Australia’s agriculture industry is courting foreign investment – but domestic institutional investors should be stepping up, too.
A new caste of agri funds, managed by agriculture professionals alongside finance experts, should help to restore the reputational damage done by the investment banker-led agri funds of years past.
As the diversity of agri funds grows, and the credibility of their management improves, there is an opportunity for a thriving fund of funds market to mobilise institutional investors.
Managers are embracing a range of different investment structures in agri, but are there too many?
Attracting investment into Africa is not straightforward and there is no clear solution. But appealing to DFIs is a good place to start; the institutions will follow eventually.
Investing into the organic production of meat in Australasia is a sure way to meet China’s burgeoning demand for protein.
The drought challenging California farms and orchards illustrates that agri investors’ choices aren’t always black and white.
Institutional investors may be increasingly attracted to funds touting operational agri expertise – but that doesn’t mean they should disregard buy-and-lease models, especially in developed markets like Australia.
Classifying agri-investments is one of the main challenges for institutional investors considering the asset class for the first time.
Why agri? Why now?