As forestry and agroforestry advisor Form International is of support to the new ASN Biodiversity Fund by conducting due diligence on newly proposed investments
We wish ASN Impact Investors every success with this important fund and look forward to working together to create sustainable impact and contribute to the protection and restoration of biodiversity worldwide.
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ASN’s Press Release (dated 15 November 2021)
New ASN Biodiversity Fund makes restoring nature and recovering biodiversity profitable
Today, ASN Impact Investors launches the ASN Biodiversity Fund, focused on restoring and protecting biodiversity. The fund invests in projects and initiatives with a measurable positive impact on biodiversity. With the introduction of this first Dutch impact fund in biodiversity restoration for private individuals, ASN proves that profitability can go hand in hand with the restoration of biodiversity.
Bas-Jan Blom, Director of ASN Impact Investors: ‘We are introducing this fund because the ‘standard’ sustainable investment options are not achieving enough. On balance, even the most sustainable listed companies cause harm to biodiversity. We really need to protect and restore biodiversity, and doing so can actually generate economic value. The financial sector is in urgent need of change. That is why we are challenging the sector. With the ASN Biodiversity Fund, we are establishing the new asset category of ‘biodiversity’, based on the conviction that profitability can go hand in hand with the restoration of biodiversity.’
From sustainable forest agriculture to tech scale-up
The new fund is listed on Euronext and focuses on four sectors: sustainable forestry, sustainable forest agriculture, sustainable seas and fishing, and ecotourism. For the foreseeable future, we will be investing in projects and companies mostly through funds for biodiversity restoration, and occasionally in listed shares. Examples includes investments in forest agriculture in the Amazon basin, alternative dairy farming in Australia that contributes to soil restoration, and a tech scale-up that helps make aquaculture more sustainable worldwide through innovative technologies.
Natural and financial capital
ASN Impact Investors aims to restore around 230 hectares of land or sea to a healthy ecological balance through every 1 million euros invested in the ASN Biodiversity Fund. At the same time, ASN wants to use the fund to create new green jobs that don’t come at the expense of the natural environment and contribute to the prosperity of local communities. Thanks to a careful selection, the fund will offer investors both sustainable impact and profit.
Huge growth potential
ASN Impact Investors aims to eventually manage hundreds of millions of euros through the ASN Biodiversity Fund. According to Bas-Jan Blom, this fits in with our ambition to make a net positive impact on biodiversity with the entire investment portfolio of ASN Impact Investors by 2030. Blom: ‘The market is still small, and many of the frontrunners in natural restoration are currently not listed companies. But they have huge growth potential, and thanks to our capital they will help build the economy of the future.
About ASN Impact Investors
ASN Impact Investors is an impact investor that manages 12 investment funds with the aim to accelerate the transition to a sustainable society. To this end, for the past 28 years we have only invested in companies, institutions and projects that, in addition to financial returns, also aim to make a positive contribution in the areas of climate change, biodiversity and human rights. Because only a richer world will keep bearing fruit. ASN Impact Investors is a member of the NCIA.
The fund management firm was established in 1993 and has €4.3 billion in assets under management (as at 30 June 2021).
Website: ASN Impact Investors