New Mexico SIC to vote on $75m Brookfield AgriLand Fund II commitment

The $20.26 billion New Mexico State Investment Council (NMSIC) has received recommendations from an advisory committee to invest $75 million to Brookfield Asset Management’s Brazil AgriLand Fund II, said Charles Wollmann, a spokesperson for NMSIC, in an email.

NMSIC will meet later this month to discuss the recommendation at its 28 April board meeting where they could accept, modify or dismiss the recommendation, according to Wollmann. If accepted, this will be NMSIC’s fourth commitment to a Brookfield investment vehicle; it is invested in its private equity fund Brookfield Capital Partners, Brookfield Timber V and also Brookfield Infrastructure Fund II.

Brookfield Brazil AgriLand Fund I closed on $330 million in January 2010. It invested in pasture farmland for conversion into higher and better uses including soybean, corn and sugarcane production. A range of global public and private pension plans, insurance companies and endowment funds committed to Fund I. Brookfield has a 30 year track record operating in Brazil’s agricultural sector, according to a press release.

NMSIC sets a 10 percent asset allocation target for real return investments. Within this allocation include investments in infrastructure, timber, agriculture, energy, inflation-linked securities, commodities and other similar assets.

Earlier in February, SIC approved a $200 million commitment to TIAA-CREF Global Agriculture II. The Council has deployed almost $700 million in real return investments since 2011, according to its website.