The structure of the ratings report - its ease of communication and efficacy for understanding our impact -- helped guide the investor discussion with the MIF (Multilateral Investment Fund). Our GIIRS rating along with other considerations led to the impact investment decisions from the MIF."

- Daniel Izzo, Partner, Vox Capital

Privacy & Confidentialy

Both the content of the Rating and the verification process cover many sensitive and confidential topics.  As a result, GIIRS takes the privacy and confidentiality of your fund's data and information very seriously.  This page is intended to help you understand what information is shared at what level.  

Privacy Topics on this Page:

  1. Fund Profile Information and Assessment Answers
  2. Your Ratings Report
  3. Verification / Documentation Process
  4. Frequently Asked Questions 

1.  Fund Profile Information and Assessment Answers: 


Viewable to Direct Investors:

A limited partner in a fund  will have access to an investee’s information including profile data, ratings reports, and assessment answers. 

A direct Investor, however, will not be able to view information shared in the verification process such as the company’s Required Documentation or notes from your Assessment Review with GIIRS Staff. 

Viewable to GIIRS Analytics Subscribers:

GIIRS Analytics is a platform that allows investors to find and manage high impact investments.  There are a wide range of financial organizations that use this tool including foundations, private equity fund managers, retail banks, high net-worth individuals, wealth managers, and large financial services organizations. 

Funds can choose to make certain sets of question responses from their GIIRS Assessment visible or invisible to GIIRS Analytics users. They can opt to: Show all answers or Show no answers.

If the company chooses to Show no answers, GIIRS Analytics will still use the fund’s data – BUT the data will be anonymous – investors will not be able to link specific data points back to an fund. GIIRS Analytics will use the anonymous data for Benchmarking and Analytics purposes only. 

To see the complete GIIRS Terms and Conditions, click here 

 

2.  Your Ratings Report:

Omitting fields on your Ratings Report: 

Funds may choose not to disclose the following items on their fund report: Management Fee, Hurdle Rate, and Carry.  Once a fund selects one of these options, it will no longer appear on its Fund Report and will be kept confidential. 

Sharing of your Ratings Report: 

The first two pages of your Ratings Report will be viewable as a PDF to investors who use GIIRS Analytics.   Beyond that, the fund will receive a full Ratings Report, which the fund can choose to share with other investors, employees, or board members. 

3.  Verification / Documentation Process

In order to receive a Verified GIIRS Rating, GIIRS funds must upload answer-supporting documentation for a randomized set of GIIRS assessment questions.

GIIRS uses a third party to verify that the documentation supports a company’s assessment answers.  Deloitte is the primary document review service provider for GIIRS.

Please note all documentation and information provided will be kept confidential; the only parties capable of viewing documentation are the company, GIIRS staff during the review process, and authorized Deloitte staff. A privacy policy is in place between GIIRS and Deloitte to ensure the confidentiality of your data.

4.  Frequently Asked Questions

Why does GIIRS need sensitive information about the company?

An increasing community of Investors uses GIIRS Ratings and Analytics to evaluate and benchmark the positive social and environmental impact of investments.  These investors value a GIIRS Rating for two reasons: 

  1. Because the rating covers topics that are sensitive but good indicators of the fund’s positive impact, and
  2. Because the results are verified to some degree instead of self reported.  

Why does GIIRS need to know information about the funds’s GPs?

In order to maintain its credibility as an independent auditor it is Deloitte’s policy not to provide consulting services and auditing services to the same company or its material owners. As a result, before engaging in a documentation review, Deloitte must check for any potential conflicts of interests with the fund being reviewed.  Therefore, one of the “Standard Documents” that GIIRS asks for is a list of the fund's significant owners (>20% ownership) to enable Deloitte to conduct a conflict of interest check.  If you are already a client of Deloitte, you may forgo this request.  The ownership information will not be used for any other purpose and will be kept strictly confidential.

Who can view the documents my fund provided for verification?

Only trained GIIRS and Deloitte staff will have access to any document provided by the company during the assessment verification process.   All others including your current LPs, potential investor, or GIIRS Analytics subscriber, will not be able to view this information.

Can I receive a GIIRS Ratings Report without being publicly affiliated with GIIRS?

No.  By signing the GIIRS Term Sheet, you agree to two minimum transparency requirements:

  1. Your fund’s name and basic profile information will be listed on giirs.org as a “GIIRS Rated” company as long as your GIIRS Rating is up to date; 
  2. The first two pages of your GIIRS Ratings Report will be visible to paid subscribers of GIIRS Analytics.  Beyond that, you have the ability to select privacy settings which dictate the level of information shared on the report.