AIM Forest Fund
Investment Sector
Agriculture
Investment Profile
Forestry plantation & Carbon credits origination
Minimum Investment
€200,000
Subscription Deadline
October 2024 🗓️
Fund Lifetime
10 years
Open to US Citizens
Yes 👍🏽
Fund Manager
AIMToInvest Capital Partners
CMVM License Number
1928
Q&A
Each fund manager or fund advisor has been invited to answer a series of questions about their own funds as well as the market in general.
We sat down with André Ribeiro to find out more about the AIM Forest Fund.
I started my professional life in investment banking and that took me to London, in 1997, where I joined Credit Suisse. In 2000 Francisco Sottomayor also joined Credit Suisse and that’s where we started both our working partnership and our friendship. I came back to Portugal in 2005 to become an executive board member of Galp Energia, the flagship oil and gas company in Portugal. In the 7 years I worked there, I was responsible, among other areas, for supply, trading, refining, logistics and renewables. In 2012, after 2 mandates in Galp, I decided to start my own Private Equity business focusing in Africa. I raised a Mozambique focused fund and managed it successfully until its liquidation in 2022.
At that time my path and Francisco’s crossed again: I wanted create a specialised regulated Investment management firm dedicated to bringing bespoke products to the market and Francisco, who had had an extraordinary 25 year career in Investment Banking (Credit Suisse, Societe Generale), wanted to do the same, focusing in Impact investment. Francisco apart from being one of the top investment bankers in Portugal, had also an experience as a personal investor investing in different areas in the Private Equity world in different areas such as forestry, start-ups and fast moving consumer goods.
Tomás Ramos, who is a key man in the AIM FOREST FUND, has dedicated his professional life to the management of his family’s forestry assets. He is one of the most knowledgeable professionals in this area with specialised skills in scouting and negotiating farmland, project development and management.
Why did you decide to create the AIM Forest Fund?
We decided we should scale up the very positive experience that Francisco Sottomayor and Tomas Ramos had in their private forestry investments and set up a fund that simultaneously has a very positive impact on the environment and reaches very compelling investment returns. Our fund is the first private equity fund to comply with Article 9 of the SFDRs (Standard Financial Disclosure Regulations) and one of the few funds classified as article 9 today,, and we thought this market segment needed a good product for people, like us, who want to see our money invested for the improvement of our planet whilst reaching high returns.
Has the management/advisory team invested in the AIM Forest Fund? Please explain that decision.
Yes, the management team is an investor in the fund. We are very confident on its potential and decided to invest 5% of the fund size, for a fund size up to €20 million
Request a detailed presentation about the fund
· Min investment:
€200,000
· Lifetime:
10 years
· US Citizens:
Yes 👍🏽
· Subscription deadline:
October 2024 🗓️
The AIM Forest Fund focuses on acquiring companies that manage forest assets, managing additional reforestation efforts, and benefiting from carbon credit schemes. Could you please explain your thought process behind applying this combination of elements?
We will focus our investments in projects that will plant cork trees (approximately 70%) and umbrella pine trees (30%) and that have a very positive impact in capturing carbon from the atmosphere. These forestry development projects will be done under strict certification agencies, such as Gold Standard, Verra or others that are recognized by the market, and this will allow for the carbon that is captured to be monitored, quantified and monetized in the form of carbon credits. We will invest in trees that produce commodities on which we have a very positive view: cork, with increased demand for many uses other than the wine industry (as a building material, an isolation material, etc) and pine nuts, used as a cooking ingredient and that are productive in the long run and are protected by law (it is a legal offence to cut down a cork tree in Portugal). This means that these trees are planted not to be cut but to being alive for their natural lifetime and therefore these projects are true CO2 offset projects.
An increasing number of modern investors are looking for ESG investments. How does AIM Forest Fund satisfy this demand?
As I mentioned before, the fund is classified as an Article 9 Fund which is the most sustainable classification in an European fund as far as ESG targets and reporting. It aims to plant 3.5 million trees and to capture 1 million COs tones. In a world where more and more there is a consensus about the need to reach a net zero target for carbon emissions, the importance of carbon offset strategies is key to achieve this target. Planting trees for long term conservation is one of the best ways to do this. Doing it in species that are productive, protected by law and abiding to demanding certification programmes are further guarantees that this is one of the best ways.
How would you describe the AIM Forest Fund’s risk profile; Conservative, Moderate, or Ambitious?
I would describe it as Conservative. The fund will not have any leverage and the invested companies will have very little debt, no more than 30% of its asset base. This means that the investors will be exposed to the risk of forestry assets which have historically not been prone to volatility or to downwards swings. We of course make this description in relative terms to other Private Equity funds which are the ones that are acceptable for Golden Visa purposes.
The Golden Visa rules state that a qualifying investment must be held for just five years but the AIM Forest Fund lifetime runs for longer. Could you please explain your fund lifetime including the launch date and subscription period?
The fund will run for 10 years after the initial subscription, October 2023. This is the time needed to develop the forestry projects until the first harvest of cork is done in a significant part of the portfolio. At this stage, the exit strategy is implemented and the assets can be sold as long term commodities’ producing forests. If before year ten, and at least 5 years of the last investors subscription, there is a good opportunity to sell the assets of the fund earlier and achieve its return target, management will do it.
On average, how long does it take to onboard a Golden Visa investor into the AIM Forest Fund and what are the main obstacles in the onboarding process?
Assuming that the new investor has all the necessary documentation in order, it should take two weeks. The most important thing for a swift onboarding process is to have all the necessary documentation. We have a dedicated team to manage and support this important process.
In general, some Golden Visa investors are cautious because of the funds' lock-in periods. How do you plan to deal with investors who wish to exit AIM Forest Fund before its full lifetime?
We believe that it is important to be transparent about the nature of Private Equity Funds. They are illiquid instruments. The strategies, to be implemented, require the time indicated as the maturity of the funds. We believe that investors, when making the investment decision, should be prepared to take the investment until maturity.
Get in touch with
AIM Forest Fund
now!
· Min investment:
€200,000
· Lifetime:
10 years
· US Citizens:
Yes 👍🏽
· Subscription deadline:
October 2024 🗓️
What distinguishes the AIM Forest Fund from other Golden Visa-eligible funds operating in the market?
This is an article 9 fund. It really has a positive impact on our planet. It has a very compelling risk return profile. It is managed by professionals with an extraordinary experience that are investing their own money in the fund, in conditions that are pari passu with other investors. It is an opportunity to add an exposure to the investor’s portfolio that is very complementary to other asset classes and to currency risk.
Many of those considering the Golden Visa have a number of funds to choose from. What advice can you offer to help investors make the right decision for them?
Do as much due diligence as possible, get to know the people who are managing the funds and ask them questions about the fund investment strategies, the exit strategies, etc. These funds, to be eligible for Golden Visa, are Private Equity funds (Fundos de Capital de Risco) so, by definition, they are risky investments and their success will be a function of a good investment strategy implemented by an experienced and credible team. Make sure you understand the type of risk/return profile of the shares you are investing in. It should be clear to golden visa investors if there are any specific differences between the share class they will be investing in and other share classes. Finally, you can diversify your investment in more than one fund.
Considering the recent Golden Visa rule changes in October 2023, what advice would you give to investors who are currently looking into the program?
My advice would be to hire good legal counsel and choose to invest in funds that invest in companies that operate in a specific sector of the Portuguese economy that is not in the residential real estate sector.
What is your outlook for Portugal from both an investment and lifestyle perspective over the coming years?
Portugal benefits from the stability and macro framework of being a member of the European Union. It is, by all known statistics, one of the safest countries in the world and it offers a pretty good quality of life for those who choose it as a residence. With regards to the country as an investment geography over the coming years, I believe that it is important to find the areas where the country has a competitive advantage. For example, the AIM FOREST FUND will invest in cork trees because Portugal is the world leader in cork global supply with circa 50% of its production. The country, like other countries, has had its challenges recently such as Covid and the shockwaves of the war in Ukraine, but it has some interesting and very dynamic niches where it is interesting to invest.
Is there anything else you would like to share with potential investors?
We invite potential shareholders to meet with us, get to know us and give us an opportunity to present our fund. We believe this is a unique opportunity to have a real positive impact on our planet while investing is a very strong investment case. We invite potential investors to partner up with us, invest alongside us. We assure full transparency and the highest standards as an investment manager. We have no third parties involved, no investment advisors so get in touch with us and meet the people who will be managing this fund.
Sounds good! I'd like to get in touch now!
· Min investment:
€200,000
· Lifetime:
10 years
· US Citizens:
Yes 👍🏽
· Subscription deadline:
