Aurum, a specialist investment manager focusing on hedge fund portfolios, has launched Project Regeneration, a unique scheme that will allow companies to build a meaningful environmental policy.
Developed in conjunction with the UK-based charity Synchronicity Earth to help Aurum meet its own environmental goals, the project addresses the environmental aspect – the ‘E’ – of the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues high on the agenda of many investors.
Kevin Gundle, chief executive officer at Aurum, says: "We take ESG seriously at Aurum, but we found that while the social and governance aspects of running an investment management business are relatively easy to address, there was nothing suitable available for us to implement the carbon emissions aspect of our environmental policy."
Project Regeneration avoids the shortcomings of some of the traditional carbon offsetting schemes such as: carbon credits that are purchased for schemes of low-quality impact; a lack of assessment of schemes that leaves room for error or fraud; the failure to protect diverse species and eco-systems; and the assumption that trees planted are left in the ground until their death.
So far, five NGOs have been selected to form part of the project’s Regeneration Portfolio. For its first initiative, over the next two years Aurum will provide a grant, based on a multiple of its estimated annual carbon emissions, to Hutan, a Borneo-based conservation organisation.
Adam Sweidan, chief investment officer at Aurum, says: "As a company we have a culture of care and this project will provide an environmental legacy that can be monitored, measured and developed for its effectiveness to give a truly environmental, and social, benefit over the long term."
"By selecting from a portfolio of pre-vetted non-governmental organisations that engage in environmental conservation that subject to ongoing monitoring and evaluation, Project Regeneration is more than a box ticking exercise. It provides a scalable solution that can be adopted by anyone looking to engage in environmental philanthropy," says Gundle.
