Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP)
The Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) is a nonprofit watchdog organization that is focused on the massive, and hugely influential, private equity and broader private funds industry. The growing industry plays a role in more and more aspects of life in the US and around the world. Yet, unlike publicly traded transactions on the open market, private investments are not subject to government oversight, reporting, nor transparency rules.
This hidden industry manages nearly $7.5 trillion in assets and owns companies that employ more than 11 million American workers, plus millions more around the world.
The mission of the Private Equity Stakeholder Project is to bring transparency and accountability to the private equity industry and help empower impacted communities individuals and organizations grappling with the impacts of private equity. PESP research focuses on five key areas:
climate and energy
workers & jobs
housing
healthcare
detention & surveillance
The Private Equity Energy Tracker showcases a list of the energy holdings of 21 of the largest private equity firms globally. As a result, pension funds and other investors now have the tools to realize the risks their capital faces when exposed to these private equity-owned fossil fuel companies.
Report: Private Equity Propels the Climate Crisis: The Risks of a Shadowy Industry’s Massive Exposure to Oil, Gas and Coal (Oct 2021)
The private equity industry has pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into fossil fuel companies. Investors, regulators and policymakers must compel private equity firms to provide full transparency on their fossil fuel holdings and impacts.
Report: New Report: Private Equity Profits from Disaster (Sept 2023)
Key Findings: From January 2020 through June 2023, private equity firms acquired 72 companies that specialize in disaster restoration. Private equity acquisitions in the sector have increased year over year, with consolidation occurring in all regions across the United States.
Increasingly, private equity firms seeking high returns for themselves have come to dominate the disaster recovery sector, reducing workplace standards, overcharging communities and exploiting disasters to extract fees and profits without regard to the workers and communities harmed by their practices.
Some private equity firms that own companies in the disaster restoration industry are also contributing to climate disaster by investing in fossil fuel companies — profiting from both creating and cleaning up climate catastrophe!