Investing in Canada

Investing in Canada

Investing in our Farmers

We are proud to invest in our Canadian farmers through a $15 million investment in Area One Farms. Farmland has shown historical resilience through multiple economic cycles and market disruptions. In addition to potential inflation-hedging characteristics, farmland can improve the overall performance of a portfolio due to its low correlation with traditional financial assets.

Our fund investment in Area One Farms includes 27 farm partnerships, supporting 46 farm families and sustaining 71 full-time jobs. The focus of the fund is to help farmers expand their operations in a stable, committed partnership. Profitability and capital appreciation created by the partnership is a win for both investors and farmers.

Climate Risk Mitigation

Extreme weather and physical hazards, such as hurricanes, floods and wildfires, can cause substantial damage to real estate located in vulnerable areas. We are keenly aware that it is in the best interests of our members to protect our real asset investments from climate risk-related events.

Our ability to manage climate risks in our portfolio is largely dependent on information we receive from our fund managers. Area One Farms (featured above) has excellent climate risk practices and disclosure. In addition to the tangible social impact of their partnership-style of investment in Canadian farmers, Area One Farms monitors the concentration of their farms in areas susceptible to climate-related risks like flooding. We are working with all our real asset managers to obtain information like this so we can better assess climate risks for the overall portfolio.