Preqin has appointed  Jaclyn Bouchard as its Head of Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) as the company is ramping up its efforts to provide quality ESG data at scale for private markets.  

Bouchard joins Preqin from S&P Global where she worked for almost ten years in various sustainability-related roles, most recently spearheading the development of S&P’s ESG products.

As Head of ESG, Bouchardas will be responsible for further developing Preqin’s ESG product suite as well as working together with external stakeholders globally to support the alternative assets industry in navigating a complex and ever-changing ESG reporting landscape.

Commenting on her appointment, Bouchardas said: “For someone as passionate about ESG and using business to accelerate more sustainable markets as I am, Preqin’s commitment to the sector is something that matched my own ambition and clearly stood out for me. I am extremely excited to further develop and implement Preqin’s ESG product suite, as demand for quality ESG data solutions is growing rapidly.”

ESG factors have become a major business priority for alternatives professionals. 

According to a recent Preqin survey of fund managers, two-thirds noted that the lack of high-quality, consistent ESG data was the main challenge to implementing an ESG policy.

Confusion over terminology (43%) and lack of knowledge or expertise (32%) were also noted among the prime roadblocks to comprehensive ESG policies. 

To address this challenge, Preqin launched ESG Solutions in November 2020 — the first of its kind ESG data solution for the private markets, designed to capture, analyze and display ESG risk exposure and transparency data from across the alternatives sector. 

Mark O’Hare, Founder and CEO of Preqin, said: “We are thrilled to have Jaclyn join Preqin. ESG is transforming how institutional investors source and select alternative asset funds, and there are still challenges around adoption, scoring and benchmarking.”

“Jaclyn’s invaluable experience and expertise will help us tackle those challenges with the most comprehensive ESG data in the sector and advance the adoption of ESG in the private markets.”