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ESG: From cute and fluffy to having real bite

Environmental, social and governance policies were once seen as mostly decorative but buyout firms now know they matter to the bottom line

ESG: From cute and fluffy  to having real bite
Photo: Source: Getty Images

When Swiss private equity manager Partners Group took over Universal Services of America in October 2013, the security company had a problem typical of the sector. It was bad at retaining staff.

Universal had more than 45,000 security staff but was having to hire about 15,000 every year. It was costly. For each person that left the company, it had to spend money finding a replacement.

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