Today I’m joined by Steve Novakovic, Managing Director for the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association (CAIA) Curriculum. CAIA serves its international membership across the finance industry enhancing education in relation to alternative investments. From Steve’s wide knowledge of alternative investments, he describes how timberland investment plays a very important role in building a balanced institutional investment portfolio that both serves fiduciary requirements and has strong sustainability features.
Host: Shauna Matkovich - The Forest Link
Timecode
Details
00:33
Intro to Steve Novakovic
02:02
Intro to CAIA
02:55
CAIA’s curriculum (limited partners, alternative investments)
05:19
Member organisations
06:12
Investors sentiments around natural capital investment, specifically forestry
09:40
Deliberate decision-making process and how long it takes
11:22
Geographical location of most experience within the asset class
15:09
Sustainability and impact requirements of European investors
17:32
Demand for education in the asset class
22:37
Educational approach about timber investing (TIMO)
24:55
Shift to sustainable investments
26:21
ESG investing
30:15
Expansion of CAIA’s offerings to its members (e.g., understanding value chain)
34:40
Teaching members about sustainability (UN principles of sustainable investments)
38:12
Actionable advice
40:50
Contact details (see below)
[03:02] For better or for worse, limited partners is kind of what makes the industry run.
[09:40] The decision-making process is deliberate, really intentionally. As a limited partner you are the steward of capital, you have fiduciary responsibilities for whomever it is you are managing the pool of capital for, and you have to be very cautious and mindful in your investment approach.
[19:22] Timberland is a very low risk investment.
[26:18] From an academic perspective, there is clear evidence that ESG focused are beneficial in that they reduce risk.
[28:07] As a fiduciary, you really are supposed to evaluate investments in the context of risk and return, irrespective of your perspective on the environment or social or governance or so forth.
CAIA Association: https://caia.org/
Steven Novakovic: https://caia.org/contact/steven-novakovic-caia-cfa
Steven’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-novakovic-caia/