Ardian | Sustainability

Positive impact through responsible investment

We firmly believe that success in our industry involves more than just excellent financial returns. This is why we have been developing Ardian’s approach to responsible investment for more than 10 years. We are constantly experimenting and learning so that we can improve the way we measure ESG performance in our investments and set meaningful targets for improvement. We report in detail on these issues to our LPs and actively support industry initiatives to promote responsible investment.

“Ardian empowers individuals to collectively create sustainable value for all stakeholders” This is our company’s vision for sustainability, which draws together the essential elements of our approach – Ardian’s role as a catalyst for change; the importance of each individual’s actions and the power of collaboration; and the need to ensure the value we create together benefits all stakeholders.

Our Responsible Investment Policy

Sustainability Regulatory Information

our publications

156+

individualized roadmaps for portfolio companies since 2009 (direct funds)
80%

of the companies in our Buyout, Expansion and Infrastructure portfolios that are part of the Ardian Sustainability Program have put in place employee profit-sharing schemes during our ownership
290+

GPs reviewed since 2011 (Secondaries & Primaries)

Architects of Lasting Change

Ardian’s new corporate video tells our story in our own words – how we embrace change, invest today to shape tomorrow, build to last, provide strength, share values and accelerate change for all our stakeholders.

Sustainability Program and main priorities

Our aim is to maximize Ardian’s positive contribution to society (people and planet) and ensure our company can grow sustainably by incorporating Environmental, Social and Governance considerations into our investment process and throughout our operations. Through our investments and corporate actions, we endeavour to address the four main priorities for Sustainability at Ardian: Climate Change, Diversity & Equal Opportunities, Profit Sharing and Governance & Ethics.

Climate Change

Ardian aims to take a leading role in addressing the global challenge of climate change. We actively support multiple industry-wide initiatives to address this threat and we are committed to helping our portfolio companies identify emissions and carbon trajectories, and develop effective operational plans to reduce their carbon emissions. At the corporate level, climate change is also a source of major concern and several employee-led initiatives are aimed at reducing Ardian’s carbon footprint throughout our offices and operations.

Diversity and Equal Opportunities

We believe greater diversity in our organization will both fulfil Ardian’s social obligations and improve our performance. Our membership of the global Investor Leadership Network represents a public commitment to improve gender balance within Ardian and within our portfolio companies and funds. Beyond gender balance, Ardian is committed to developing and strengthening Diversity and Inclusion throughout our company. We also monitor diversity indicators for our portfolio companies and our Fund of Funds holdings.

Profit Sharing

Our approach to responsible investment is rooted in the idea of sharing, beginning with our decision in 2008 to share capital gains at exit with all employees of our portfolio companies whenever possible. Through our annual engagement program, we actively encourage all our portfolio companies to establish their own profit-sharing mechanism for employees.

Governance and Ethics

As Ardian’s size and impact continues to grow, so does our responsibility to set the best possible example for our wider community of stakeholders. To ensure this, Ardian favors the appointment of independent members to Management Boards and actively promotes the formalization of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability policies in all our portfolio companies. We also pay close attention to codes of ethics and conduct at both corporate and investment levels.

Collaborating for sustainable finance

Ardian is an active supporter of sustainability initiatives in the private investment markets and is a leading voice in its industry, calling for greater focus on sustainability issues.

Initiative Climat International

Ardian was a founding member of the Initiative Climat, formerly known as IC20, which commits signatories to measure and mitigate CO2 emissions of their portfolio companies

UN SDGs

We monitor the ESG performance of our investments closely and are extending this to measure their impacts on society using the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals

UN PRI

We are as strong supporter of the PRI and have achieved leading scores from this global organization for our sustainability performance

ESG Manager of the Year 2024

In October 2024, Ardian was awarded “IJ Global ESG Asset Manager of the Year,” at the IJ Global Awards 2024.

October 2024

All News & Insights

The “Augmented” airport can drive the decarbonization path to a net-zero

To meet the targets of the Paris Agreement and reduce the impact of climate change, airports have to evaluate their long-term resilience and innovate...

Infrastructure, Sustainability Market watch Responsible finance

View of an airport concourse on the tarmac

Ardian Air Carbon, a technological platform to help airports lead the path to a net-zero aviation

Back in 2019, Ardian started developing Ardian Air Carbon, a pioneering solution to support airports in their sustainability strategy towards net-zero...

Infrastructure, Sustainability, Technology & Innovation Market watch Responsible finance

'The Fight for a Net-Zero Aviation' - Ardian's take on aviation decarbonization

Infrastructure, Sustainability, Technology & Innovation Responsible finance

Header study the fight for a net-zero aviation

The Augmented Infrastructure Part III: The Fight for a Net-Zero Aviation

The aviation industry is an important contributor to both global and local economies and plays a key role in connecting territories. As the urgency...

Infrastructure, Sustainability Market watch Responsible finance

The Fight for a Net-Zero Aviation - The Augmented Infrastructure Part III

To meet Paris agreement targets and contain the effects of climate change, the air transport industry is rethinking its ecosystem model and developing...

Infrastructure, Sustainability Market watch

Ardian Infrastructure - The case for hydrogen - Virtual Summit - June 2021

Investing In Climate Action: The Case For Hydrogen

Investing In Climate Action: The Case For Hydrogen is a collaborative effort between Ardian and business leaders in the infrastructure industry.

Infrastructure, Sustainability Market watch

Two transport workers on a construction site with helmet and safety jacket

Why Health and Safety is a question of culture

Rigorous management and measurement systems for workplace Health and Safety are important but will not ensure improvements on their own. To achieve...

Infrastructure, Sustainability Responsible finance

Ardian launches 2021 Activity and Sustainability Reports

Ardian has published its Activity and Sustainability Reports for 2021, outlining key developments during the year and initiatives under way to prepare...