EmVest Asset Management, a diversified agricultural investment company in sub-Saharan Africa, has received its first allocation from Truestone Impact Investment Management, which focuses on delivering market rate returns from social and environmental investments.
EmVest manages the Emergent African Land Fund, a private equity fund focusing on the agricultural sector, with projects in Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The company supports the growth of sub-Saharan Africa through responsible capital allocation sourced from investors in both developed and developing countries. It is a for-profit company that targets a return of 20% per annum.
Truestone specialises in ‘impact investment’, which it describes as ‘beyond socially responsible investing’. An impact investment is made to solve specific environmental or social issues; clean power, finance to start businesses and social housing are examples. Truestone, however, is also required to generate sensible returns for investors in order to succeed in its objectives.
“EmVest represents exactly the type of impact investment we are looking for within the IM Truestone Global Impact Fund,” says Paul Szkiler, Chief Executive of Truestone Impact Investment Management. “It aims to deliver real improvements in living standards for local workers and communities as well as the potential for attractive financial returns for our investors.”
“EmVest is extremely pleased that an impact investor like Truestone has allocated to the African Land Fund,” says Bobby Console-Verma, Chief Operating Officer of EmVest. “We see it as an endorsement of our social and investment policies in sub-Saharan Africa.”
The amount of the allocation from Truestone has not been disclosed.
