Tag Archives: management
The Importance Of Oud
Sustainable Asset Management and Greenstone Equity Partners have teamed up with speciality plantation operator Asia Plantation Capital to bring agro-forestry and Oud bearing Aquilaria plantations as serious project opportunities to institutional investors in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region, whilst simultaneously working to help preserve the increasingly rare Aquilaria tree in the wild. The traditional use of Oud as an incense in the Gulf region is well known. This valuable oil is renowned for its pleasant and distinctive odour. Over generations Oud has been embodied into local culture as a sign of hospitality and generosity to family, guests and dignitaries. As a result of this demand, Oud and agarwood have become rare in the wild. Future supplies have only been safeguarded by both international legislation, with CITES protecting the rare Aquilaria species in the wild, and by the actions of specialist forestry companies such as Asia Plantation Capital (APC) who have created sustainable tree plantations and invested in modern distilling techniques to ensure future farmed Oud and Agarwood supplies. Aquilaria trees require very specific growing conditions and when infected by particular fungi yield the precious agarwood, from which Oud is derived. In nature this occurs in fewer than five trees per hundred, but with modern forestry practices and following extensive scientific research, several methods have now been discovered to inoculate these trees and induce agarwood in virtually the whole crop. This has allowed innovative companies such as APC, who use an organic inoculation method, to develop a good number of small-scale forestry plantations across Thailand, Sri Lanka and other South East Asian countries where Aquilaria trees have been grown for a number of years and continue to be planted. Mark Wills, Managing Director at Sustainable Asset Management (SAM), explains that “these plantations help balance the supply & demand, reducing pressure for illegal logging and the environmentally damaging cutting of wild Aquilaria in search for wild agarwood.” The size and nature of each Aquilaria plantation is of key importance for the crop and for the local community. APC plantations are classed as agro-forestry as the land has dual uses in the early years of the Aquilaria trees’ life. By grouping plantations in regions, and growing secondary crops such as teak, bamboo, banana and other foods, these plantations create many jobs for local communities and become a centre for the processing of agarwood and Oud oil; which are labour intensive and rewarding activities for local community groups. APC has used agarwood as a social instrument to help revitalise communities in rural areas in this region. APC is a vertically integrated business; social forestry is their passion and they recognised early on that value retention comes from selling the end product through to the market and developing new products and brands for their produce. Today APC is using agarwood and Oud as traditional products for the Gulf communities, as well as in a variety of products that appeal to Western and Eastern consumers’ alike; from fragrances used at Fragrance du Bois, through luxurious cosmetic products, to nutritional supplements, improved rice and even in traditional medicinal applications. Of course, there remains Oud oil. APC and Sustainable Asset Management place great emotional value on the traditional uses of Oud and have been honoured by the recognition of their dedication from both Gulf based investors and now by Greenstone Equity Partners, looking to participate in what has become a partnership for social action and culture preservation. Omar Al-Gharabally, Managing Director at Greenstone Equity Partners comments “when we recognised the quality of Sustainable Asset Management’s Oud, and heard of the dedication and forestry expertise within APC, we knew that we would welcome a commercial relationship. The careful due diligence we have conducted highlights not only the environmental and cultural positives of this project but also the financial rewards.” Continue reading
New Funds: September 9
http://www.ft.com/cm…l#ixzz2fQo4q0Qj ● Host Capital has launched what it claims to be the UK’s first fully authorised and domiciled currency fund. Its Global Currency fund, structured as an Oeic and aimed at discretionary wealth managers and IFAs, will follow the output of the six systematic strategies that comprise the Citi Carry & Value index. ● Prestige Fund Management and Methexis Capital have joined forces to create Commercial Finance Opportunities, a fund specialising in secured lending to private UK companies. The Luxembourg Sicav is available to experienced investors with at least €125,000 to spare. ● Legal & General Investments has unveiled five risk-targeted multi-asset funds that will gain exposure to equities, bonds and property through a series of in-house passive funds, keeping the annual management charge to just 0.25 per cent. ● Invesco Perpetual is also launching its first multi-asset strategy, the IP Global Targeted Returns fund. The vehicle, managed by a newly assembled team, will target a gross return of 5 percentage points above UK Libor on a rolling three-year basis. ● Cordea Savills has unveiled its first German Spezialfonds. Real Invest 1 raised €65m from a group of German insurers before its first close and will buy offices or mixed-use buildings in the seven largest German cities. ● France’s Zencap Asset Management has launched a fund investing in mezzanine real estate debt across western Europe. ● Investec Asset Management has registered a selection of its Global Strategy fund range in Belgium. ● Over in ETF land, State Street Global Advisors’ SPDR arm has listed three short-duration bond ETFs in London and Frankfurt. ● Vanguard has listed its US Dividend Appreciation Index ETF, as well as a Canadian dollar-hedged version, in Toronto. ● db x-trackers has unveiled a US dollar-hedged version of its MSCI Japan Index Ucits ETF in London. Continue reading
Bayer CropScience Steps Up Investment Plans
Bayer CropScience September 9, 2013 Bayer CropScience is on track to grow annual sales toward EUR 9 billion in 2013 and toward EUR 10 billion in 2015. “Since 2007 we have continuously expanded our business with record sales, and we are optimistic about the future development,” said Bayer CropScience CEO Liam Condon at the company’s annual press conference in Monheim, Germany. Against the background of strong demand for its products, the company is adding EUR 1 billion to its investment program, bringing total capital expenditures for the period 2013 to 2016 to approximately EUR 2.4 billion. As a result of the accelerated investment program, the production volume of key active ingredients for crop protection products is expected to increase significantly. “Many industries today are facing overproduction. At Bayer CropScience, we are in a completely different situation: A growing global population, changing diets and increasing weather volatility are affecting food supply and need to be addressed today,” said Condon. “Demand from farmers for our products is increasing so strongly that we’re significantly stepping up our supply chain capacity to serve farmers around the world with much needed innovative agricultural solutions,” added Liam Condon, describing the challenge: “About 900 million people remain hungry today and the world population is growing strongly. We need to raise agricultural productivity and at the same time advance sustainability in farming and ensure protection of the environment. We aim to achieve this by developing innovative solutions and services that can help agriculture to contribute to the healthy development of society.” About EUR 380 million investment in new glufosinate-ammonium plant in the United States One integral element of Bayer CropScience’s investment plans is the construction of a new plant in Mobile/Alabama for the production of the herbicide glufosinate-ammonium, marketed in the United States under the brand name Liberty. The start-up of the new plant is anticipated probably for the fourth quarter of 2015, in time for the 2016 growing season. “With about EUR 380 million earmarked for this new facility, this is the biggest single construction project in the history of Bayer CropScience,” said Condon. Along with capacity expansion projects currently under way at other sites, this new facility will contribute significantly to the company’s target of more than doubling global product supply for this important active ingredient. The increased production of Liberty will help to fight weed resistance, a key challenge for modern agriculture. Liberty is the only non-selective herbicide that controls weeds resistant to the most used herbicide, glyphosate. About 50 percent of the farmers in the USA have experienced weed resistance on their fields, and the situation is worsening further not only in the United States but also around the world. Bayer CropScience is addressing this problem with its unique expertise in R&D, the most diverse herbicide portfolio in the industry, diagnostics and monitoring, and by promoting an Integrated Weed Management (IWM) approach. IWM techniques such as crop rotation, the use of herbicides with different modes of action – glufosinate-ammonium being one of the cornerstones – and rotation of herbicide-tolerant traits help growers to manage or delay weed resistance, as no single strategy will be completely effective on its own. “Diversity is the key to sustainable agriculture,” stressed Condon. Expanding the Seeds business – building up strong positions in soybean and wheat In addition to the ramp-up of its supply chain capacity in Crop Protection, another element of the company’s growth plan is the implementation of its Seeds strategy. Bayer CropScience plans to further strengthen its position in established crops such as vegetables, rice, oilseed rape and cotton, and to build up significant market positions in soybean and wheat. “We are continuing to invest in our soybean business, for example through strategic acquisitions in Latin America, contributing to a fast and focused development of distinctive traits,” explained Condon, who highlighted the soybean cyst nematode trait currently under development at Bayer CropScience. He also announced the planned launch of the global Bayer CropScience soybean brand Credenz for late 2014 in North and South America. “Credenz soybean seeds will help us to deliver improved varieties to growers. It will offer future traits that could protect soybeans against specific insects, repel persistent attacks by nematodes, and make soybeans tolerant to the most effective herbicides,” said Condon. The company intends to significantly expand today’s soybean-related sales within the next decade. A second seed investment focus for the company is wheat, the world’s most important staple crop. Here, Bayer CropScience is building a leading global wheat breeding network, with the objective of developing high-yielding varieties adapted to local growing conditions. First varieties are expected to come to market in 2015. “Our business strategy is aimed at addressing the pressing challenges farmers are facing worldwide,” concluded Condon. “We will further strengthen both our CropProtection and our Seeds businesses, continue to sharpen our customer focus and foster innovation to strengthen our leading market position.” Continue reading
