Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – As investors are gradually shifting portions of their portfolios away from traditional investments towards alternatives, Finnish asset manager Evli continues its growth ambitions in the alternatives space with the launch of a new fund of forestry funds. Evli has launched Evli Impact Forest Fund I to provide institutional and high-net-worth investors access to a select group of global forestry funds.
Evli Impact Forest Fund I employs a fund-of-funds strategy to build and maintain a portfolio of six to eight global forestry funds. The fund, managed by a six-member team led by Roger Naylor (pictured), relies on a global investment strategy due to higher return expectations abroad. According to a non-profit public research organization operating under the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture, forestry has historically returned over eight percent annually in the United States compared to 4.5 percent in the Nordic countries. Most of Evli Impact Forest Fund’s investments are made in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
“Trees simply grow faster in the countries where we will invest, and happily, this drives both the carbon impact and higher return,” says Roger Naylor, the main portfolio manager of Evli Impact Forest Fund I. “For example, an investment of EUR 1 million in the Evli Impact Forest Fund I can remove an estimated 21,000 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere. The fund’s carbon sequestration impact is monitored and reported to investors on a regular basis,” he adds.
“Trees simply grow faster in the countries where we will invest, and happily, this drives both the carbon impact and higher return.”
Evli Impact Forest Fund I is a natural continuation of Evli’s alternative investment fund offering, according to Tero Tuominen, Managing Director of Evli Fund Management Company. “Forest investment complements Evli’s offering of alternative investment products, and therefore clients are offered an even better opportunity to diversify their investment portfolios,” says Tuominen. “In addition, forestry is a defensive asset class, which withstands economic fluctuations well.”
“Forest investment complements Evli’s offering of alternative investment products, and therefore clients are offered an even better opportunity to diversify their investment portfolios.”
Evli’s alternative investment product offering currently includes eight funds, covering real estate, unlisted equities, infrastructure and forestry. The entire offering oversees over €1 billion in assets under management. In a third closing in mid-October, Evli’s fund of infrastructure funds, Evli Infrastructure Fund I, raised €35 million to reach €104 million in assets under management.
Picture courtesy of Evli.
