European specialist provider of capital solutions for small and mid-sized companies Kartesia announced today the appointment of Coralie De Maesschalck as Head of CSR &ESG. In this newly created role, De Maesschalck will be responsible for the firm’s CSR initiatives at corporate level, ESG criteria at portfolio level and internal procedures.

De Maesschalck joined Kartesia in 2015 as Head of Portfolio and ESG. In her new position, she will now dedicate her time fully to CSR and ESG, while remaining part of the investment process going forward. The company announced that Basile Gerber will take over leading the portfolio, which he has been involved in since joining in 2017 and will now manage the team as Head of Portfolio.

Kartesia highlighted its two main ESG and CSR focuses for 2021, including the issuance of its first Sustainability Report, as well as the preparation for the European’s Commission’s Action Plan on Sustainable Finance, as certain key provisions of the EU Disclosure Regulation (part of the Action Plan) must be implemented by 10 March 2021.

The company also announced the launch of the Kartesia For Women initiative, in recognition of the need to attract more and promote female participation in the sector. According to Kartesia, the new initiative will highlight the valuable contribution of women in the organisation and the sector, tell their stories of success and hopefully inspire and educate women to also consider careers in the private debt market.

Damien Scaillierez, Managing Partner at Kartesia said:

“We see good ESG as an important element of managing investment risk and ensuring our porfolio companies are equipped for the future. Whilst it is a core value of all our investment team, having Coralie dedicated to ESG going forward will ensure that it remains fully integrated into the investment process and significantly growing portfolio. Kartesia will also continue working on new CSR and ESG initiatives, as we aim at continuing to lead the way in developing CSR and seeking to integrate ESG issues into the Private Debt sector.”