Carbon Yield Fund Wins 2019 Kellogg-Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge

HONG KONG, April 15, 2019 /3BL Media/ — Morgan Stanley’s Institute for Sustainable Investing and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in the U.S. today announced that Carbon Yield Fund was named the winner of the 2019 Kellogg-Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge. The team was one of 12 finalists competing in the Challenge at Morgan Stanley’s Hong Kong offices on Friday. The team proposed a solution to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by increasing organic farming practices. 

The Carbon Yield Fund would provide loans to Midwestern farms in the United States that begin the organic certification process, then monetize emissions reductions associated with regenerative organic agriculture through an aggregated carbon offset program, documenting and marketing credits on behalf of the farmers. This additional revenue would help offset transition costs for farms and return capital to the fund’s investors.

Now in its ninth year, the Kellogg-Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge is an annual global competition designed to inspire future leaders to develop innovative financial vehicles to help address environmental, social and governance challenges. The 12 finalist teams were selected from 365 students, hailing from 50 countries. They represent 80 graduate schools and their projects targeted impact in 31 countries.

“We continue to be inspired by the level of creativity and passion embedded in these student proposals that aim to help solve some of the most complex issues facing the world today and in the future,” said Matthew Slovik, Head of Global Sustainable Finance at Morgan Stanley. “The impressive proposal articulated by the Carbon Yield Fund demonstrates that by bringing creativity to finance, we can make meaningful progress on pressing social and environmental challenges.”

The winning team consisted of Tom Fields, David Mallett, Claire Pluard and Sam Schiller from the United States.

This year’s runner-up was the Grey to Green Fund, who proposed a solution to help reduce hotels’ water consumption throughout the United States. They designed a multi-asset fund that would act as a market aggregator for hotel greywater infrastructure.

“One of my favorite parts about the challenge is seeing the diverse set of solutions that are brought to the table by these future leaders,” said Dave Chen, Principal & CEO, Equilibrium Capital and Adjunct Professor of Finance, Kellogg School of Management. “We want to congratulate the 12 finalist teams, our winners and each of the 365 students that entered the Kellogg-Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge. They challenged themselves to create investment strategies that can help deliver positive impact.”

The Challenge seeks to inspire the next generation of sustainable investing practitioners, connect emerging leaders with industry professionals, and foster greater emphasis on sustainable finance at graduate schools around the world. More information on this year’s finalists and winner can be found on Morgan Stanley's website. You can also follow the conversation on social media with #SIChallenge.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a leading global financial services firm providing investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. With offices in more than 41 countries, the Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. For more information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.

About The Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing

The Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing builds scalable finance solutions that seek to deliver competitive market rate returns while driving positive environmental and social impact. The Institute creates innovative financial products, thoughtful insights and capacity building programs that help maximize capital to create a more sustainable future. For more information about the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing, visit www.morganstanley.com/sustainableinvesting.

About Kellogg School of Management

The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University develops brave leaders who inspire growth in people, organizations and markets. Based just outside of Chicago, the school is a global leader in management education, renowned for its distinctive thought leadership and pioneering approach to learning. Kellogg offers an innovative portfolio of programs: four Full-Time MBA programs including leading one-year program and joint degree programs with the engineering, law and medical schools; a Part-Time MBA Program; the premier Executive MBA global network; and extensive non-degree Executive Education programs. To learn more about Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, please visit http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu.

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