Welcome Fran Owen
There is no doubt about her passion and dedication to building better businesses that are ready to tackle todays’ and tomorrows’ challenges.
It is with open arms that we welcome Fran Owen as the newest addition to the Altor community and Copenhagen team. She joins us with experience of advising companies on sustainability and responsible investing, assisting in both the early stages of identifying material topics and more mature cases of embedding sustainability into the heart of the business and finding opportunities for value creation.
There is no doubt about her passion and dedication to building better businesses that are ready to tackle todays’ and tomorrows’ challenges. We sat down for a conversation with Fran about her view on private equity as a driver for sustainability and why Altor made it on her list of preferred employers.
What led you to PwC and a career with focus on sustainability?
Well, it might sound like a cliché, but I’ve always known I wanted to work with sustainability. As a teenager, my interest was sparked after I did some work experience with the BBC News Environment team and it may come as no surprise that I was the head of the environmental club at school. After my Masters I joined the sustainability advisory team at PwC in London. It was the only consulting house with a large sustainability team at the time, and this is what attracted me. After my years in London and later Copenhagen I was looking for an opportunity where I could work with sustainability from a different lens and make an impact by directing investments towards the green transition.
What was your perception of Altor?
I had met members of the Altor team and the portfolio companies in my role as a consultant, and from the start my impression is that they are very motivated and genuine people. I also admire Stephanie’s (Head of Sustainability) ambitions to drive sustainability performance across the Altor portfolio, and proactively seek out opportunities. This is important to me, sustainability must be viewed as a core part of value creation for the companies and Altor’s own operations, I feel convinced that this is the case at Altor.
Fran Owen, Sustainability Value Creation Manager“What attracted me with Altor was that sustainability is viewed as an important part of the value creation story. It’s not a trend, it’s genuine”
What role do you see private equity playing in shaping/driving the sustainability agenda?
The simple answer is that private equity has the capabilities and expertise to shape and scale businesses. If this is done with sustainability in mind, we can assist with transforming so called brown businesses to green. And provide companies that are accelerating the green transition, such as OX2 and H2GS, with the capital and active ownership they need to take their operations and impact to new heights and markets.
Looking ahead, what excites you the most?
I’m excited to get to know my new colleagues and the portfolio companies. Each sector holds its own challenges and opportunities, and each company is a unique case. I look forward to working with sustainability from an investor perspective and applying my experience to make a difference.
Published: Mar 22 2023
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