The fund exceeded its initial close target and aims to support sustainability in forestry, timber production and carbon sequestration.

Dive Brief:

* J.P. Morgan Asset Management closed a $1.5 billion fund for forest and climate solutions this week, the firm announced Tuesday. The fund is managed by Campbell Global, a timberland focused investment manager that J.P. Morgan AM acquired in 2021.

* The forest and climate solutions fund, launched in 2022, was Campbell Global’s second such fund and the first launch after it was acquired. The fund will look to support timber production and carbon sequestration, the company said.

* The announced close comes as more companies are looking towards forestry-based methods to help reach their sustainability goals. The fund currently holds approximately 212,000 acres of timberland properties managed in alignment with sustainable forestry standards, according to the April 8 release.

Dive Insight:

J.P. Morgan AM announced the Forest & Climate Solutions Fund exceeded its launch target of $1 billion, and Campbell additionally closed “several separate account mandates” to bring its total capital raised to $2.3 billion, according to the press release. As of the end of 2024, Campbell global had $10.1 billion in supervised assets and over 1.4 million acres under management nestled within J.P. Morgan AM’s $3.6 trillion in assets under management.

Campbell’s experience as a timber-focused investor will also allow it to deploy capital to acquire additional timber properties in addition to its currently-owned properties in the United States Pacific Northwest and Southern regions. In the release, Jed Laskowitz, J.P. Morgan AM’s global head of private markets and customized solutions, said that Campbell is “well positioned” to take advantage of opportunities in the sector.

“This strategy is a unique investment option for our clients, offering diversification from traditional asset classes and income generation, and timberland management is a proven inflation hedge,” Laskowitz said.

The release detailed how the properties’ sustainable forestry standards are designed to protect the wildlife and forests across the properties, “while being continuously managed for both carbon capture and timber production to meet growing demand for sustainable building products and other uses.

“We’re very pleased to put our decades of experience in global timberland management to work for this quality group of investors interested in responsibly managed forests that generate income and value-appreciation and are a positive climate solution,” Campbell’s CEO John Gilleland said. “Along with the financial attributes, the removal of carbon, protection of water and enhancement of biodiversity and habitats encompass some of the important work we do in the forests on behalf of our investors.”

J.P. Morgan AM said the fund’s investors include some from the U.S., as well as international banks, European pension funds, insurance companies and other asset managers. The asset management arm of JPMorgan Chase recently announced an exit from the Net-Zero Asset Managers initiative due to the global climate alliance’s suspension of activities.

The fund closure comes as tech companies like Meta and Microsoft have turned to sustainable forestry for carbon credits in recent months.

Meta announced last month that it had finalized a decade-long agreement with forest investment and management firm EFM. That deal will give the social media and tech conglomerate 676,000 nature-based carbon removal credits by 2035, while EFM works to transition 68,000 acres of forests to climate-smart forestry practices.

Microsoft has similarly signed long-term forestry-based offtake deals, including a 30-year carbon credit deal from a forest-project in India announced in February. Additionally, the company has signed an agroforestry purchase agreement in Kenya and a U.S. based forestry-project.

Source: esgdive.com