Superfunds

Superannuation fund Brighter Super may be committing more to agriculture than most of its peers, but chief investment officer Mark Rider says it is doing so on an opportunistic basis.

The superannuation industry has called for reform of its performance tests at a roundtable seeking to improve the Australian economy.

Incoming NZ Super Fund joint chief investment officer Will Goodwin talks with Agri Investor about the future of New Zealand’s sovereign wealth fund, its plans to transform farmland, and the fund’s total portfolio approach.

Categorization, commodity risk and accessing scale are among the issues Australian superannuation funds cite when it comes to investing in agriculture – but foreign pension funds do not appear to have the same misgivings.

Australia’s opportunities in natural capital made it a natural fit for the US-listed Agriculture and Natural Solutions Acquisition Corporation.

The GoFarm Responsible Agriculture Fund will invest in Australian land the firm identifies as being ripe for horticultural redevelopment.

Roc Partners’ fund close shows that agriculture’s defensive characteristics are appealing to investors with inflation here and uncertainty on the horizon.

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.

Mark Rider will take over as CIO of LGIAsuper and Energy Super in February after Troy Rieck leaves to take on a new role elsewhere.

Controversial Your Future, Your Super changes will remove an exemption to asset disclosure that has allowed superfunds to avoid revealing the value of some unlisted assets.