favours and promotes businesses which follow such responsible principles.
Our Responsible Investment Policy can be found here.
Community engagement
The entire NORD Holding team is committed to supporting the local community each year with a portion of their income and therefore we have founded our own non-profit and charitable organization NORD Holding Stiftung e.V. (The NORD Holding Foundation). The Foundation supports selected aid projects, in particularly organizations that work for the sick and those in need.