January 30, 2024

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Global private equity investment firm Bregal Investments announced its first venture into impact investing with the launch of Bregal Sphere Nature Strategy, a dedicated natural capital platform with a focus on agricultural supply chains. 

Headquartered in London and New York, Bregal Investments has a family of funds geared toward long-term sustainable value creation by providing access to private equity, growth equity, credit, and fund-of-fund strategies. Today, the firm manages more than €18 billion (US$19.5 billion) in assets across its strategies, having invested in more than 200 funds and closed over 150 direct investments. 

The firm launched Bregal Sphere in October 2022 as an impact investment platform through which to invest targeted capital to address key social and environmental challenges in a responsible and sustainable manner to generate positive and measurable social and environmental impact along with financial returns. 

Not only is nature critical to meeting climate goals, the World Economic Forum estimates that the protection of nature and biodiversity has the potential to generate $10 trillion in business opportunities per year in a range of industries including agriculture, finance, and even fashion. 

However, finance flowing into nature-based solutions (NbS) were $154 billion in 2022 – only half of the $384 billion investments in NbS per year needed by 2025, and a third of the $484 billion needed per year by 2030, according to the 2022 State of Finance for Nature report released by the UN Environment Programme. 

Concurrent to the announcement of the Bregal Sphere Nature strategy, the firm also announced the appointment of Agustin Silvani, former head of conservation finance at Conservation International, as joint managing partner alongside Alvar de Wolff to be leaders in deploying natural capital where it can have the greatest impact.

“We are excited to announce the launch of Bregal Sphere Nature,” said Alvar de Wolff, managing partner, Bregal Sphere Nature. “I’d like to take the opportunity to officially welcome Agustin to the team – his caliber and expertise will be invaluable as the strategy continues to develop.”

“Addressing the current financing gap for nature is critical for society to meet its global goals and targets around climate change and biodiversity, but also to ensure long-term supply chain resilience – both for agricultural communities, consumers, and global businesses.”

“Science tells us that nature is our most important ally in helping meet our climate goals yet, to date, the sector has been woefully underinvested in,” added Silvani. “By combining complementary investment and impact expertise, we hope to support the mainstreaming of natural capital markets and put private capital to work where it is crucially needed, particularly within agricultural supply chains. I am excited to join this talented team and move quickly to achieve the impact on the ground that we need.”

Through strategic partnership with project developers, the Bregal Sphere Nature team will deploy capital into genuine, high-integrity NbS projects that restore nature, address climate change and biodiversity loss, and improve the livelihoods within local communities. 

Bregal explained that this strategy will take a long-term investment approach within agricultural supply chains in segments such as coffee and cocoa agroforestry. It also will invest in reforestation projects in adjacent landscapes and mangrove restoration projects with an overarching goal of supporting corporate partners in achieving SBTI Forest, Land, and Agriculture (FLAG) targets via insetting. 

“We are excited to be launching Bregal Sphere Nature as our first venture into impact investing,” concluded Alain Carrier, CEO, Bregal Investments. “As a firm, we are committed to investing our capital with a purpose and will seek to encourage further engagement with natural capital markets.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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