The Brief: How one asset manager is reducing wildfire risk in its timberland portfolio

Greetings Agents of Impact!

In today’s Brief:

• Burning a forest to fight climate change and mitigate investment risk
• WCCN backs Amazonia Impact Ventures
• Commercial and industrial solar in Africa
• ICM and Wharton Impact to take over Turner MIINT 

Featured: Sustainable Forestry

Burning for the bottom line: Why fire belongs in the timberland management toolkit. Timberland has found its way into the portfolios of many institutional investors and family offices, growing to some $100 billion in investment. Professionally managed forests provide steady income from timber sales and act as an inflationary hedge and portfolio diversification. Well-managed forests can also help sequester carbon and preserve old growth forests. “The resilience of our portfolio increases the more environmentally responsible we are,” says Charlotte Kaiser of BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group, one of the more prominent timberland asset managers, in a video interview. Climate change is driving more frequent and powerful wildfires, which can imperil investments. Increased droughts and large fires over the past two decades have shaved an estimated 10%, or about $11 billion, off the economic value of timberland in three Pacific states. BTG Pactual’s timberland group is using fire to fight fire: controlled burns reduce understory that can fuel wildfires while improving wildlife habitat. “This cost-effective forest management strategy delivers both environmental and operational co-benefits,” write Kaiser and The Nature Conservancy’s Catherine Burns in a guest post on ImpactAlpha. “Prescribed fire is emerging as a timely, scalable, and financially sound solution.” 

• Burn, baby, burn. Controlled burning is the careful, planned use of fire to manage forests in regions where fire is a natural part of the landscape. Indigenous communities have used fire for millennia, drawing on deep ecological knowledge. The practice is also used by conservation groups and on public lands, but less so by institutional timberland owners, which manage 20% of US forestland. In eastern Texas, controlled burns in commercial loblolly pine plantations managed by BTG Pactual TIG have cleared dense yaupon holly thickets, allowing native species, including the federally endangered Texas trailing phlox, to regenerate. BTG Pactual TIG has been working with The Nature Conservancy since 2021 to prove and scale its thesis that sustainable forest management can address biodiversity loss and climate change while maintaining or enhancing economic value. “Fire is not just a conservation tool – it’s a strategic investment in the long-term health and operational performance of timberland assets,” Kaiser and Burns write.  

• Resilient portfolios. The Atlanta-based subsidiary of Latin American investment bank BTG Pactual manages more than $7 billion in assets and nearly three million acres of timberland. Its investors include pension funds and other institutions, as well as a growing cohort of family offices and foundations interested. “Our investors are looking for impact and also for the stable returns that a forestry investment can offer,” says Kaiser. “The more we think about fire management, the more we think about water quality, [gives] our portfolio longer term resilience in a climate changing world.” The timberland group is also testing mycorrhizal fungi to enhance forest health, and it’s partnering with a remote sensing firm using backpack-mounted LiDAR to gather detailed forest data, according to the firm’s impact report out today.
  
• Keep reading, “Burning for the bottom line: Why fire belongs in the timberland management toolkit” by BTG Pactual TIG’s Charlotte Kaiser and The Nature Conservancy’s Catherine Burns, and watch the video interview with Kaiser.  

Sponsored by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

Purpose is the North Star: Why mission-driven companies are thriving in the age of AI. A mission-first mindset is the ultimate competitive advantage as artificial intelligence transforms business and society, writes Vivian Wu of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative for ImpactAlpha. Wu is the managing partner of the CZI’s Ventures team, where she leads impact investments in life sciences and education. A well defined mission gives founders a “clear decision-making framework during uncertainty,” she writes, helping them harness AI responsibly rather than being swept up in its disruption. CZI Ventures’ portfolio companies, including Handshake, Lovevery, Somite AI and Citizen Health, are demonstrating how the lived experience of founders can ground innovation and ensure that technology serves human needs, says Wu. “Without purpose, nothing else matters.”

• Keep reading, “Purpose is the North Star: Why mission-driven companies are thriving in the age of AI,” by CZI’s Vivian Wu.

Dealflow: Investing in the Amazon

WCCN backs Amazonia Impact Ventures to accelerate climate and community finance in the Amazon. Wisconsin-based Working Capital for Community Needs, a nonprofit impact investor, invested an undisclosed amount of debt capital in the first-time fund manager to support access to capital for Indigenous and forest-based entrepreneurs in the Amazon. The investment marks an evolution in 40-year-old WCCN’s investment strategy, which has primarily focused on microfinance institutions. Amazonia Impact Ventures offers flexible loans with financial incentives for agribusinesses that achieve specified impact goals. “One of our main theses is addressing persistent social and economic inequalities throughout Latin America,” WCCN’s Fiorella Díaz told ImpactAlpha. “Their impact perfectly aligns with ours.” WCCN is the seventh investor in Amazonia’s debut fund, which has a target of $25 million. 

• Community adaptation. WCCN has made one other fund investment, backing Quito-based Impaqto Capital, which provides revenue-based financing for Andean enterprises, and one direct investment in a social enterprise, Albedo Solar, which provides home solar products and systems in Guatemala. The three organizations reflect a growing focus for WCCN on climate adaptation and resilience. “The communities we support are often excluded from the traditional financial system. But if they can’t adapt to climate change, they won’t be able to escape poverty.” Díaz said. “These investments are part of the same mission we’ve been pursuing for more than 40 years.”
  
• Read on.

CrossBoundary Energy raises $40 million for commercial and industrial solar in Africa. Many of Africa’s commercial and industrial businesses want to switch to cleaner and more reliable sources of energy but are deterred by upfront costs. CrossBoundary Energy, part of the CrossBoundary Group, supports businesses’ energy transition by handling the installation and upfront financing of solar panels, battery systems and minigrids. Its customers include humanitarian agencies, and mining, telecommunications and agriculture companies. The company operates a commercial and industrial, or C&I, portfolio of more than 500-megawatts of solar, 600 megawatt-hours of battery storage, as well as some thermal power capacity. CBE has secured $40 million from Impact Fund Denmark to support its growing portfolio of solar and battery storage, including an installation for a copper mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “The investment is on commercial terms but the ability to provide this level of capital is catalytic to continued growth in the C&I renewables market in Africa,” CBE’s Matt Tilleard told ImpactAlpha.

• Deal de-risking. CBE is working on a 30-megawatt plus battery project for the Kamoa-Kakula Copper mining complex in the southern part of the DRC. CBE will own the plant, and Kamoa Copper will pay for the energy it uses. CBE estimates it will offset more than 86,000 tons of carbon emissions per year by replacing the mine’s fuel-powered generators. Impact Fund Denmark’s investment helped CBE “navigate cross-border legal complexities to close the transaction,” said CBE’s Tom Roberts. CBE also has a $495 million, 15-year guarantee for its portfolio from the World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, which provides political risk insurance, trade finance and credit guarantees for emerging market projects. 

• Keep reading. 

Dealflow overflow. Investment news crossing our desks:

• Norrsken Foundation in Sweden launched the Norrsken Evolve impact fund, seeded with €57 million ($66.4 million). The fund will invest in seed-stage startups in Europe in renewable energy, robotics, health tech, new materials and AI infrastructure. (Tech.EU)
  
• The International Finance Corp. approved a $250 million loan for US-based United Solar’s planned $1.6 billion plant in Oman. The plant will make polysilicon, which is used in solar panels and other electronics. Most of the world’s polysilicon supply comes from China. (PV Tech)
  
• Austin-based Aalo Atomics raised $100 million in a Series B equity round led by Valor Equity Partners. The firm is developing a modular nuclear plant with an initial use case of powering energy-hungry data centers with greener energy. (Aalo)
  
• Closed Loop Ventures, WovenEarth Ventures and Climate Capital were among the investors in ChemFinity’s $7 million seed equity round. Overture Ventures and At One Ventures led the round for the wastewater filter maker. (Axios)

Signals: Impact Careers

Impact Capital Managers takes the helm of Turner MIINT to support next-gen impact investors. Turner MIINT, the long-running impact investing training program for MBA students, will kick off the academic year with some big changes. The ICM Institute, the research and education arm of Impact Capital Managers, will co-produce the program with Wharton Impact (formerly the Wharton School’s Impact, Value and Sustainable Business Initiative). ICM takes the reins from Bridges Impact Foundation, which has co-produced the event for more than a decade. “It has been so rewarding to see the growth of Turner MIINT into the premier experiential educational program for impact investing in the world,” says Brian Trelstad, a Bridges Fund Management partner and Harvard Business School professor who launched the program in 2011. “There remains strong demand from the next generation of impact investors, and the ICM Institute is well positioned to build a talent pipeline for the industry for years to come,” he tells ImpactAlpha. Trelstad will remain engaged with future cohorts. 

• Future leaders. Turner MIINT, with financial support from impact investor Bobby Turner and his wife Lauren (see our Agent of Impact profile), and the Ron Moelis Family Foundation, provides hands-on impact dealmaking experience to more than 400 university students from top global business schools each year, culminating in a pitch competition. ICM Institute will be able to tap ICM’s network of more than 140 private impact fund managers (including Bridges) that collectively manage roughly $80 billion of assets. ICM also offers the Mosaic Fellowship to provide impact investing experience to first-year grad students. Just one in 400 graduates of top US MBA programs are working in impact roles, according to a recent HBS survey. “Current pathways into the field are narrow and often unclear,” HBS professors and researchers Shawn Cole, Marcus Sander and Jonah Zahnd wrote in a recent guest post.

• Keep reading, “Impact Capital Managers takes the helm of Turner MIINT to advance the next generation of impact investors,” by Roodgally Senatus. 

Agents of Impact: Follow the Talent

Lightrock welcomes Manoj Kohli, previously with Bharti Airtel, as senior advisor; Gaurav Malhotra, previously with British International Investment, as partner; and Aayush Parwal, previously with Eversource Capital, and Himanshu Kashyap, previously with Apollo, as principals… Lucy Carmody, former global director of investor partnerships at Climate Impact Partners, joins the Principles for Responsible Investment as a senior specialist of sustainable initiatives. 

Energy Impact Partners adds intern Mudit Agrawal as an investment analyst… Harman International, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, seeks a director of corporate sustainability and ESG in Michigan… Also in Michigan, the Kresge Foundation has an opening for a director of investment risk and operations… Green Climate Fund is recruiting a consultant for strategic investment partnerships and co-investment.

Charter School Growth Fund is on the hunt for a structured finance director… Capital One has an opening for a senior manager of CDFI relationships… Community HousingWorks is hiring an associate director of portfolio management in San Diego… City National Bank is looking for a community development investment officer.

👉 View (or post) impact investing jobs on ImpactAlpha’s Career Hub.

Thank you for your impact!

– Aug. 20, 2025