Alternative asset manager Gresham House has achieved its target of £300 million in total commitments for its Forest Growth & Sustainability LP following a final close.
The fund attracted interest from institutional investors, family offices and private clients, highlighting the increasing recognition of forestry as a sustainable natural capital investment.
Launched in June 2021, the strategy has drawn commitments from a range of institutional investors, including the Scottish National Investment Bank, the Pension Protection Fund and the National Trust, alongside family offices and private investors.
This growing demand for forestry investments is driven by their potential for long-term stable returns, portfolio diversification and positive environmental impacts that align with clients’ net-zero objectives.
The fund invests in new planting land for woodland creation and established sustainable commercial forestry across the UK. It aims to generate returns from timber sales, carbon sequestration and sale of carbon credits and capital growth from land and trees.
The capital raised in the final close will be deployed to expand the fund’s existing portfolio of approximately 10,000 hectares across 40 properties, with a focus on new productive woodland planting schemes and the acquisition of existing woodland for sustainable commercial timber production.
Olly Hughes, managing director, forestry, Gresham House, said, “With growing recognition of the benefits forestry can bring to portfolios in terms of returns, diversification, inflation-protection and environmental impacts, the pipeline of opportunities is strong, and we will now be deploying this capital at pace into new planting projects around the UK.”
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