In brief: Welcome guidance on human rights

The PRI has launched its technical, private markets-focused guidance for human rights due diligence. Full document here and precis here.

Human rights as an investor issue – specifically in private markets – has been creeping up the agenda for a couple of years now. To date, however, the breadth and complexity of the topic has left investors in the dark “feeling their own way” when it comes to integrating human rights into due diligence processes, as we heard from Kate McKeon of InfraRed Capital Partners back in November.

“The guidance can most directly be applied by direct equity investors in private companies or assets such as infrastructure and forestry,” write the authors of the document. “Indirect investors, such as limited partners or fund of fund managers investing in private markets through general partners, can use the guidance to understand the range of activities that managers can undertake to respect human rights within their portfolios, and will help indirect investors to select, appoint and monitor those managers.”