Stafford Capital Partners Announces Initial Close of Pioneering Global Carbon Offset Fund

Stafford expands timberland offering to support the institutional decarbonisation agenda

London, 27 February 2023 – Stafford Capital Partners (“Stafford”), a leading private markets and advisory group, today announced the initial close of its carbon offset and sustainable timberland impact strategy.

Stafford held the initial close of the Stafford Carbon Offset Opportunity Fund with USD 242m in investor commitments from the UK local government pension schemes (LGPS) of Essex, Leicestershire and the City and County of Swansea.

The Fund was launched in December 2022 with a USD 1bn fundraising target and is expected to remain open to institutional investors during 2023.

With a 22-year track record of investing in sustainably managed timberland plantations, Stafford has extensive experience in the sector and is recognised as a leading global timberland investor. In this capacity, Stafford saw the critical role that forestry has to play in tackling climate change.

The Stafford Carbon Offset Opportunity Fund is classified as an Article 9 impact fund[1] under the European Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation and will look to invest in afforestation, natural forest restoration and improved forest management projects on a global basis.

The Fund offers an innovative solution to investors that are looking to offset their own emissions or, simply, an impact investment underpinned by commercial forestry that is expected to:

  • Invest in ~ 200,000 hectares of sustainably managed timberland, including ~ 150,000 hectares on which new commercially managed plantations will be established and natural forest planted;

  • Generate ~ 30 million verified carbon offsets for investors (each equivalent to 1 tonne of C02);

  • Provide a source of sustainable, low-carbon wood raw materials; and

  • Provide an investment with a substantially negative carbon intensity profile and reporting framework that can support the broader decarbonisation of institutional investment portfolios.


Angus Whiteley, CEO of Stafford Capital Partners, commented: “It is with great pride that we announce the initial close of the Stafford Carbon Offset Opportunity Fund, a strategy we feel can make a meaningful contribution to the environment and society.

We believe this fund will deliver the important combination of potential financial returns and environmental benefit that is so needed today. We are very grateful to the investors who have enabled us to achieve this milestone and look forward to making a meaningful contribution to their decarbonisation agenda.

Throughout Stafford, we continue to align our products to help address these environmental and societal needs whilst delivering the financial returns our clients seek.”

[1] Please find more information on SFDR here.

Media enquiries

Georgina Whittle
Partner
Camarco
+44 20 3757 4987 / +44 7835 770967
georgina.whittle@camarco.co.uk

Sean Palmer
Associate Partner
Camarco
+44 20 3757 4980 / +44 7591 760844
sean.palmer@camarco.co.uk

Phil Davey
Mountain Media
phil@mountainmedia.com.au

About Stafford Capital Partners
Stafford is an independent private markets investment and advisory firm with USD %%AuM%% billion in assets under management and advice* for more than %%numClients%% institutional clients worldwide. Founded in 2000, Stafford has a global team of 80+ professionals investing in infrastructure, timberland, agriculture & food and sustainable private equity through secondaries, primaries, and co-investments. Stafford has been a UN PRI signatory since 2010 and has committed to the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative. It puts sustainability at the centre of its investment process and implements a well-defined ESG program across all strategies. In the UK, Stafford is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Firm Reference Number: 225586).

* As of %%AuMDate%%

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This is a marketing communication. Please refer to the relevant fund documentation for Stafford Carbon Offset Opportunity Fund before making any final investment decisions.

This release neither constitutes an offer to sell nor a solicitation to invest in any of Stafford’s funds. It is for information purposes only and is not a recommendation. It does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to invest in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale would be prohibited or to any person not meeting the required investor criteria.

2023Technology Teamline_Timberland, line_Stafford-Group, pub_Press-Release