Company: Ranchland Capital Partners (RCP)
Location: U.S.
Financial Services Sector: Asset Manager
Overview
RCP invests in ranches in the Rocky Mountain West region. Their investment strategy seeks to improve ecosystem function and encourage conservation and biodiversity while promoting financial growth.
“As a growing investment manager in an emerging asset class, we recognized early on that establishing a thoughtful, credible ESG foundation would be key to engaging institutional investors. When we received a detailed ESG due diligence questionnaire from a prospective LP, it became clear we needed a more formalized structure—not just to complete that request, but to ensure our approach was robust and repeatable going forward. We saw an opportunity to bring in specialized support to help us sharpen our ESG materials, document our practices, and align our reporting with evolving standards.” – Sean Puckett, CFA, CAIA, Managing Partner, Ranchland Capital Partners
The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) framework helps businesses identify and disclose how their operations depend on and impact nature. For ranchlands, these dependencies are direct and material: soil health, water cycles, and biodiversity underpin productivity and long-term value. Ignoring these factors is a financial and environmental risk.
The Challenge
Wherever possible, TNFD has intentionally drawn from existing high-quality methodologies already used by market participants. The framework is designed to be interoperable with established approaches, including the Nature Capital Protocol (NCP), the materiality assessment concepts embedded in the International Sustainability Standards Board’s (ISSB) guidance, and the impact materiality lens used by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).
In the case of RCP, the nature-related risks were difficult to measure, structure, and disclose because ranch investments fall outside traditional corporate models. With no precedent in this asset class to reference, application of the TNFD framework was not easy.
The Solution
RCP partnered with ACA to complete their first investor questionnaire, then took one step further to develop their first TNFD-aligned report. ACA helped RCP utilize TNFD’s Locate, Evaluate, Assess, Prepare (LEAP) framework to provide a structured way to map nature-related risks and opportunities across RCP’s value chain. This work translated TNFD’s four pillars of Governance, Strategy, Risk and Impact Management, and Metrics and Targets into practical, actionable steps.
“ACA’s ESG team helped us cut through the noise quickly. They guided us through the investor questionnaire efficiently, then worked with us to create a custom ESG policy that reflected both our operating model and long-term strategy. They also introduced the TNFD framework as a natural fit for our business—given that our target investments are inherently tied to land, ecological performance, and nature-related outcomes.”
– Sean Puckett, CFA, CAIA, Managing Partner, Ranchland Capital Partners
The Result
Through this approach, not only was ACA able to assist RCP with their first TNFD-aligned disclosures, but we also helped them uncover:
- Dependencies on rainfall regulation, soil retention, and biomass provisioning are critical to the operational success of ranchland assets.
- Risks include climate variability, water scarcity, and ecosystem degradation, and opportunities include carbon credits, biodiversity markets, and sustainable recreation.
- Forward-looking strategies for regenerative grazing, water-efficient practices, and transparent reporting.
“Importantly, they [ACA] also worked closely with our design and marketing partners to ensure our final TNFD-aligned report was not just technically sound, but well-designed and consistent with our brand. That integrated approach made the process seamless.”
“The engagement saved significant internal time and energy while ensuring our disclosures were built for long-term use—not just one-time investor conversations. We now have a defensible ESG framework tailored to our strategy, a first TNFD disclosure we can stand behind, and clear internal processes we can scale. It’s been a critical step in increasing our preparedness for future reporting requirements and capital raises.” – Sean Puckett, CFA, CAIA, Managing Partner, Ranchland Capital
Turn TNFD Into Action
At ACA, we help organizations turn complex frameworks like TNFD into practical, measurable strategies, whether for disclosures, governance, or investor communications. If you’re considering nature-related risk management, we can help you.
By combining regulatory insight with practical implementation, we helped translate TNFD principles into actionable strategies for a niche asset class. This approach can be adapted to any organization seeking to integrate nature-related risk management into its ESG and investment planning.
“For any firm looking to elevate their ESG approach, ACA is a highly effective partner. They understand both the regulatory landscape and the practical realities of building these systems from the ground up. Their ability to bridge strategy, compliance, and communication made a meaningful difference for our team.” – Sean Puckett, CFA, CAIA, Managing Partner, Ranchland Capital
Discover how we can help you put TNFD into practice with the same structured, actionable approach we bring to complex real asset portfolios.