The subsidiary Campbell Global of the investment giant J.P. Morgan Asset Management has been officially rebranded as J.P. Morgan Natural Capital. This change comes five years after the bank acquired this Portland-based forest asset management firm in 2021. Currently, the company manages more than 607,000 hectares of forest land on behalf of pension funds, foundations, and family offices.
Strategic shift, indicators and scale
The company's CEO, Angie Davis, emphasises that the name change is more than just a formality – it reflects the development trends within this asset class. While sustainable forestry remains at the core of the company's operations, its scope has now expanded to include investments in land resources, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity.
The global head of private markets at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Jed Laskowitz, also highlights that demand from institutional investors for nature-based and climate solutions is rising rapidly. The new identity will help attract new investment opportunities that combine financial returns with sustainability benefits.
Since the company's acquisition, its growth has been confirmed by its financial and operational performance. As of 31 December 2025, the value of assets under the platform's supervision reached 11 billion US dollars. For comparison, at the time of the transaction in 2021, Campbell Global managed almost half that amount, or 5.3 billion dollars. The company employs 150 people across 15 US states, as well as in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Latin America. The company's headquarters remain in Portland, Oregon.
In March 2025, the platform closed subscriptions for its Forest & Climate Solutions Fund II with 1.5 billion US dollars in capital, which J.P. Morgan describes as the largest forestry fund in industry history to date.
Recent transactions
The rebrand follows several high-profile deals in the market. In June of this year, the company sold approximately 17,890 hectares of forest property, where the main tree species are *Douglas fir and **Western hemlock, in Washington State to the Sydney-based company New Forests. Before that, in December 2024, the company acquired approximately 16,510 hectares of forest land on the Olympic Peninsula.
What is “natural capital” as an investment type?
Traditionally, investors viewed forests and agricultural land merely as sources of physical resource extraction, where timber, grain, meat, and other products could be harvested. By contrast, natural capital is a relatively new and fast-growing asset class, where land and ecosystems are viewed as financially valuable assets due to the ecological services they provide.
By investing in natural capital, profit is generated not by depleting nature, but by conserving and restoring it. One way is through so-called revenue stacking – revenue stacking – where timber cultivation on a single plot of land is combined with other sources of income. For example, a company earns revenue from a sustainable timber harvest while simultaneously selling carbon sequestration credits for the forest's ability to absorb CO₂. As international regulations develop, companies can convert measurable nature restoration, such as the revitalisation of peatlands or degraded forests, into certified 'biodiversity credits' purchased by large corporations to offset their environmental impact.
For large pension funds, these investments serve as an excellent tool for mitigating inflation risk and balancing a portfolio's overall carbon footprint, as forests absorb more CO₂ than they produce.
New Forests and its place in the forest market
The company New Forests is one of the world's most influential and largest investment managers of sustainable forests and natural resources. It was founded in 2005 in Sydney, Australia. It currently manages ~10.6 billion Australian dollars (~7 billion US dollars) in institutional investor capital.
The company oversees more than 5.7 million hectares of land, which includes sustainable timber plantations, agricultural land, protected natural areas, and infrastructure facilities. Its portfolio is based primarily in developed markets – Australia, New Zealand, and the USA – but it is increasingly expanding into Southeast Asia and Africa.
The company has a strict policy against using natural forests for timber extraction. Their management strategy is based on a scientific approach: improving forest genetics, using digital and spatial analytics for harvest planning, and integrating ecosystem services into the business model.
By acquiring properties in Washington State from a fund managed by J.P. Morgan—a total of approximately 17,890 hectares or 44,200 acres—New Forests is strengthening its position in the US Pacific Northwest, one of the world's most productive timber regions.
J.P. Morgan sustainable investment strategy aspects
The rebrand to J.P. Morgan Natural Capital marks the bank's efforts to become a leading player in a private market segment directly linked to climate goals and nature conservation.
J.P. Morgan reports that interest from pension funds and fund managers in these types of assets is growing exponentially. This is precisely why their latest forestry fund, Forest & Climate Solutions Fund II, closed with a record sum of 1.5 billion US dollars, becoming the largest fund of its kind in the industry. The bank's strategy involves a transition from simple financial instrument purchasing to direct physical asset control. Currently, the platform manages a total of over 607,000 hectares – 1.5 million acres – of land. This allows the bank to guarantee that forests are managed sustainably, providing transparent data on carbon sequestration, which is critical for their clients' ESG (environmental, social, and governance) reports.
Moving beyond pure timber production, the bank is now integrating broader solutions, offering clients the opportunity to invest in projects related to water resource protection, sustainable agriculture, and biodiversity restoration, thereby diversifying risks outside the traditional financial market.
Revisiting the carbon credit market in forestry
Forestry carbon credits—also known as forest carbon offsets—are based on a simple natural principle: as trees grow, they absorb carbon dioxide and convert it into biomass. Investors monetise this process by turning the sequestered carbon into financial instruments.
One carbon credit is equivalent to one tonne of CO₂ equivalent that has either been absorbed from the atmosphere or whose release into the atmosphere has been prevented.
Key project types
Afforestation and reforestation – planting new forests in areas where there were none before, or restoring depleted areas. These projects directly sequester new carbon.
Improved forest management – changing management practices in commercial forests. This includes extending rotation cycles to allow trees to grow longer and increase their volume, or using selective harvesting instead of clear-cutting. Companies like J.P. Morgan Natural Capital earn directly from this method.
Avoiding deforestation – protecting existing forests that would otherwise be legally and economically profitable to harvest, for example, for agricultural expansion.
Certification process – for a forest owner to sell credits, third-party auditors, such as Verra or Gold Standard, perform a rigorous review. They assess 'additionality'—proof that the carbon would not have been sequestered without the project funding—and 'permanence'—a guarantee that the forest will not be felled or destroyed by fire for the next 40–100 years.
Buyers – credits in the voluntary market are bought by large corporations—technology, aviation, or energy giants—that wish to reach their 'net zero' emission targets.
Major banks and managers in the natural capital market
J.P. Morgan is not the only bank that has recognised the potential of this market. Competition between global financial institutions for control over millions of hectares of forest and land is becoming increasingly fierce.
The bank Goldman Sachs has been integrating natural capital into its sustainability funds for years. It actively invests not only in forests but also in sustainable agriculture and water infrastructure. The bank has set a goal to mobilise 750 billion US dollars for sustainable financing by 2030, where natural ecosystem projects play a major role.
Morgan Stanley, together with Calvert Research and Management, focuses on creating investment products for institutional clients, offering direct access to natural capital projects in the Pacific region and North America. The bank's approach is largely based on integrating biodiversity into risk analysis.
BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager; while not a classic investment bank, BlackRock has huge influence in this market. Through its Real Assets and alternative asset platform, they buy large infrastructure objects and agricultural land. BlackRock is actively pushing for companies they invest in to report their dependence and impact on natural capital according to the TNFD (Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures) standards.
HSBC, in collaboration with Pollination – HSBC Asset Management Joint Venture is a British banking giant that joined forces with the natural capital consultancy Pollination to establish Climate Asset Management. This specialised manager purposefully builds funds that invest solely and exclusively in real natural capital projects—forests, regenerative agriculture, and landscape restoration worldwide.
* Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) – despite its name, it is not a 'fir' (egle), but a tree from a separate family. On the west coast of North America, these are some of the most magnificent and tallest conifers, which can reach up to 100 metres in height. In the timber industry, Douglas fir is extremely valuable due to its durable, dense wood, which is widely used in construction and structural work.
** Western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) is a large, shade-tolerant conifer that is one of the dominant species in the wet forests of the Pacific Northwest. Its wood is softer than that of Douglas fir, but it has a uniform texture and is widely used in general construction, finishings, and paper pulp production.
Sources: US and European Union economic and investment news sites.