At Instar, ESG has always been fundamental to how we invest, manage risk and opportunity across our platform and define our corporate purpose, which is to enrich people’s lives. Instar’s third annual ESG report highlights our strategy, initiatives and measurements across our platform that contribute to long-term value creation for our stakeholders and the communities in which we operate. Read the full report here.
Our middle market investment strategy focuses on distinctive, scalable businesses delivering differentiated essential services and solutions to partners, customers and communities.
Instar’s ESG policy integrates ESG considerations throughout our investment and ownership lifecycle with a focus on driving the value of our portfolio companies, future-proofing our platform and enabling a more sustainable, equitable and resilient future. We focus on the sustainability themes that matter the most to our business, our people and our stakeholders, including governance and ethics; stakeholder engagement; climate change; health and safety; and diversity, equity and inclusion.
Instar is a signatory to the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment.
We strive to align our ESG initiatives with the relevant United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and seek to invest in companies that are the best at what they do and essential to the functioning, fairness, health and economic prosperity of society. Our purpose as an organization is to enrich people’s lives through investing, engaging with and supporting our employees and creating value for stakeholders in a manner that contributes to broader social and economic progress. It reflects our conviction in putting people first and elevating sustainability as a core component of our culture and business strategy.
Our investment stewardship provides a strong governance foundation and strategic guidance to help the great companies we invest in become even better.
We evaluate and integrate ESG considerations and impacts throughout our investment process and ongoing portfolio management initiatives, including monitoring material portfolio-wide and sector-specific risks and identifying opportunities for each company to unleash their full potential to build value.*
Connectedness and belonging are inherent to our corporate culture and purpose.
We embrace diversity, equity and inclusion for innovation and growth. We promote equality of opportunity and seek different perspectives to challenge conventional approaches and continuously improve our company’s performance and progress. We believe that diversity and inclusion help us drive innovation, make better decisions, achieve effective stewardship of our business and portfolio companies and enable our people to thrive.
*Instar Asset Management Inc., is offering funds which promote environmental and / or social characteristics as further described in the relevant funds’ offering documentation as well as periodic and / or annual reports. Funds currently managed by Instar Asset Management Inc. integrate a sustainability risk assessment in line with Article 6 SFDR and consequently do not take into account the European Union’s criteria for environmentally sustainable economic activities.
Cracking the Sustainability Code
What next steps are needed to ensure a safe, resilient future? While new technologies are likely to play a key role, says Gregory J. Smith, CEO of InstarAGF Asset Management, we can’t underestimate the value of holistic policies, city planning and community engagement.
Pathway to the Next Level
Infrastructure is central to climate change mitigation and adaptation, writes Gregory Smith, CEO of InstarAGF Asset Management, and can forge a more sustainable path to long-term prosperity.
The Promise of Infrastructure
With a spiraling infrastructure deficit to address over the next two decades, building trust and connectivity with stakeholders is more important, and challenging, than ever before, writes InstarAGF’s Gregory Smith.
The Infrastructure Revolution
Can a net zero-carbon world exist as demand for energy continues to grow? InstarAGF president and CEO Gregory Smith looks at the potential for sustainable infrastructure to deliver triple bottom-line results: value for the environment, the economy and the community.
Raising Awareness, Lifting Communities
MORE THAN EVER BEFORE, trends such as urbanization, emerging technology and climate change are demanding greater collaboration and communication between businesses, governments and communities.
Forming the Future: Flexibility in Essential Infrastructure
Flexibility is emerging as the fundamental development principle for essential infrastructure that meets the needs of both current and future generations, writes InstarAGF president and CEO Gregory J. Smith, and it is no longer business as usual.
How Can Investors Engage With Communities to Build Cities of the Future?
Jonathan A. Schein, senior vice president, managing director of global business development, for Institutional Real Estate, Inc., recently spoke with Gregory Smith, president and CEO of InstarAGF Asset Management, about community engagement in the infrastructure sector. An excerpt of that conversation follows.
The Future of North American Infrastructure
Bringing about new infrastructure financing solutions and improving essential infrastructure systems will require greater innovation on a number of fronts: the adoption of emerging technologies, flexible approaches to collaboration and business models, and updated policies that increase opportunities within new and existing systems.
The Impact of ESG And Stakeholder Engagement in Private Capital Investing
The practice of considering environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in investing has evolved significantly over the past two decades, reflecting greater public and stakeholder interest in sustainability, shifting regulations and the impact of social media.
Evolving Infrastructure Innovation
Our world will effectively be rebuilt over the next two decades, and transformative change is required in how cities are constructed, energy is generated and consumed, goods and people are transported, and how the expanding urban footprint is sustainably managed, argues Gregory J. Smith, chief executive of InstarAGF