Creador, a leading private equity firm investing across South and Southeast Asia, partnered with Novata to streamline ESG data management across its growing portfolio.
By combining Novata’s platform with Advisory support, Creador transitioned from manual, spreadsheet-based processes to a more centralized and decision-useful ESG framework, improving efficiency, data quality, and portfolio-wide visibility.
Company Snapshot
Creador is a Malaysia-headquartered private equity firm managing approximately US$3.1 billion in assets. ESG is embedded throughout the firm’s investment lifecycle, from due diligence to post-investment engagement and exit preparation.
“ESG is central to our strategy as it helps protect capital by reducing regulatory, operational, and reputational risks, enhances value and exit readiness, and ensures continued access to institutional investor capital,” said Jo Yinn Cheng, ESG Senior Vice President at Creador.
The Challenge
Before Novata, Creador managed ESG data collection through spreadsheets and offline templates. While initially effective, the process became increasingly difficult to scale as reporting requirements and portfolio complexity grew.
“We needed a solution that could handle that complexity while still being easy for our portfolio companies to use.”
Key challenges included:
- Manual and time-intensive data collection processes
- Inconsistent ESG reporting across portfolio companies
- Difficulty consolidating and analyzing portfolio-wide data
- Increasingly complex LP and regulatory expectations
Building a Strategic ESG Framework with Novata Advisory
Creador engaged Novata’s Advisory team to help streamline its ESG reporting into a single, cohesive framework that could support both LP reporting requirements and internal decision-making.
Through metric mapping, benchmarking, and framework design, Novata helped Creador create a scalable approach to ESG data collection.
“Our goal was to streamline our ESG data requests into a single, cohesive survey framework—one that could meet different reporting expectations while still being practical for internal use and analysis,” Jo Yinn said.
The engagement ultimately helped Creador move toward a “more structured and decision-useful ESG data framework” that better supports risk prioritization, performance tracking, and portfolio engagement.
The Novata Solution
Working with its updated framework, Creador used Novata’s platform to centralize ESG data collection and analysis across its portfolio. The firm highlighted several platform capabilities that have been especially valuable in supporting more efficient and consistent ESG management processes.
Key capabilities used in Novata’s platform:
Customizable Data Collection
Enabled Creador to align ESG reporting with LP expectations and Responsible Investing commitments while maintaining flexibility across portfolio companies and sectors.Portfolio-Wide Dashboards
Provided greater visibility into ESG performance across funds, portfolio companies, sectors, and geographies—helping the team quickly identify trends, spot outliers, and prioritize engagement areas.- Scorecards
Helped automate assessments, improve consistency in how portfolio companies are evaluated, and support more structured internal ESG discussions and prioritization.
The Results
Since implementing Novata, automation has significantly reduced manual effort around data collection, consolidation, and follow-ups, allowing the team to spend more time analyzing insights and engaging with portfolio companies.
Creador also reported improved consistency in submissions due to clearer guidance and standardized metrics.
Key outcomes include:
- Reduced manual effort in ESG reporting workflows
- Improved consistency and quality of portfolio data
- Faster response timelines from portfolio companies
- Greater visibility into ESG performance across the portfolio
“We have seen a clear improvement in efficiency compared to our previous processes,” Jo Yinn said.
Advice for Other APAC Firms
For APAC firms just setting out on the ESG data journey, Jo Yinn recommends focusing on a core set of data points that are genuinely useful for decision-making and aligned with LP expectations.
“Don’t overcomplicate things at the start. Focus on a core set of metrics that are genuinely useful for decision-making, rather than trying to capture everything,” she said.
The firm also emphasized the importance of keeping portfolio companies in mind throughout the process. Clear, manageable reporting requests are critical for driving stronger engagement and improving data quality over time.
From a regional perspective, Creador sees climate-related issues (particularly energy use, emissions, and physical risk) becoming increasingly important across Southeast Asia. At the same time, governance remains foundational, especially as companies scale or prepare for exit.
“Overall, ESG in the region is becoming more practical. It’s less about ticking boxes, and more about using it to manage risks effectively and build stronger, more resilient businesses.”
