Investing in forestry with the ZKB tracker

A basket of 20 companies

The product has been tradeable on the exchange since 26 April 2023 and is based on a basket of 20 leading listed forestry and timber companies drawn from the universe of the Timber Finance Carbon Capture & Storage Index. Zürcher Kantonalbank is the issuer, MRB Fund Partners AG the investment manager and Timber Finance Management AG the investment advisor. The rationale is the «timber turnaround» of 2020, which put the global forestry and timber construction industry into a new growth cycle, and timber's role as a renewable substitute for concrete and steel.

We see that timber construction is a megatrend that will stay with us for decades to come.

Wide coverage of the launch

The quote comes from Erik Reichmuth, Managing Director of Timber Finance Management AG. The focus is on CO₂ uptake by sustainably managed forests, its long-term retention in timber construction products and the replacement of steel and concrete. Timbatec had already announced the product in March 2023, with a subscription period until 19 April. On the day of the launch, the news also appeared on Swiss Fund Data and, via Presseportal Schweiz, on Tagblatt24. Lignum picked up the topic in May 2023, citing the 100-metre «Rocket» timber high-rise in Winterthur as an example.

How Timber Carbon sees it

For the product's first anniversary, an advertorial in BauernZeitung appeared in 2024, and the article An equity index focused on timber construction describes how the index is built. Timber Carbon, launched in 2026 as a spin-off of Timber Finance, quantifies, certifies and monetises the carbon removed in mass timber buildings as carbon removal credits on the voluntary carbon market.