With climate change high on the agenda following the most recent COP28 meeting in December, Holtara aims to bring a level of robustness to ESG data and reporting and a global team of sustainability specialists to help clients set meaningful targets and identify improvement pathways. The Holtara team aims to move beyond the ESG ‘tick-box approach’ and risk of greenwashing and help their clients implement real change.

Holtara is a subsidiary of financial services giant Apex Group (“the Group”), known for its single-source solution for asset managers, and one of the first in the industry to launch an ESG solution in 2019.

The formation of the Holtara brand is the latest phase of the Group’s strategy to lead the industry in ESG solutions and brings together an expert team from Apex Group and MJ Hudson, following the acquisition in 2023. The team will be headed by Holtara Managing Director and the Group’s Head of ESG Product, Emma Bickerstaffe, reporting to Chris Mulhern, Chief Product and Technology Officer, Apex Group.

Holtara is a unique proposition in the ESG space already supporting over 3,400 investment managers and companies in over 50 countries through a combination of people and platform powered solutions.

The Holtara platform, ESG Advantage is designed to simplify and streamline ESG reporting enabling clients to comply with global regulation and align with industry frameworks.

Alongside this, Holtara offers an ESG advisory service delivered by 80+ ESG specialists spanning topics including carbon and climate, impact, DEI and supply chain - helping clients understand what ESG themes are most material within their portfolio, set realistic ESG commitments and make the business decisions necessary to meet them.

Holtara is powered by leading data tools, offering one of the largest private market ESG data sources, enabling clients to benchmark and compare their performance to like companies and funds.

Holtara aims to be a sustainability partner throughout the investment life-cycle, from policy and regulatory compliance, due diligence, assessment and reporting to exit planning.

Commenting on today’s launch, Holtara Managing Director, Head of ESG Product, Apex Group - Emma Bickerstaffe said:

Recent years has seen greater political and shareholder scrutiny of ESG claims, resulting in the urgent need for accurate data, transparent reporting and meaningful sustainability commitments. Today we launch Holtara to ensure ESG can stand up to this scrutiny.

We recognise the importance of combining platform and people services to not only simplify and streamline ESG reporting, but also to ensure expertise is on hand to help clients focus on the most material topics, verify collected data and prioritise initiatives to improve performance year on year.

The outcomes of COP28 only serve to further reinforce the need for every business to be part of the change, and our priority is to help private market managers and their investors recognise and embrace their role in building a sustainable economy.

Peter Hughes, Founder & CEO of Apex Group added:

“This is an important milestone in our ESG journey as a Group, and through bringing together the existing Apex ESG offering, and the additional expertise brought in through the MJ Hudson acquisition, under one brand - we can deliver a powerful offering driven by a combination of people and platform. Across the Group we have over 10,000 clients, and a global platform with which we can do good and leave a legacy we can be proud of. Holtara is part of that mission and enables us to empower the private markets to both achieve their financial goals, while making a positive impact on the world around them”.