Today’s investment climate has changed and, in many ways, for the better. The phrase known as “ESG” has emerged and quickly risen to the top of many investor due diligence checklists. For those unfamiliar with ESG, it stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance and acts as a set of ethical principles and best practices that apply to companies in every industry. Environmental factors: Performance of a business within the broader, shared natural environment. Criteria include the use of renewable energy resources, setting policies and

Since last fall, my letters to investors have discussed the emphasis Five States places on the most important drivers of fund performance – sourcing exceptional assets to add to our funds and working with/through operators to manage the ongoing development of those assets. Five States investors will be pleased to learn how these efforts are beginning to bear fruit. Asset Sourcing and Capital Deployment As the sun begins to set on Five States Energy Capital Fund 1, and while we continue to actively manage the assets in Five States Energy Capital

Five States made remarkable progress on a lot of fronts this fall, and in this issue of The Producer, I want to highlight two areas that have received the lion’s share of our attention – Investor Capital Deployment and Asset Risk Management. Investor Capital Deployment Over our 35-year existence, market conditions have occasionally revealed the need to pivot our strategic and tactical thinking about how best to deploy investor capital. Most often these pivots were subtle, driven by soft signals that suggested modest changes in our acquisition

Hello! – As you may have learned, I joined the senior leadership team at Five States over the summer and am delighted now to be a future contributor to The Producer. Because I have not met most of our investors yet, I invite you to learn about my background by visiting the Team page on the Five States website. Joining an established company led by a seasoned, respected leadership team is a lesson in both humility and balance. It is allowing me to benefit from the remarkable success, reputation and legacy created by Jim and Arthur, while

Arthur Budge and I are happy to welcome John Kiser as the newest member of the Five States family. John assumed the role of President at the beginning of August. His charge is broad, with responsibility for the effective planning and control of all aspects of Five States’ future management and operations. Arthur and I have long been aware of the need to bring aboard an individual with John’s background, knowledge and industry experience, but until recently we had not identified anyone with whom we were sufficiently impressed.

With receding hairlines and slowing steps, my partner Arthur Budge and I agreed that we needed to bring aboard someone into Five States with the knowledge, experience and character to serve on our senior management team. Following an active search, we identified and have added the person who we believe can lead the company into a period of renewed growth and expansion. John Kiser, 58, is precisely the individual we had been seeking. John is a petroleum engineer graduate of TAMU with an MBA from SMU. He began his career with Exxon in