Back to How We Help Clients

Sustainable Investing

Steering investment capital to the areas of greatest promise

Institutional investors are increasingly committing to sustainability as a core driver of financial value, with a growing number launching climate-dedicated funds.

We work closely with private equity firms and investors to help them create investment strategies, identify and assess the most promising opportunities for carbon reductions, and drive the success and growth of their sustainability-focused portfolio companies.

What we do

Enterprise and fund-level strategy

We help new and existing funds develop investment theses, aspirations, and narratives, set compelling and credible targets, measure impact across diverse and evolving portfolios, and scale sustainability and ESG capabilities and tools.

Opportunity scans and target selection

We identify investment opportunities with extraordinary growth potential based on technology advances, shifting customer demands and commitments, and rapidly evolving regulatory environments.

Due diligence

We conduct detailed and rigorous due diligence on high-potential investments, integrating knowledge of sustainability with deep sector expertise to define and evaluate nuanced drivers of risk and opportunity.

Portfolio value creation

We work directly with portfolio companies to drive top- and bottom-line growth by accelerating decarbonization journeys and scaling up sustainable businesses.

Examples of our work

Launching a new fund

We are working with one of the world’s largest private equity firms to navigate the complexity of launching a new sustainability fund. We're advising fund managers and limited partners on emerging strategies, technologies, business models, and incumbents. We are also helping clients evaluate investment opportunities and mitigate risk, along with driving top-line growth.

Reviewing the portfolio

Our team helped a global private equity firm conduct a portfolio-wide review of climate change risks and opportunities. We conducted workshops to understand the ESG team’s aspirations, assessed the portfolio’s climate risk across multiple dimensions, and held additional workshops to syndicate the findings and take action.

Featured experts

Sean Kane
Partner, Southern California
Advises on climate, sustainability, and environmental, social, and governance topics; helps investors and high-growth sustainable...
Sara Bernow
Partner, Stockholm
Serves leading institutional investors, private-equity firms, and financial institutions on investment strategy, sustainable investing,...
Sanjay Kalavar
Senior Partner, Houston
Helps energy investors and operators evaluate assets, improve operations, manage risks, and exit
Alex Panas
Senior Partner, Boston
Global co-lead of McKinsey’s Advanced Industries Practice
Vivek Pandit
Senior Partner, Mumbai
Serves the world’s leading investors and shareholders on investment strategy, sustainability, origination, transformations, operations,...
Pontus Averstad
Senior Partner, Stockholm
Leads McKinsey’s Private Equity & Principal Investors Practice in Europe and advises principal investors and financial institution...
Fredrik Dahlqvist
Senior Partner, Stockholm
Coleads our Private Equity & Principal Investors Practice globally, advises private equity companies, government holding corporations,...
Danielle Bozarth
Senior Partner, New York
Brings more than 20 years of experience serving a broad set of B2C companies, including in travel, logistics, consumer, and retail
Tomas Nauclér
Senior Partner, Stockholm
As global leader of McKinsey Sustainability, helps companies and governments develop strategies grounded on a fact-based understanding...
Dee Yang
Partner, New York
Advises large institutions across the public, private, and social sector on managing risk, rethinking strategy, and optimizing...
Anders Rasmussen
Senior Partner, London
Brings expertise in corporate finance and risk management to oil and industrial companies, helping them prepare for growth and...

Featured Insight

Article

Cultivated meat: Out of the lab, into the frying pan

– Making cultivated meat a $25 billion global industry by 2030 presents opportunities within and beyond today’s food industry.

Connect with McKinsey Sustainability