Arcus constantly strives to improve environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards across our portfolio companies. Arcus is a signatory to the UNPRI, the UK Stewardship Code and a member of the Global ESG Benchmark for Real Assets (GRESB).

In 2019, for the third consecutive year, Arcus European Infrastructure Fund 1 (‘AEIF1’) was ranked first of the European Infrastructure Funds (against 36 peers) in the GRESB Infrastructure Assessment, an industry-wide ESG benchmark.

For the underlying Arcus investee companies, the highlights in 2019 include the results of the Alpha Trains, Brisa and GTC assessments which came first in Rail Companies Europe, Road Companies Globally/Europe and European Motorways respectively.

Overall, all Arcus assets scored well when benchmarked against their peers and four of the six reporting assets received a 5-star rating.

These strong results also meant AEIF1 was ranked first in diversified infrastructure funds globally (against 74 peers), which is an excellent result and recognition of our strong ESG performance. Overall, Arcus was named the Global Diversified Fund and European Fund Sector leader in the 2019 GRESB Infrastructure Assessment.

We believe that high quality infrastructure is critical to Europe’s future economic growth, as well as its social progression and environmental protection. As an owner and manager of sizable and strategically important businesses, ESG considerations are at the forefront of our thinking in each stage of the investment process.

By continually monitoring and improving ESG factors throughout the investment ownership period, we eliminate risks and create stronger, more sustainable businesses that contribute more to the societies in which they operate and are ultimately more valuable businesses. This virtuous cycle enables us to support the ESG objectives and deliver better returns for the pension plans and investment trusts that form our investor base.

The Arcus ESG policy is available below.