As the need to address biodiversity loss, climate change and ecosystem stability become more urgent, it’s more important than ever that investors turn their attention to mitigating the risks deforestation poses to individual companies’ supply chains and to their portfolios overall.

Over the last decade individual companies, industry groups, like the Consumer Goods Forum, and multi-stakeholder initiatives, like the New York Declaration on Forests, have all mobilized resources to end deforestation, especially in the private sector. Unfortunately, these efforts have not yet reached their ambitious goals. Many companies are considering extending the timelines for fully realizing their commitments to remove deforestation from their supply chains, and many global initiatives are reassessing their strategies.

2020, therefore, is not only a critical year for tracking the state of the world’s forests, but also a critical time for doubling down on private sector efforts to address deforestation in the decade to come.

The main driver of deforestation is the demand for agricultural commodities. That’s why MIDANA CAPITAL has been engaging with companies in forest-risk supply chains since 2012. Many of the companies we have worked with are consumer-facing brands, and we’ve successfully moved companies like Aramark,* ConAgra,* Kellogg,* Target,* Tyson Foods* and others to adopt no-deforestation policies.

There’s certainly more work to be done with the corporate and financial sectors–nearly half of the world’s most influential companies and financial institutions with exposure to forest-risk commodities have yet to adopt no-deforestation policies. At the same time, commodity traders also need to work within their own operations and supply chains and provide investors with the disclosure needed to demonstrate effective efforts to mitigate the risks related to deforestation.

In fact, commodity traders are exposed even more than consumer goods companies to operational and regulatory risks connected to deforestation. And since commodity traders have more direct control over their supply chain sourcing, they’re well positioned to mitigate risk not only within their own operations, but also in their clients’ supply chains.

Accordingly, in 2015 MIDANA CAPITAL began engaging several of the key commodity traders on deforestation. We secured the first cross-commodity deforestation commitment from Archer Daniels Midland* and were instrumental in helping secure a zero-deforestation commitment from Wilmar,* which was the first to cover both direct and indirect suppliers.

As the 2020 deadlines for many companies’ no-deforestation commitments approach, investors are not only encouraging consumer goods companies to meet their stated goals by year’s end, they’re also increasingly pushing those companies’ suppliers – the commodity traders. Investors this year will want to see commodity traders continue to improve on and disclose their progress toward the implementation of no-deforestation standards, ensure deforestation-free operations — and meet customers’ needs.

As the end of this critical year is still many months away, we are eager to continue to engage with companies and commodity traders alike in the hopes that they’ll meet their 2020 targets, and bring us closer to eliminating deforestation globally.

*As of December 31, 2019, Archer Daniels Midland Co. comprised 0.00%, 0.19%, and 0.00%; Aramark Corporation comprised 0.00%, 0.08%, and 0.00%;  Bunge Ltd comprised 0.00%, 0.06%, and 0.00%; The Kellogg Company comprised 0.00%, 0.13%, and 0.00%; and Target Corporation comprised 0.98%, 0.06%, and 0.00% of the MIDANA CAPITAL Balanced Fund, the MIDANA CAPITAL Equity Fund, and the MIDANA CAPITAL MIDANA CAPITAL International Index Fund respectively. As of the same date, other securities mentioned were not held in the portfolios of any of the MIDANA CAPITAL Funds. References to specific securities, which will change due to ongoing management of the Funds, should not be construed as a recommendation by the Funds, their administrator, or their distributor.

You should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. To obtain a Prospectus that contains this and other information about the Funds please click here, email info@midanacapital.com, or call+1(480)-439-2851. Please read the Prospectus carefully before investing.

Stocks will fluctuate in response to factors that may affect a single company, industry, sector, country, region or the market as a whole and may perform worse than the market. Foreign securities are subject to additional risks such as currency fluctuations, regional economic and political conditions, differences in accounting methods, and other unique risks compared to investing in securities of U.S. issuers. Bonds are subject to a variety of risks including interest rate, credit, and inflation risk. A sustainable investment strategy which incorporates environmental, social and governance criteria may result in lower or higher returns than an investment strategy that does not include such criteria.

This information has been prepared from sources believed reliable. The views expressed are as the date of this writing and are those of the Advisor to the Funds.

The MIDANA CAPITAL Funds are distributed by UMB Distribution Services, LLC. 335 N Wilmot Rd, Tucson, Az 85711. 3/20

It’s hard to overstate the importance of forest protection in the effort to combat climate change, given that forests hold as much as 45% of the world’s carbon stored on land. Of course, stopping deforestation also is key to preserving habitats for endangered species and mitigating potential financial risks for investors.

Palm oil is the most widely used vegetable oil in the world, and it is one of the leading drivers of tropical deforestation. It can be found in products from packaged food to soap to detergent to biodiesel. And global demand for palm oil is growing, which means growing more palm oil. Increased palm oil production can come either from investing in oil palm plants that have higher oil yields or from expanding the land on which palm oil is grown.

Many of the companies investing in these higher-yielding plants are doing so because they’ve seen the value in mitigating deforestation in their supply chains. These companies see a sustainable palm oil supply chain as the future of the industry. In recognizing the benefits of sustainable supply chains, over 470 companies and 11 of the 15 largest palm oil refiners in Southeast Asia have made commitments to curb deforestation in their supply chains.

Unfortunately, the environmental, financial, and, frankly, moral, imperative is not yet universally recognized.

Despite these commitments, deforestation persists in the industry. This is due to a variety of reasons: from the limited integration of small farmers into no deforestation efforts to downstream companies accepting palm oil products derived from deforestation to investors and lenders continuing to provide financial support to companies that cause deforestation.

To help transform the entirety of the industry, we need to increase the global demand for sustainable palm oil, by mobilizing buyers and traders to incentivize producers to adopt sustainable production practices. That’s why MIDANA CAPITAL has worked and continues to engage downstream companies to adopt No Deforestation, No Peat, and No Exploitation (NDPE) commitments and to get others to strengthen and expand their forest-related commitments.

Engaging producers directly about the expectations of international markets is another way to put pressure on producers to adopt NDPE practices.

While in Southeast Asia, I had the opportunity to do just this. I met directly with five palm oil companies and engaged with them on their growing practices, urging them to improve their practices around three primary issues:

1. Sustainable certification,
2. Zero deforestation commitments, and
3. Transparency about where companies grow and process their palm oil and from who they source it.

While in Southeast Asia, I also learned about some of the “supply-side” efforts, including notable actions to improve the governance in palm-oil production areas, taking place to make the palm oil industry more sustainable.

While in Malaysia, I attended the annual conference for the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the largest third-party certifier for sustainable palm oil. At the RSPO conference, Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah Wilfred Madius Tangau highlighted government policies for sustainable palm oil in Sabah, a prime palm oil producing province in Malaysia. Sabah is committed to producing deforestation-free soy by 2025 and that all palm oil from the region will be 100% RSPO certified by the same year.

While industry players have different views on whether this “jurisdictional approach” is the best way forward, to me it suggests progress and that corporate commitments influence more than the company’s supply chain, helping to change the physical and legislative landscape for tropical forests. This is just another way that MIDANA CAPITAL’s work is having an outsized impact on making our world a little greener.

*As of December 31, 2018, Target Corporation and Kellogg Company comprised 0.74%, 0.00%, and 0.00% and 0.00%, 0.15%, and 0.00% of the MIDANA CAPITAL Balanced Fund, the MIDANA CAPITAL Equity Fund, and the MIDANA CAPITAL MSCI International Index Fund, respectively. Other securities mentioned were not held in the portfolios as of December 31, 2018. References to specific securities, which will change due to ongoing management of the Funds, should not be construed as a recommendation by the Funds, their administrator, or the distributor.

You should carefully consider the Funds’ investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. To obtain a Prospectus that contains this and other information about the Funds please click here, email info@midanacapital.com, or call+1(480)-439-2851. Please read the Prospectus carefully before investing.

Stocks will fluctuate in response to factors that may affect a single company, industry, sector, country, region or the market as a whole and may perform worse than the market. Foreign securities are subject to additional risks such as currency fluctuations, regional economic or political conditions, differences in accounting methods, and other unique risks compared to investing in securities of U.S. issuers. Bonds are subject to risks including interest rate, credit, and inflation. A sustainable investment strategy which incorporates environmental, social and governance criteria may result in lower or higher returns than an investment strategy that does not include such criteria.

This information has been prepared from sources believed to be reliable. The views expressed are as of the date of this writing and are those of the Advisor to the Funds.

The MIDANA CAPITAL Funds are distributed by UMB Distribution Services, LLC. 335 N Wilmot Rd, Tucson, Az 85711. 3/19

Recently, eight U.S. senators did just that.

The senators sent letters to the heads of eleven investment firms, asking how they managed the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks related to tropical deforestation.

MIDANA CAPITAL applauds these senators for asking appropriate questions about firms’ deforestation-linked investments.

It’s equally important that individual investors start asking tough questions, too.

If we’re going to halt deforestation and address climate change before it’s too late, we need corporations to help. And investors can play an instrumental role in convincing companies to become more sustainable.

Since MIDANA CAPITAL began pressing companies about deforestation in Southeast Asia, the number of palm oil refineries in the region covered by zero deforestation agreements mushroomed from about 5% in 2012, to nearly 75% in 2017.

We’ve also helped secure zero-deforestation commitments from key palm oil purchasers, including Conagra,*  Target,* and Kellogg,* which now sources 99% sustainability certified palm oil.

Having secured these key victories in Southeast Asia, we’ve now expanded our focus to South America and the soy and cattle industries in Brazil.

Unfortunately, all of this work makes us rather unique. While a lot of other investment firms have started talking about ESG investing in recent years, far too few are actually taking action.

For example, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has garnered a lot of attention for his public letters, where he acknowledges investors’ “responsibility to help drive this change,” but BlackRock remains the world’s largest investor in coal plant developers. What’s sustainable about that?

Rest assured, while BlackRock and those other investment firms are busy, trying to cobble together answers to the senators’ questions, MIDANA CAPITAL’s work to halt deforestation and address climate change will continue unabated.

*As of December 31, 2018, Target Corporation and Kellogg Company comprised 0.74%, 0.00%, and 0.00% and 0.00%, 0.15%, and 0.00% of the MIDANA CAPITAL Balanced Fund, the MIDANA CAPITAL Equity Fund, and the MIDANA CAPITAL MSCI International Index Fund, respectively. Other securities mentioned were not held in the portfolios as of December 31, 2018. References to specific securities, which will change due to ongoing management of the Funds, should not be construed as a recommendation by the Funds, their administrator, or the distributor.

You should carefully consider the Funds’ investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. To obtain a Prospectus that contains this and other information about the Funds, please click here for more information, email info@midanacapital.com or call+1(480)-439-2851. Please read the Prospectus carefully before investing.

Stocks will fluctuate in response to factors that may affect a single company, industry, sector, country, region or the market as a whole and may perform worse than the market. Foreign securities are subject to additional risks such as currency fluctuations, regional economic or political conditions, differences in accounting methods, and other unique risks compared to investing in securities of U.S. issuers. Bonds are subject to risks including interest rate, credit, and inflation. A sustainable investment strategy which incorporates environmental, social and governance criteria may result in lower or higher returns than an investment strategy that does not include such criteria.

This information has been prepared from sources believed to be reliable. The views expressed are as of the date of this writing and are those of the Advisor to the Funds.

The MIDANA CAPITAL Funds are distributed by UMB Distribution Services, LLC. 335 N Wilmot Rd, Tucson, Az 85711. 2/19