Fund

Gardant Investor SGR has set up, promoted and currently managed the reserved closed end AIF Italian Distressed Debt & Special Situations Fund which invests on the Italian market in secured and unsecured non-performing loans (NPL/UtP).

The Fund started its operations in October 2021.

 

 

Gardant Investor SGR has set up, promoted and currently manages the reserved closed end “FIA” Forward fund , which mainly invests on the Italian market in different asset classes.

The Fund started its operations in September 2021.

Terre Agricole Italiane is the reserved real estate AIF promoted by Gardant Investor SGR.

An innovative solution that will meet the current needs of the market, dedicated to the investment in agricultural land and real estate property connected to the agriculture business, mainly located in Italy and other EU member states, in order to support the real economy and actively contribute to the development and relaunch of the agri-food sector, an essential infrastructure for our country. An investment proposal taking into consideration sustainability issues (in line with the provisions of Article 8 of EU Regulation EU 2019/2088, thus promoting ESG characteristics), aimed at supporting the process of evolution, transition and growth of Italian agriculture.

 

The Fund has a target of 500 million Euros.

 

Extract from the Web Disclosure concerning products Art.8 pursuant to Art. 10 of Reg. (EU) 2019/2088 RTS Art. 24-36

The complete disclosures required pursuant to Reg. (EU) 2019/2088 (complete Web Disclosure under Art. 10 and Pre-contractual Disclosure for Art. 8 financial products) of the Terre Agricole Italiane alternative reserved real estate AIF are available in the reserved area dedicated to investors.

1. Summary for financial products that promote environmental or social characteristics

Terre Agricole Italiane fund is qualified as a financial product that, pursuant to Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 (also referred to as ‘SFDR’), promotes environmental and social characteristics but does not have sustainable investment as an objective.

 

Specifically, the environmental features promoted by Terre Agricole Italiane fund involve:

 

– Supporting the use of biological, regenerative, and conservation farming techniques;

– Limiting the chemical contamination of soil, groundwater, and air, by reducing the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides;

– Stimulating biological agriculture and limiting the use of artificial fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides;

– Encouraging crop rotation in order to stimulate greater environmental and ecological variability, as well as to reduce the persistence of ecosystem disruptions such as parasite outbreaks;

– Reducing greenhouse gas emissions originating from the agricultural sector by promoting the use and production of energy from renewable sources;

– Supporting the modernization of the agricultural equipment through the use of Agriculture 4.0 techniques and technologies to reduce emissions from agricultural vehicles, pesticide use, and water consumption;

– Stimulating the use of “precision farming” technologies to reduce the consumption of natural resources and increase the quality and quantity of production.

 

Terre Agricole Italiane fund promotes the environmental objective listed in point (f) of Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 “protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems” but does not undertake sustainable investments that address the EU criteria for environmentally sustainable economic activities and, therefore, does not contribute to the environmental objectives listed in Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852.

 

The social features promoted by the product involve:

 

– Increasing employment, particularly of young farmers;

– Facilitating agricultural entrepreneurship, in particular, that of young people;

– Increasing the presence of young people and/or women employed in the agricultural sector;

– Facilitating the participation of agricultural operators also located in rural areas;

– Promoting knowledge transmission and innovation in the agricultural sector, including rural areas;

– Strengthening agricultural income and boosting competitiveness

 

Specific clauses will be included in the rental contracts to monitor the environmental and social characteristics listed above.

For the monitoring and assessment of each environmental and social characteristic promoted by the fund, specific indicators  (KPIs) have been identified.

No designated reference benchmark for Terre Agricole Italiane fund has been identified.

2. Investment strategy

As described in the Group’s ESG Policy and the SGR’s Responsible Investment Procedure (available on the website), Gardant Investor SGR is committed, where applicable, to incorporate ESG factors into its investment decisions by also assessing good governance practices in its exclusion policy. Furthermore, the SGR’s Risk Management function undertakes an assessment of potential negative impacts associated with the value of investments also through ESG risk screening.

 

3. Proportion of investments for products promoting environmental or social characteristics

The percentage of the financial product’s investments used to comply with environmental or social characteristics promoted by the financial product is 66%.

 

4. Data sources, monitoring and processing

In order to fulfill each environmental or social characteristic promoted by the financial product, data are provided by the various counterparties and Gardant Investor SGR’s internal information systems. The data support the internal tool which makes it possible to identify, assess and monitor parameters related to the social and environmental characteristics promoted by the product.

 

5. Limitations to methodologies and data

The data and information provided to the internal tool monitoring environmental or social characteristics are subject to the availability of the counterparty.,

 

6. Due diligence on environmental and social characteristics

With respect to investment decisions, technical, sustainability, and legal due diligences are undertaken. Counterparties are asked for a set of documents/evidence to attribute an ESG score through the use of an internal tool that allows for a preliminary screening. In addition, these analyses are also taken into consideration by the Risk Management Function.

 

7. Engagement policies

One of the binding elements of Gardant Investor SGR’s investment strategy is the a priori exclusion from the investments of the following:

– companies operating in clear conflict with the principles established by international standards and conventions (e.g., in violation of the United Nations Global Principles);

– companies operating in controversial sectors and activities, belonging to specific exclusion lists, by setting thresholds based on a company’s revenues during the previous four quarters. This negative ESG screening specifically relates to companies operating in controversial weapons (any threshold), coal (threshold of 20% of each company’s revenues during the previous four quarters), conventional weapons (30% of each company’s revenues during the previous four quarters), tobacco (20% of each company’s revenues during the previous four quarters), gambling (20% of each company’s revenues during the previous four quarters) and adult entertainment (any threshold);

– government issuers that are under the sanction regime of the United Nations, pursuant to Article 31 of the UN Charter.

In addition, the assets allocated will always aim to ensure that water-efficient practices (e.g., reduction of consumption and adoption of new techniques) and optimization of resources used for agricultural production (e.g., reduction of waste and use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides) are adopted for each investment.