Montréal, Québec, September 15, 2022 - The Québec Emerging Manager Program (“QEMP”) is proud to announce the launch of its newly created ESG Integration Assessment Initiative, in partnership with Close Group Consulting (“CGC”) and in collaboration with Finance Montréal, as part of their sustainable finance objectives.
The initiative is focused on providing emerging managers with advisory services on how to advance their environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) maturity. CGC, an independent and boutique ESG advisory firm, will leverage its proprietary ESG assessment techniques to evaluate the current state of ESG integration against industry best practices and provide quick wins to advance ESG programs at both the investment and corporate levels for each manager. CGC will also hold a roundtable discussion to educate managers on the most common ESG due diligence questions they can expect to receive from institutional investors.
“We are extremely excited to be partnering with QEMP and Finance Montréal on this important initiative. ESG awareness has significantly increased over the past few years and, along with it, so have investors’ ESG integration expectations for their asset managers. This initiative will ensure that the emerging managers in QEMP’s program are not only fully informed about these ESG expectations, but also have practical and actionable guidance on how to increase their own ESG integration maturity.”
– Tamara Close, President, CGC
“We are thrilled to be working with CGC, a boutique firm that reflects our objectives of encouraging financial entrepreneurship, job creation, and highlighting local talent with global expertise. This project will clearly add value to our managers and will identify the next steps to increase our support of ESG best practices to ensure their growth and success in this transition.”
– Carolyn Cartier-Hawrish, Manager, QEMP
“Supporting the development of a vibrant asset management ecosystem has always been part of Finance Montréal’s mandate. As such, we are very proud to collaborate in this initiative as it falls in line with our objective to strengthen sustainable finance expertise among emerging managers and help them seize the huge opportunity resulting from the alignment of capital allocation to ESG-driven funds.”
– Jacques Deforges, Chief Executive Officer, Finance Montréal
“Innocap strives to ensure a rigorous institutional framework of due diligence and risk management for QEMP investors. This new collaboration reflects our shared commitment to advancing the role of ESG as part of that investment process. As the leader in the dedicated managed account industry, we work with investors to increase transparency and control over their assets. Initiatives that increase ESG maturity and integration among emerging managers are fully in step with that objective.”
– Caroline Bergeron, Global Head, ESG and Impact Solutions, Innocap
The initiative is expected to take place during the fall of 2022. Additional program assistance will be provided by Finance Montréal which is aiming to make sustainable finance a key element in the development and influence of the financial industry. Québec’s financial cluster will act as a point of contact to coordinate participation of local emerging managers and provide support where needed to propel them to the forefront of sustainable finance.
The PGEQ Fund L.P. has approximately C$365 million of assets under management as of August 1st, 2022. Eight new emerging managers have joined the program since 2021, adding to the investment talent available to institutional allocators and diversifying investment portfolios with a broad range of traditional and alternative solutions. The QEMP’s impact has been accelerated thanks to a strategic investment last year totalling $110 million from the Government of Québec and some of its initial investors.
About the QEMP
Created in 2016, the QEMP’s mandate is to promote the growth of financial entrepreneurship in Québec by offering institutional investors diversified investment strategies managed by independent Québec-based emerging managers. This project was developed in connection with the work of Finance Montréal’s Entrepreneurship Work Group, in collaboration with established portfolio management firms. The QEMP seeks emerging managers offering traditional strategies (fixed income, Canadian equity, US equity, global equity, sustainable or ESG strategies, etc.) and alternative strategies (hedge funds, sustainable or ESG strategies and real asset funds, etc.). In order to invest in the growth of leading managers of the future, the QEMP encourages allocators, cities and municipalities, pension funds, foundations and universities to join the program. For more information about the QEMP, visit www.qemp.ca or consult our LinkedIn page.
About Innocap
Innocap is the combination of two of the most respected firms in the dedicated managed account industry: Innocap + HedgeMark. Since 1996, Innocap provides institutional allocators a superior way to structure, access and monitor their alternative investments through their platform. Innocap is the leading Dedicated Managed Account Platform in the world with US$49 billion in assets as of August 1st, 2022, >235 funds, >US$900 billion of client assets leveraging their technology. They benefit from solid, committed, and long-term institutional shareholders. Innocap’s team is home to >300 innovative talents and robust financial technology operating from 7 locations worldwide. For more information about Innocap, visit www.innocap.com or consult our LinkedIn page.
About Close Group Consulting
With offices in Montréal, Boston, and London, Close Group Consulting (CGC) is an independent and boutique ESG advisory firm that works with asset managers, general partners, asset owners, and corporations to frame and address ESG factors as a value-enhancing aspect of core business strategy. Leveraging its in-depth capital and financial markets experience, the firm works in partnership with clients to design and implement tailored, end-to-end ESG integration frameworks that advance ESG maturity. Since its inception in November 2017, CGC has worked with a wide range of clients and has implemented mandates for global investment managers with combined assets under management of over $1.8 trillion. To learn more about CGC, visit www.closegroupconsulting.com or email info@closegc.com.
About Finance Montréal
Founded in 2010, Finance Montréal, the financial cluster in Quebec, is at the heart of the development and promotion of the Quebec financial services industry and its international positioning as a growing, competitive, attractive and innovative world-class financial center. The organization also focuses on fintech and innovation, sustainable finance and talent development. Hub of the financial community, Finance Montréal mobilizes its forces around these poles, much like the community it built around its Montréal FinTech Station. To learn more about Finance Montréal, visit www.finance-montreal.com or consult our LinkedIn page.
