UK and Ireland capital investor BGF has appointed Bermuda’s Apex Group Ltd to provide ESG ratings and advisory services to over 230 high-growth companies in its portfolio.

BGF is an established, independent investment company, supporting private businesses and smaller listed companies. It joins over 350 GPs in over 45 countries already using Apex’s ESG services, to report on their investments in-line with ESG standards and regulations.

Apex’s chief commercial officer, ESG, William Chignell said: “As a long-term partner, BGF is uniquely placed to help drive sustainable growth for its portfolio and to invest crucial capital into businesses which benefit people and planet.”

Mr Chignell said accurately capturing ESG data is essential to understanding which companies can improve their impact on society, the environment and business communities, now and in the future.

“BGF exists to help brilliant businesses grow, and that includes supporting and championing enhancements in the ESG credentials of our investees,” BGF head of investment operations, Alistair Brew said.

“We back more than one new company a week, which means we need a scalable ESG ratings and advisory solution which can meet the needs of our growing portfolio and help investees to build strong, sustainable businesses.

“Apex are the clear market leaders, delivering meaningful, accurate, efficient analysis and reporting, at scale.”

Apex’s ESG Health Check solution will help BGF support its portfolio on ESG matters, including providing measurable and comparable ESG data, to drive improvement and outperformance over time.

BGF will also benefit from expert support for investment due diligence processes and gap analysis reporting for all new investments.

Apex’s ESG Health Check is designed for minority equity, venture capital or credit investors who do not have a controlling stake in their private company investments but require a high quality and efficient mechanism to assess their portfolio.

Apex ESG Health Check will provide BGF with a quantitative overview of ESG performance at company and portfolio levels; an easy to answer data set; access to Apex’s ESG portfolio for efficient data upload and independent verification; and support from Apex’s team of ESG experts and analysts.

A BGF spokesman said they have taken measures to firmly embed ESG factors into their investment process.