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PwC will increase its overall amount by more than a third over the next five years as part of its $ 12 billion investment in procurement, training, technology and agreements designed to bring together a growing market for environmental, social and governance advice.
The plan, announced on Tuesday, represents a significant acceleration in investment by the audit and advisory team of $ 7.4 billion since 2016, during which time annual revenue grew by 20% to $ 43 billion.
The expansion will add 100,000 people to a workforce that has grown by more than a quarter in the last five years, to 284,000 people.
It includes a $ 3 billion plan to double the Asia-Pacific business, which will bring in $ 6.4 billion in revenue by June 2020, and has launched a “trusted leadership institute” in the U.S. and Asia for business ethics and ESG fundamentals.
Investors are increasingly looking at the social impact of the businesses they are backing and their impact on their profitability, and PwC’s investment plan is still the strongest sign that four major accounting firms expect ESG consulting to become a key component of all their business lines. just as digital skills have become the norm in the last decade.
Bob Moritz, PwC’s global president, said the company will “make massive investments to redefine itself and re-brand itself to ensure that we are valuable for what customers need and what the world needs”.
The market for professional technology and “sustainable” investment advice on “clean” sustainability issues reached $ 1 billion worldwide by 2020, according to Source Global Research, combining sustainability advice with other services will be even more profitable for consultants. .
The other four large companies – Deloitte, EY and KPMG – include sustainability issues in long-standing practices such as auditing and certification, and ESG gives them a greater role in their businesses. EY has appointed Steve Varley, the former head of the UK-based company, as its first vice-president for sustainability, for example.
Accounting firms provide ESG training to auditors as they prepare for greater industry regulation by companies on climate-related information such as. As discussed by regulators standardized ESG knowledge Similar to the international accounting standards agreed upon a decade ago, all PwC employees need at least a “basic understanding” of ESG, said U.S. President Tim Ryan.
Ryan said U.S. businesses will combine accounting and tax reporting operations into a single unit to designate “trusted solutions”. The two departments needed to make similar investments, he said, and both sought to make customers more reliable at a time when society’s expectations of companies are growing.
A $ 1 billion investment will also be made in quality control and automation of audits. Ryan said PwC planned purchases to improve its capabilities in areas such as ESG, cloud technology and artificial intelligence.
The company has made small acquisitions of the technology in recent years, but since it acquired strategic advice from Booz & Co in 2014, focusing on ESG will be seen as its most important strategic change.
PwC’s spending plans include $ 125 million for a U.S. initiative to find 25,000 jobs for racial and ethnic minority students over five years, including 10,000 in PwC. The U.S. company currently hires a total of 7,000-8,000 people a year.
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