In March 2026, Building Bridges convened a Breakfast Masterclass on scaling investments into natural capital at Lombard Odier, with special guest and pioneer in natural-capital investing, David Brand, Executive Chair of New Forests Investments and Founder of New Forests. Following the session, we sat down with him to discuss why sustainable land use remains underrepresented in global investment flows, the importance of mobilising capital in emerging markets, and the role of investor education and regulatory frameworks in scaling natural capital solutions.

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As someone who has spent decades helping establish natural capital as an institutional investment strategy, what stood out to you from your experience at Building Bridges and the conversations you had there, were there any moments or practical insights that stood out to you?

To me, what was interesting was coming and looking at the Swiss investment management industry and some of the philosophies. It was really encouraging to see that sustainability is front and centre. There are a number of areas in the world where there’s been a shift away from ESG, as if it’s somehow a bad thing to do, and it was really refreshing to see people still recognising that long-term investment needs to take account of some of the systemic risks we have, as we look at climate, nature conservation, or even economic inequality.

How do you see, if you look ahead, platforms like Building Bridges helping better recognise and account for nature as a critical economic asset? Where do you see the biggest opportunities for impact?

I come out of the land sector—forestry, agriculture, conservation and realistically, a very small amount of money has been invested into these areas, despite their potential for huge impact. I remember a few years ago looking at all the capital that had been mobilised to address climate change, and something like 3% of that had gone into land use. Yet land use is going to need to be something like a quarter of the solution.

With Building Bridges, you have a community that can identify opportunities to deploy capital into solutions that may have been overlooked. That’s an important role to play as you start to think about nature and climate as integrated solutions, and as you push that theme more strongly into the investment community.

Drawing on your experience across forestry, conservation and natural-capital investing, where do you see the greatest opportunities for action and impact?

First, there’s understanding the basic asset classes that are part of sustainable land use. Then there’s the whole problem of how we drive more capital into emerging markets, because that’s where a lot of the most important biodiversity attributes are, and where some of the most critical frontline issues like deforestation and land restoration are located. There’s also the broader theme of regulatory instruments and carbon markets: how they work, how you invest in them, and how you operate across multiple regulatory environments to deploy capital effectively. Convenings, like the masterclass format we had this morning, are valuable for practitioners to share their approaches, as well as the pitfalls and lessons learned.

What lessons, strategies or advice would you offer to the next generation of leaders who are aiming to build nature positive and climate resilient investment portfolios?

Look at the area you want to invest in, look at the nature of the assets, and look at the market opportunities associated with those assets. Then you design an investment strategy: what you’re going to invest in and how you’re going to manage those assets? After that, you look at what kind of capabilities you need to build out. That’s the process for almost any investment strategy, and it’s the best way to get to something that will, A, attract capital, and B, give you a clear roadmap of what you’re trying to achieve, whatever kind of investment you’re pursuing.

International capital follows the same approach. It’s about having that playbook and sticking to it, being disciplined. Even though you’re trying to do something new and innovative, you still have to be disciplined with the basic principles of investment management.

Are there examples of initiatives or approaches that you find particularly inspiring and what do you think others can learn from them when seeking to scale impact?

I thought the closed-door roundtable at Building Bridges in 2025 was very strong. We had some real heavyweight institutional investors in the room, and there was a lot of good discussion. It shows that the idea of natural capital as an investable asset class has moved beyond the theoretical stage to a point where people are genuinely interested in deploying real capital into it.

That’s the exciting opportunity. I know that for the first ten years of running New Forests, I was viewed as being a bit too far out. It was only when people started to realise that we were actually making strong returns that others began to replicate it. And as they say, the best compliment is someone copying your approach! With Building Bridges, you’re able to convene these kinds of investors and help them feel confident that this is something successful they can deploy capital into.

 

We Build Bridges Storytelling Series

Building Bridges is more than just an event, it’s a space for meaningful collaboration, fresh perspectives, and lasting connections. Through our storytelling series, we highlight the personal experiences that shape each edition. If you have a story to share about your engagement with Building Bridges, whether it’s a key insight, a memorable moment, or the impact of the bridges built, we’d love to hear from you at community@buildingbridges.org.