carbon

Goldman Sachs MD John Goldstein says pension funds, asset managers and sovereign wealth funds have expressed interest in The Restore Fund, a vehicle exploring the carbon sequestration potential of forest restoration.

The C$204.5bn pension’s facility is secured by Flagship Pioneering-backed Indigo’s intellectual property and could be a first of its kind.

Several of the most talked-about topics feature in the five most popular stories from the first quarter of 2021.

Eric Cooperström joins from NatureVest and will seek to develop agri and timber investment opportunities that ‘remove carbon from the atmosphere.’

Return rates delivered by the 2008-vintage vehicle were undisclosed but managing director Joe Sanderson says figures in the 15% to 20% range are ‘not uncommon’ in the sector.

Managing director Olly Hughes tells Agri Investor about the decades-long tailwinds the firm sees in the timberland space and the expansion strategy it is on the cusp of executing.

The firm has set its sights on two funds that will invest across the UK and Northern Europe, with a further two targeting Australasia and potentially the US, says managing director Olly Hughes.

Head of global market development Ben Allen says partnerships like the one established with Anheuser-Busch in 2019 could come to play a bigger role than direct sales as carbon farming develops.

If approved, the investments will be sourced through the $283bn pension's private equity co-investment program.

Australia's National Party has seen its ministers express differing views over whether or not the sector should be excluded from emissions reduction targets.