As investors navigate between market volatility and net-zero commitments, forestry investment stand out as a welcomed source of stable and uncorrelated returns, alongside net carbon sequestration. In Europe, forestry has been an under-invested sector but, through aggregation and ecological forest management practices, European forestry investments is now emerging as a new compelling opportunity for investors.
In this session, Paul McMahon, Managing Partner of SLM Partners, presented the opportunity for institutional investments in European forestry and highlight the benefits of a more sustainable form of forest management known as Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF). SLM believes investing in a way that scales up CCF can achieve important environmental goals while also delivering attractive financial returns to investors.
Ecosystem Theme: Biodiversity & Natural Capital
Sponsor
Who was this event open to?
This event was open to asset owners such as pension fund trustees and in-house executives, independent investment advisers, professional bodies, government and regulatory, academics, social enterprise and investment consultants.
Read SLM's related forestry contentSpeaker
Paul McMahon, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, SLM Partners
Paul is Co-founder and Managing Partner at SLM Partners and a member of the Board of Directors. He is responsible for developing new investment strategies, building teams, overseeing research and establishing relationships with investors. He sits on the investment committees for the company’s funds and separate managed accounts in the US, Europe and Australia.
Before Co-founding SLM Partners, Paul was Vice-President at Climate Change Capital Limited, an asset manager in London, where he led a team that developed a strategy for a global farmland fund. Before that, he spent four years with McKinsey & Company in New York as an Engagement Manager. In addition, he served as technical adviser to the Indonesian government and the UN Development Programme on the establishment of investment funds for small and medium-sized enterprises in emerging markets.
Paul has worked as an adviser on sustainable agriculture and food security to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation and The Prince’s Charities’ International Sustainability Unit. He was an Associate Fellow for Energy, Environment and Resources at Chatham House. He has authored several white papers and reports on environmental issues. He has written books on the global food system, ‘Feeding frenzy: the new politics of food’ (2013), and the history and future of ‘Irish forestry, island of woods’ (2023).
Host
Laasya Shekaran, Director, Pensions for Purpose
Laasya is responsible for working with our Community, developing content and knowledge, and driving forward collaborative initiatives across the industry.
Laasya is passionate about approaching pensions and investment with a systems lens and understanding how these sectors interact with the wider social and environmental systems they exist within.
Laasya is a CFA charterholder with experience working with a range of asset owners as an investment adviser, with a focus on corporate defined benefit pensions. Laasya is a regular speaker at industry conferences and events, and is also an experienced podcast host, and presenter of the Pensions for Purpose podcast. Laasya is an advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion and is particularly passionate about anti-racism activism. She has previously won the Women in Pensions and Women in Investment Rising Star awards.
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