Natixis subsidiary Flexstone appoints ESG head

Natixis subsidiary Flexstone Partners has appointed its first head of environmental, social and corporate governance.

The small- and mid-cap private equity and secondaries firm has appointed Caroline Gibert to the newly created position, which she will hold alongside her existing role as head of investor relations and business development, according to a statement.

Gibert will be responsible for leading Flexstone’s ESG strategy at a firm and portfolio level, including formulating strategy, policies and processes, data collection and reporting, the statement said.

Her team has the specific goals of producing a global ESG report and dedicated ESG reports for each client, ensuring that women account for 40 percent of the investment team by 2030 and making Flexstone a carbon-neutral company by 2050.

“Our mission is to deliver attractive risk-adjusted long-term performance to our clients,” said managing partner Eric Deram. “The objective of ESG integration is to enrich our mission by making sure all portfolio managers and underlying companies are well-placed to develop a sustainable business model.”

Flexstone closed its Select Opportunities II fund in July 2019 on its €300 million hard-cap, twice the capital raised for its debut fund. The vehicle offers low-cost access to a diversified pool of lower-mid-market secondaries and co-investments.

“For most of our clients, Select Opportunities II is accessible with a 1 percent management fee and 12.5 percent carried interest above 8 percent,” Deram told Secondaries Investor in 2019.

In April, the firm hired Kristof Van Overloop as head of secondaries, based in its Paris office. He came from eight years in Adams Street Partners’ London secondaries team.