About Square Capital
Square Capital was founded in 2007 by two former Goldman Sachs private bankers with 55 years of combined investment experience. With offices in Paris, London, Monaco, and New York, the firm manages €1.6 billion in assets across two core strategies for their private and institutional clients: Megatrends Champions, a global equity fund targeting companies positioned to benefit from secular economic shifts, and Square Alternative Strategies, a fund of hedge funds.
For a team of their size, the challenge was familiar: delivering institutional-grade ESG and regulatory reporting without the headcount that typically comes with it.
The challenge: reporting on limited time and data
Before partnering with Connect Earth in early 2024, Square Capital’s sustainability analysis was largely built in-house. The team assembled data from multiple providers, none of which offered the depth or consistency needed for confident, repeatable reporting. Requirements often only became clear at the moment of filing, making it difficult to produce consistent answers across different documents and periods.
The cost was time. Hours that should have gone to serving clients were absorbed by reporting instead, and the output, for all that effort, was still inconsistent.
Why Square Capital chose Connect Earth
What stood out from the first conversation was the approach. Connect Earth was transparent and direct, and focused on understanding what Square Capital actually needed rather than pushing the largest possible data package. The platform itself was immediately legible: clear sections, clear goals, with a roadmap that looked genuinely promising.
At the time, the primary goal was meeting the requirements for the new version of the French SRI label. Connect Earth had exactly the right data coverage to make it workable, and the team to support implementation at Square Capital’s own pace.
“We appreciated the fact that the team was there to help us in times of need, but at our own pace. We believe each user has their own goals from the platforms, and the goal of the partner is to inform us of what’s available. The moment we needed API access, Connect Earth delivered, with clear instructions and a ready-to-use solution.”
Mathieu Pillet, Managing Partner at Square Capital Group
From manual to automated
The two modules that made the biggest difference were ESG scoring and PAI reporting. The ESG module gave Square Capital the E, S, and G breakdown they needed for Megatrends Champions: a clearer vision of portfolio companies’ activities, assembled in one place rather than patched together from disparate sources. The PAI module provided historical data with visible trends, work that had previously required significant manual effort each period.
When the team was ready for API access, Connect Earth delivered: clear documentation, a ready-to-use solution, and support available when needed. Daily portfolio uploads could be automated, and data could flow into existing workflows without manual re-entry.
The result was a reporting process that is more reliable, more consistent, and considerably less stressful than what came before.
Sustainability as investment logic
For Square Capital, the move towards integrated sustainability data was never just about compliance. Megatrends Champions targets companies positioned to benefit from secular trends reshaping economies over the long horizon. Quality investing is one of those trends, so aligning the fund’s investment process with sustainability considerations was a natural fit. Governance had already been a pillar of their approach. Sustainability data was the next layer.
As they put it: the whole team firmly believes in the core values of sustainability. The data should match the conviction.
“Connect Earth helped us get useful information in the clearest way possible.”
Mathieu Pillet, Managing Partner at Square Capital Group
Results
Since partnering with Connect Earth, Square Capital has:
- Recovered several hours of reporting work each month, redirected to client service
- Moved to a single, consistent source of ESG scores and PAI indicators with full data report export capability
- Automated daily portfolio uploads via API, fully integrated into existing workflows
- In year one, achieved alignment with SRI label requirements by delivering reporting capabilities as well as climate trajectory analysis
- Built a platform foundation ready to expand into additional modules as needs evolve
What’s next
Square Capital is watching the evolving regulatory landscape closely. With SFDR under review, and the EU and French regulations continuing to develop, having a data partner who understands the regulatory context, and can adapt alongside it, is increasingly important for a small, agile team.