Sustainable Forestry Strategy
Global demand for wood products is expected to significantly increase over the next few decades, driven by population growth, urbanisation and rising per capita income.1 Policy developments and changes in consumer preferences should also positively affect demand. For example, wood is central to the green transition, and is now being used for construction, sustainable packaging, and as an alternative to plastics. Investing in commercial forests may, therefore, offer both attractive financial and environmental characteristics.
Strategy features
Attractive risk-adjusted return potential
Core forest investments can offer attractive risk-adjusted return potential, with both annual income and capital appreciation components.
Portfolio diversification
Investments in forests generally exhibit low correlation to other asset classes due to a distinct return driver: biological growth.
ESG credentials
Investments in sustainably managed forests typically exhibit robust ESG2 credentials. Forests store and sequester carbon and can help to safeguard and restore biodiversity.
Investment philosophy
The strategy is based on a fundamental core timberland approach, offering investors a direct way to gain exposure to this growing asset class and, in turn, align their financial targets with environmental and social benefits.
Furthermore, the strategy is designed to shape the commercial forests of tomorrow by utilising signature actions to help combat climate change and improve asset resilience and biodiversity. A strong ESG3 framework is in place for sustainable production of timber, climate resilience and biodiversity, as well as regular reporting for greenhouse gas emissions targets. The team will only invest in FSC4 certified or certifiable forests.
Investment process
The strategy follows a proven and structured investment process to identify, acquire, and manage forest assets to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns and more biodiverse and resilient forests.
- Origination and due diligence: deal sourcing and analysis (including forest resources, markets, climate change, and sustainability)
- Portfolio construction: validation for investment and execution
- Operations and continuous monitoring: asset management, including implementation of signature actions, portfolio monitoring, and risk management.
Team and expertise
The strategy is actively managed by International Woodland Company Asset Management+ (IWC AM+), a leading natural capital specialist in which BNP Paribas Asset Management holds a majority stake.
IWC AM+ is a team of 15 experienced timberland investment professionals holding on average two decades of investment and forest industry experience.5 Team members’ cumulative careers amount to investments of over USD 10 billion.
IWC AM+ operates with a local presence in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Europe, and – as part of BNP Paribas Asset Management’s wider Private Assets investment platform – benefits from the support of dedicated structuring, legal, back and middle office teams, as well as our Macro Research team and dedicated Sustainability Centre.
[1] Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, The State of the World’s Forests, 2024
[2,3] ESG: Environmental, Social and Governance. ESG assessments are based on BNP Paribas Asset Management‘s proprietary methodology which integrates all three aspects of E, S & G.
[4] FSC: Forest Stewardship Council. FSC-certified forests are managed to strict environmental, social, and economic standards
[5] BNP Paribas Asset Management and IWC, July 2024
Get in touch
Got a question? Our team is happy to help
Important information
Marketing communication. For Wholesale Investors only.
This information is distributed to wholesale clients only in Australia by BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Australia Limited ABN 78 008 576 449, AFSL 223418. None of the funds referred to in this material are available in Australia & New Zealand, and so this material is provided to wholesale clients for information purposes only.
Past performance or achievement is not indicative of current or future performance. Performance is calculated net of fees unless otherwise stated.
Any views expressed here are those of the author as of the date of publication, based on available information, and subject to change without notice. This material does not constitute investment advice.
Investments are subject to market fluctuations and the risks inherent in investments in securities. The value of investments and the income they generate may go down as well as up and it is possible that investors will not recover their initial investment. There is no guarantee that the performance objective will be achieved.
Investments are subject to market fluctuations and the risks inherent in investments in securities. The value of investments and the income they generate may go down as well as up and it is possible that investors will not recover their initial investment. There is no guarantee that the performance objective will be achieved.
Private assets are investment opportunities that are unavailable through public markets such as stock exchanges. They enable investors to directly profit from long-term investment themes and can provide access to specialist sectors or industries, such as infrastructure, real estate, private equity and other alternatives that are difficult to access through traditional means. Private assets do, however, require careful consideration, as they tend to have high minimum investment levels and may be complex and illiquid.
ILLIQUIDITY OF THE SUB-FUND’S SHARES: The investments are subject to market fluctuations and the risks inherent in investments in securities. The value of investments and the income they generate may go down as well as up and it is possible that investors will not recover their initial outlay.
ILLIQUIDITY OF THE SUB-FUND’S INVESTMENTS: The value of an investment may be affected by interest rate fluctuations. Interest rates may be influenced by several elements or events, such as monetary policy, the discount rate, inflation, etc.
CREDIT QUALITY: This is the risk that may derive from the rating downgrade of a loan issuer to which the sub funds are exposed, which may therefore cause the value of the investments to go down. Sub funds investing in high-yield loans present a higher than average risk due to the greater fluctuation of their currency or the quality of the issuer.
LIQUIDITY RISK: There is a risk that investments made in sub funds may become illiquid due to an over-restricted market (often reflected by a very broad bid-ask spread or by substantial price movements), or if their “rating” declines or their economic situation deteriorates.
LONG-DATED NATURE OF MOST INVESTMENTS: Risks include: the lack of secondary market liquidity, valuation risks, the lack of standardisation and regulation, the risk of leverage, the risk of the counterparty.
CONCENTRATION: This risk relates to the quality of the counterparty with whom the funds do business or enter into various transactions. This risk reflects the counterparty’s ability to honour its commitments (payment, delivery, repayment, etc).
MARKET RISK: While the sub-fund is more focused towards a take-and-hold strategy versus a trading strategy, the sub-fund will be subject to market prices when acquiring, trading and disposing assets, in particular during the ramp-up period of the portfolio. In addition, the NAV is calculated based on market prices, which might over- or under-estimate the true value of the investment or not represent the actual price at which the investment could be sold.
INTEREST RATES: An increase or decrease in interest rates may not be immediately reflected in the rates payable on the portfolio’s underlying securities, while an increase in interest rates could have a negative impact on the quality of the sub-fund’s investments.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES AND HEDGING: The currency of the assets of the sub-fund might differ from the sub-fund’s currency of expression and consequently the sub-fund is subject to currency exchange fluctuations, with the sub-fund undertaking to hedge a certain percentage of the assets for a certain period. However, there is no assurance that currency hedging will be fully effective, as any unhedged portion remains exposed to currency exchange fluctuations, while in case of significant redemptions the sub-fund might be temporarily over-hedged.
Calculation of NAV: The NAV per share of the sub-fund will be determined and communicated only after the value of its investments is determined.
The NAV is based on data coming from a third party pricing service. The Investment Manager cannot opine on the accuracy of the prices obtained from a third party pricing service and by definition on the NAV based on such prices. There is no guarantee that the prices obtained from a third party pricing service represent fair value or will represent the value that will be realized by the sub-fund on the eventual disposal of the investment, a market price discovery, or that could in fact be realized upon an immediate disposal of the investment. Should the Company and/or the Investment Manager, change the method of valuation, than the same limitations as indicated above will hold for the new method of valuation.
EARLY REDEMPTION: If the shareholder chooses to redeem its shares before the recommended investment horizon, an early redemption fee will be charged according to the investment period of the shareholder as defined in the section Fees and Costs.
REINVESTMENT: It is possible that the sub-fund will not be able to reinvest its net income or the capital generated by the realisation of assets in the aforementioned Underlying Asset Classes at a similar level of risk-return.
ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND GOVERNANCE (ESG) INVESTMENT RISK: The lack of common or harmonized definitions and labels integrating ESG and sustainability criteria at EU level may result in different approaches by managers when setting ESG objectives. This also means that it may be difficult to compare strategies integrating ESG and sustainability criteria to the extent that the selection and weightings applied to select investments may be based on metrics that may share the same name but have different underlying meanings. In evaluating a security based on the ESG and sustainability criteria, the Investment Manager may also use data sources provided by external ESG research providers. Given the evolving nature of ESG, these data sources may for the time being be incomplete, inaccurate or unavailable. Applying responsible business conduct standards in the investment process may lead to the exclusion of securities of certain issuers. Consequently, the Sub-Fund’s performance may at times be better or worse than the performance of relatable funds that do not apply such standards.