Sustainability
Introduction
Poor working conditions, discrimination in the workplace, contamination of the environment and climate change driven extreme events are all common risks in countries where Swedfund invests.
By assessing a company’s environmental and social policies and procedures against international standards, as well as country specific contextual risks, we can identify gaps and high-risk situations that need to be mitigated and safeguarded. Through our close relationship with our investees, we support them in building robust management systems appropriate to their operations. This is done through regular contact, providing training and site visits.
The E&S team is working closely with other departments at Swedfund and is equally integrated into the investment process from due diligence to active management, to the time an investment is exited. Our work is guided by a set of international frameworks outlined in our Policy for Sustainable Development. Read more in the documents below.
We believe that the added value that sound Environmental & Social practices brings to a company does not only create safe and healthy working environments but also supports companies’ governance and financial viability for example through strong risk management.
Business Integrity
Swedfund works towards high standards of business ethics and active prevention of corrupt and fraudulent practices as well as other types of financial crimes.
Corruption harms development by breaking societal trust, weakening democracy, and worsening inequality, poverty, and social divisions.
At the core of this work is Swedfund's Business Integrity Policy which set out the principles and standards that must be adhered to by Swedfund for the fight against corruption, money laundering, terrorist financing, tax evasion and breaches against international sanctions, including internal systems and controls to mitigate these risks effectively.
In Swedfund’s investment activities, the Business Integrity (BI) team is responsible for business integrity risk assessment and management throughout the life of the investments. BI experts are being part of each deal team, and the BI team collaborates closely with Swedfund’s sector teams and the E&S, Legal and Impact teams.
The BI team’s role is twofold, risk mitigation and value addition. The team shall identify potential BI risks related to Swedfund’s portfolio companies. It shall also ensure that the portfolio companies have, or build, capacity to identify, manage and mitigate BI risks, and by this BI create positive value for the investees and contribute to development effects.