Commodities

The Japanese trust bank made its first timberland investment last year amid a trend that has now led to New Forests being acquired by Mitsui & co and Nomura.

The program has a goal of restoring 2m hectares of land across six African countries and will support 2m smallholder farmers by 2026.

One of the world’s largest forestry asset managers is now a Japanese company, a sign of timber’s growing attractiveness to LPs from the region.

Founded by Reuben Munger in 2008, Vision Ridge Partners seeks to deliver superior financial returns and positive environmental impact through investments in sustainable real assets.

The vehcile attracted investment from a wide pool of LPs including sovereign wealth funds, pensions and family offices as it hit its $175m target within three months of launching in 2021.

AACo is developing a framework to ‘measure and report’ natural capital from its vast landholdings in northern Australia, which it hopes will create new revenue streams beyond beef.

New Forests founder and CEO David Brand will remain with the firm until June 2025 and will focus on strategic initiatives and growth opportunities.

Roc Partners partner Frank Barillaro said that many blue-ribbon Australian farmland assets sold to offshore investors may never come back into domestic hands, with superfunds still reluctant to participate in the market.

Founder Paul Pittman discusses a defamatory attack on Farmland’s stock, as well as his firm’s forays into private farmland markets.

Despite all the buzz around the benefits of regenerative farming practices, there have been few private market vehicles dedicated to supporting the transition. That could be about to change.