Bonnefield signs up to UNPRI, Fund III over half deployed – update

*adds further fund information.

Bonnefield Financial, the Canadian farmland investment manager, has become a signatory of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investments (UNPRI). It is the first Canadian farmland firm to qualify to join the scheme, according to a press release.

Bonnefield is a buy-and-lease farmland investment manager that closed its latest fund, Bonnefield Canadian Farmland III, on C$261 million in January ahead of a C$200 million target. The fund is now over half deployed and the fund manager expects it will reach full deployment by the middle of 2016, according to Marcus Mitchell, director of portfolio operations. Mitchell added that the firm will consider new fundraising opportunities in the middle of 2015.

Bonneifield now has C$320 million ($279 million; €226 million) of assets under management across 40,000 acres of farmland in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick.

“We are proud to be welcomed into a global community of investors that recognize the importance of sustainable decision-making and investing,” said Tom Eisenhauer, president in a statement. “In joining this Initiative we further our commitment to promote sound farmland management practices, help improve efficiencies and protect the agronomic integrity of farmland, and by extension the value of farmland investments.”