Our Investment Philosophy
Our world is faced with major environmental challenges: degrading soils, shrinking biodiversity, depleting water reserves, and, perhaps most urgently, climate change. Conventional farming and forestry are major contributors to these problems.
There are proven ecological approaches that can grow the food and materials we need, while restoring soils, preserving water, adding biodiversity and absorbing carbon from the air. These systems are not just sustainable but regenerative. They work with nature, not against it. They can also be more profitable by producing higher yields, reducing costs, tapping into premium markets or monetizing environmental benefits (e.g. through carbon credits). We need to scale up these production systems as part of a shift to a low carbon, circular economy.
SLM Partners uses investment capital to scale up regenerative agriculture and forestry. We invest in real assets, usually land, and partner with skilled farmers and foresters to bring that land under ecological management. We provide investors with the benefits of natural real assets – portfolio diversification, income yield, a hedge against inflation – while helping deliver on their sustainability goals.
How We Work
Safe geographies
We focus on low risk developed countries with strong property rights so that returns are primarily driven by transformative land management. We are currently active in Australia, the USA and the European Union and we will continue to focus on these regions.
Proven ecological systems
We identify ecological land management systems that deliver superior profits and strong environmental benefits. These systems are usually not yet mainstream but have the potential to be scaled. We carry out extensive research and financial analysis to understand environmental impacts and profitability.
Investor alignment
We develop funds and separate accounts to match our investment strategies with the needs of our investors, who are mainly institutional investors, family offices and foundations. We seek to minimize fees, to co-invest alongside investors and to tie our incentives to the success of our strategies.
Attractive markets
We target specific products and markets that have attractive supply-demand dynamics and good growth prospects. We pick regions with the right soil and climatic conditions, competitive land values and favourable production economics for growing our target products.
Skilled operational partners
We partner with local farmers and foresters who have a strong track record in managing our selected systems. We have seen enough projects go wrong to realize the critical importance of having skilled land managers in place from the start. In our strategies, we identify the right partners first and then work with them to find investment opportunities.
Keen awareness of risk
Our investors accept the return profile of land assets because of the lower risks. When developing strategies, we put a strong emphasis on understanding and mitigating risk. In particular, we assess the impact of a changing climate and build resilience into our farms and forests.
What We Do
We invest in agriculture and forestry across three continents.
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SLM Partners invests in organic row crops across the US Midwest region. We partner with skilled organic operators, offering long-term access to land and sharing some of the financial risks of organic transition. Read more
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SLM Partners invests in regenerative tree crop systems for the production of nuts, olives and other speciality crops. We are working with a number of growers using regenerative practices in orchards in Iberia and other parts of the world. These systems can be profitable while storing carbon and improving soil health. Read more
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SLM Partners invests in grassland in Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. By implementing holistic planned grazing, we can mimic the behaviour of large herds of herbivores in natural environmental. This leads to improved soil health and soil carbon sequestration. Read more
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SLM Partners invests in Irish forestry, transitioning clear-fell systems to Continuous Cover Forestry. Under this system, forest cover and woodland conditions are maintained permanently and trees are felled individually or in small groups. This systems benefits from steadier income streams, higher resilience to climate and pest risks and improved environmental outcomes related to biodiversity and carbon storage. Read more
