Institutional Investors

John Corbett, director of Hassad Australia, told delegates at Agri Investor’s inaugural Australia Forum in Melbourne this morning that Australia ticked many boxes for the Qatari Investment Authority's agri ambitions.

The $14.7bn New Mexico Public Employees Retirement Association is actively exploring agriculture investment opportunities after making its first foray into the sector last year.

The joint venture between Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board and established farming family business Hewitt Cattle highlights various key aspects of agri investing in Australia.

Martin Newnham has been appointed chief executive after John McKillop left last year. Newnham is also CFO at the fund management firm.

Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, has €6 billion to allocate and is looking for opportunities in food and agriculture, according to Cathal Fitzgerald, head of food and agriculture investments at ISIF.

Many corporate and institutional investments into Australian agriculture have not performed well compared to the returns achieved by the family farm, argues David Cornish, principal at Cornish Consultancy.

TIAA-CREF and its subsidiary, GreenWood Resources, have launched Global Timber Resources. Investors include Swedish pension AP2 and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund.

LPs are raising the stakes on GPs’ responsible investment policies. Managers that haven’t yet responded will need to do so soon, including smaller ones with limited budgets, argues Kelly Holman, senior reporter at Private Equity International in New York.

The estate agency's new report on US farmland shows it has outperformed other real assets over the past 15 years and is continuing to do so.

CannaVest, a manufacturer and distributor of hemp derivatives, closed a $6.5m financing with an undisclosed institutional investor.