Soil

Chair Tim Samway tells Agri Investor the fund manager was ‘unable to continue’ in its previous form, with all options on the table for how to proceed.

With natural assets still waiting to be correctly valued, ‘a huge arbitrage opportunity will exist for the investors that are willing to lean in,’ StepStone says.

‘You can see the capital interest is here’ for investing in nature-based solutions to reduce carbon emissions, said head of agriculture and natural assets Liz O’Leary.

Xpansiv, which secured a $400m investment from Blackstone Energy Partners this year, will launch the platform in 2023.

KKR Global Impact director George Aitken said nature-based solutions are the ‘perfect assets’ for investors seeking arbitrage in combination with climate impact.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation has committed A$30m to Wyuna’s first fund, alongside property firm the Goodman Group.

The sixth Agri Investor Australia Forum, held in Melbourne this month, covered topics as diverse as natural capital, carbon markets, family office strategies and water.

The Agri Investor Australia Forum, held last week, saw constant discussion of natural capital’s potential – but the term was less familiar to international investors.

New Harvest, chaired by industry veteran Don Mackay, is aiming to hold a first close of A$150m before the end of 2022.

New Agriculture’s Bruce King and New Forests’ Mark Rogers discuss the new division’s strategy, what investors want from the asset class, and the potential blend of farmland and forestry into a single investment product.