US pension fund manager TIAA-CREF, under pressure to put cash to work after having raised $2bn for TIAA-CREF Global Agriculture, agreed to purchase 12,528 ha of farmland in Florida.
A US pension fund investor that flies under the radar has continued its spending spree on quality agricultural land in WA with the purchase of two farms in Grass Patch for about $9 million.
One industry leader estimates that $10 billion in institutional capital is looking for access to US farmland, but that number could easily rise as investors seek to ride out uncertain financial times by placing their money in the perceived safety of agriculture.
Pension funds try to adopt a sustainability perspective when investing in farmland abroad, but there is not much consensus on what it means and how to measure it.
This year could see a surge in interest in farmland from investors with very little experience in this complicated asset class, reports Euromoney
Black River Asset Management, owned by food giant Cargill, is targeting $400m for its 2nd ag-focused investment fund. So far, the bulk of the financing has come from a US teachers' pension fund.
Farmland has become the darling of alternative investing, sending hedge funds and wealthy investors into bidding wars for plots of land once deemed ordinary. And it is not just big money getting in on the game. From Stockholm to Chicago to Vancouver, ordinary investor money is pouring into fields around the world.
Wisconsin state legislators have blocked an effort by Gov. Scott Walker to lift the state's long-time limits on foreign ownership of farmland.
Sweden’s SEK227.3bn (€26.7bn) state buffer fund Andra AP-fonden (AP2) has been accused of a lack of transparency and snapping up cheap agricultural land in Brazil by campaign group Swedwatch. AP2 denies the allegations.
A new Swedwatch report shows a lack of transparency and inadequate auditing of ethics and environmental impacts in AP2’s investment in farmland in Brazil. For business reasons, the investment is surrounded by a high level of secrecy, which makes scrutiny from the outside impossible.
In November, an investment unit of the big Swiss bank UBS bought 9,800 acres of Wisconsin farmland for $68 million
Major asset managers, cowed by the cost, the risk and the controversy involved in investing in farmland, are joining forces to increase investment in the historically under-capitalised sector.
|
Mata Reports looks at the Māori Carbon Collective
|
|
Accaparement de l'eau au Sénégal
|
|
A global hunt for water profit risks draining cities dry
|
