EQUITA counts its people as its greatest asset and believes that responsible investing promises the best returns. It promotes sustainability at every level and invests considerable resources to meet challenging diversity and gender balance goals — and it’s already well above industry average. As the country’s leading independent investment bank, Equita is a preferred partner of small and mid-cap private and public companies, helping SMEs to improve their ESG performance. The BV judging panel applauds the bank’s Covid response, with some €300,000 invested in local communities, and announces Equita winner of the 2021 award for Best ESG Responsible Investment Bank (Italy).