Stakeholder Engagement
ASSET (Abraaj Sustainability and Stakeholder Engagement Tracks)
The Context
As the largest private equity firm in the region, we believe fundamentally (and likewise employ people who also believe) that Abraaj has a responsibility and duty to engage all of its forces and strengths behind the creation of vibrant economies, primarily through (intellectual, social and financial) capital flows, investments and by accelerating cultural and developmental linkages across the growth markets in which we operate.
Abraaj has, since its inception in 2002, seen its role as going beyond that of a leading private equity firm providing its investors and shareholders with risk-adjusted returns well above industry benchmarks. Since the beginning, we were drawn by the challenge of pioneering a new private equity model, one which could eventually be adopted by others operating elsewhere. Our starting point was to consider financial value creation as the hub of a nexus driven by truly sustainable, regionally-rooted, economic value creation. In other words, where shareholder returns were primary, but where the ability to create deep-rooted, sustainable changes in the economic landscape within our markets, was as critical a benchmark of success as pure financial returns.
Our financial investments work at the base level of creating economic value, returns and employment; ASSET is the parallel stakeholder-returns directed organization, which ensures the community goals set by the Firm work in harmony with the principal financial one. As such, it sits at the heart of our business.
Our Stakeholders include our employees, moving wider to those employed by companies in which Abraaj invests and the markets, industries and countries in which those businesses in turn operate. At Abraaj we look at how these interconnected communities can be harnessed to have direct sustainable economic and social impacts, above and beyond financial value creation and investor/shareholder value.
Today this approach leads us to the simple logic that we are not just a company of 150 employees, but rather, our actions at any given point in time are responsible for the welfare of 30,000 to 50,000 employees and their families. We understood early that engagement with social issues, engagement with communication channels, engagement with governments and legislators and engagement with academic institutions and seats of learning would enable us to execute the vision of a private equity firm that could have a formidable multiplier effect deep into communities of all sorts through its holdings and partnerships.
ASSET fundamentally drives five distinct programs:
5+5+5
ASSET finds its resources in Abraaj Capital’s unique 5+5+5 program which is funded by 5% of the firm’s management fee income towards developing sustainable and philanthropic partnerships, with zero impact on our LP funds. 5% of employee bonuses (on a voluntary basis) and a minimum of five days of volunteer work into targeted programs by each employee (3 of which are paid for by the firm).
Abraaj will remain focused on developing and implementing multi-stakeholder engagement strategies, giving our employees and partner companies the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the creation of vibrant, environmentally sound and more equitable global growth markets in which we operate. ASSET is the integral core of our business that drives this agenda thereby only strengthening our commitment to creating long-term value.
Click here to download Abraaj Capital's Approach to the Stakeholder Society
The Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME) initiative of the Abraaj Group. An independent platform dedicated exclusively to the SME segment.
The planet's most dynamic, comprehensive and connected entrepreneurial portal, where innovators and change-makers talk to each other.
