IMPACTASSETS 50™
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
ImpactAssets 50
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
Ecotrust Forest Management
Climate Change
Natural Resources and Conservation
Water and SanitationFirm Overview
EFM is dedicated to developing natural climate solutions for a carbon-constrained future. We are a real asset investment company that develops land based solutions that aim to generate positive environmental and social impacts, including carbon sequestration, habitat enhancement, and water quality protection while creating investor value. We steward $170M in AUM (as of 6/30/20) and since our founding in 2004, have transitioned more than 100,000 acres of forestland to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified management. Our objective in managing forests is to produce a full range of goods and services - logs for mills, clean water for communities, carbon sequestration and biodiversity - for the benefit of all our stakeholders. Our team has deep experience in natural climate investments and management, finance, tax credits, and environmental markets. EFM is proud to be a top 50 Impact Fund Manager since 2012 and among the top 10% of B Corps globally since 2013.
Years of Operation: 10 years or more
% of Capital from Top 3 Investors: Less than 25%
EFM believes that climate-smart strategies are the future of real asset investing in a carbon-constrained future. We develop approaches that consider traditional markets for timber while also monetizing unique conservation, cultural, and environmental assets that we believe will create enduring value for investors and for ecosystems.
The natural forests of the western U.S. have unique social, environmental and cultural dimensions that are largely ignored by traditional investment approaches and this creates opportunities for differentiated investment and management strategies. Forestland is a largely mature asset class, but conservation finance opportunities create an avenue for forestland owners to access previously untapped revenue streams while also generating public benefit. EFM acquires assets that are largely overlooked by conventional investors because of their unique operational, environmental, or social attributes—targeting landscapes that will benefit from our management strategies and conservation finance expertise. We specialize in the use of tools like conservation easements, carbon offsets, tax credits and recreational permits that can monetize the value of standing trees, and our climate-smart management approaches are designed to generate selective timber income while growing and restoring forest health.
- EFM has transitioned more than 100,000 acres of forestland to FSC-certified, ecological management. EFM specializes in blending public, private and philanthropic capital in investment strategies that monetize conservation easements, tax credits, and carbon contracts.
- We primarily focus on the forests of the western U.S., one of the few places globally where commercial forestry is attractive within a natural forest context and have been pioneering climate-smart silvicultural strategies that balance ecological goals with economic outcomes.
- We believe we are the only TIMO committed to strategic exits to conservation minded buyers that preserve the conservation impact of our action and many of our properties are intended to become state parks, wilderness areas, community forests, preserves, or owned by Tribes.
- EFM is one of the few TIMOs to be majority Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified – the gold standard for sustainable forest management.
Investment Example
In 2014 EFM acquired Desolation Creek, a 13,300 acre mixed conifer property in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon. We were drawn to the property’s spring-fed salmon spawning streams which feed the John Day River. Upon acquisition EFM embarked on an ambitious restoration plan to remedy decades of prior overharvesting, involving dozens of partners including the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Indians, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, the U.S. Forest Service and the North Fork John Day Watershed Council. Six years into our ownership and management there are thriving populations of elk, deer, bear, bobcat, Chinook salmon, bull trout and many other species, including a breeding pair of wolves. Through an arrangement with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the property is open to the public for recreation, foraging and hunting, providing food and other benefits to local communities, many of which are economically distressed.
Leadership and Team
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Bettina von Hagen – CEO More Info
Bettina helped launch EFM and joined the company as CEO in 2008. Bettina has spent the past 30 years working to promote economic viability, social equity, and environmental health in the Pacific Northwest with a particular focus on forestry. A former vice president of Ecotrust’s Natural Capital Fund and commercial banker, Bettina has over 30 years of experience in banking, impact investing, and fund management. She also has significant expertise in ecosystem service markets, particularly the forest carbon market, where she is involved in developing protocols for forest carbon projects at the state and federal levels. |
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Amrita VK Vatsal – Managing Director More Info
Amrita joined EFM in 2011 and is a member of EFM’s management team. In this role, she shapes the company’s growth and impact investment strategies managing new product development, fund structuring and investor recruitment. Additionally, as a member of the investment committee, she contributes to property sourcing, transaction structuring, conservation finance, and carbon project development. Prior to EFM, Amrita was an Assistant Manager with Pricewaterhouse Coopers in Singapore for 5 years and she subsequently cultivated a passion for financing the growth of environmental business while working for Piper Jaffray’s clean-tech banking group. |
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Chris Sweeney – COO More Info
Chris leads the day-to-day operations of the Management Company and its Funds including finance, accounting, tax, valuation, financial reporting, investor reporting, compliance and office operations. He has 30 years of experience in the financial services and investment industry most recently as Chief Operating Officer at Prime Buchholz, an institutional investment advisor headquartered in the greater Boston area. Prior to Prime Buchholz, Chris served as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of World Learning, Inc., a global education organization, and held several executive roles at State Street Global Advisors and State Street Corporation. |
Financial Performance
Impact Performance
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Percentage of Total Assets Under
Management that are Impact Investments: |
100%
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Since 2004 EFM has been developing climate-smart approaches to natural forest management that are the keys to unlocking value in a carbon-constrained future. Our approach allows us to create value beyond producing logs and wood fiber, including improved carbon storage, habitat, soil formation, climate regulation, and water storage and purification. Additional benefits include community enhancement by creating locally based employment opportunities alongside the economic contributions of timber harvests and forest management and restoration activities.
We deploy our investors’ capital alongside conservation finance tools to acquire forestland assets with unique environmental and social attributes. We specialize in the use of tools like conservation easements, carbon offsets and public financing that can monetize the value of the standing trees without harvesting the logs for lumber. We manage these lands to FSC standards – the highest benchmark for responsible forestry. As an active forestland manager, we work to enhance forest health and productivity, harvest timber sustainably and develop non-timber forest products to create jobs in economically distressed rural communities.
Impact Tracking and Monitoring
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721 NW 9th Ave, Suite 200, Portland, OR 97209 USA
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