As private equity firms continue to formalize value creation efforts, many are embracing industry-specific technology solutions like Maestro to better engage portfolio companies, manage the execution of plans, and track and measure results. Unlike generic project management and collaboration platforms, Maestro is purpose-built to meet the unique requirements of sponsors as they seek to accelerate growth on a day-to-day basis.

While Maestro has emerged as a valuable tool for enhancing collaboration and driving alignment between sponsors and portfolio teams, private equity firms are also turning to Maestro with increased regularity to enhance and uplevel their own internal operations in some of the following ways:

Enhancing Communications and Engagement Among Operating Teams 

For private equity firms with teams of operating partners working to implement value creation plans across multiple portfolio companies, understanding how internal resources are being deployed, where specialist expertise is being utilized, and ensuring alignment between engagement activity and company goals is critical. Sponsors like Charlesbank, are using Maestro to capture the details of these engagements and track with increased detail as to how needles have been moved, desired growth achieved, and growth accelerated.

“We use Maestro to maximize the ROI of our Portfolio Resources Group and track execution of every value creation initiative we pursue,” said Giacomo Sonnino, Advisory Director at Charlesbank, the private equity owner of Accordion, where Maestro is a subsidiary. “Maestro has helped us enhance communication and alignment between investment teams and Portfolio Resource Group.”

Advisory and functional support, participation in events, pitches, deal support, talent acquisition tracking, and more can be logged in Maestro outside the view of portfolio teams, allowing operating teams to account for time and results with greater efficiency. By capturing these insights, operating teams can also more easily meet internal reporting requirements and ultimately showcase the impact of their efforts and portfolio engagements to LP investors. 

A Systematic Way for Managing Talent and Identifying Needs

Assessing the quality and breadth of talent within each portfolio management team, especially in the immediate aftermath of a new investment, is key to driving value and ultimately meeting growth goals. Using Maestro, sponsors can establish and collaboratively work from a standardized and templated approach to reviewing talent at individual companies and across the portfolio. Key insights can be shared with key stakeholders and across internal channels, again, out of sight of the portfolio team. With a more consistent and cadenced approach to talent management and assessment, facilitated by Maestro, investment teams can spot possible talent deficiencies earlier in the hold period and take the necessary actions to achieve the objectives outlined in the value creation plan.

Capturing ESG Progress and More

Maestro’s recently unveiled ESG survey module enables sponsors to gauge the progress and maturity of ESG programs within portfolio companies. Within the platform, sponsors can create and field bespoke surveys for completion by portfolio teams at any level of desired frequency. This same functionality can be deployed for internal purposes. Sponsors can use Maestro to capture and visualize ESG efforts on a cross-portfolio basis. They can also measure the impact of programs and initiatives deployed within their own business and prepare reports for LP investors for whom ESG considerations drive future investment decisions. This capability is not limited to ESG. Sponsors can also leverage Maestro’s survey functionality on an internal basis to measure any number of business-impacting functions or factors, such as understanding vulnerability to risk and cyber threats. 

A Repository of Tools and Playbooks for Accelerating Value Creation Execution 

Finally, the ability to replicate positive results and leverage learnings from past experiences is key to achieving value creation success with greater speed and efficiency. These days, sponsors are more eager than ever to skip past the honeymoon phase and get down to the business of growth as soon as possible. Maestro eliminates the need for PE firms to “reinvent the wheel” with each new investment and allows for value creation activity to begin sooner. That is why a growing number of firms are using Maestro as a centralized, easily accessible platform where operating teams can capture success stories and securely share best practices inside the firm. By utilizing Maestro’s ability to serve as a repository for playbooks, partners can easily access proprietary intelligence, knowledge, and tools that, once applied, can begin accelerating growth earlier in the hold period.

To learn whether Maestro can help enhance your firm’s internal operations, click here to schedule a product demo.