Alternative Outlook

“I’m building up a business now and I cannot get over how successful it is.” Rare words to hear in today’s economy, and even rarer to hear them from a farmer.

But John Jackson has always ploughed his own furrow, so to speak. Seventeen years ago he did the unthinkable in farming circles when he sold his tillage farm in Donegal to invest the money in forestry. However, this was no flight of fancy driven by a love of trees. Mr Jackson was able to buy five times the amount of land that he originally had by targeting more marginal land at a …

Forestry and timber investing – the very concept seems either dull or extremely alien.  After all, its’ much more satisfying to follow the rest of the herd and chase the latest hot social networking stock such as Facebook or Linkedin.  However any investors – especially those looking for true diversification and stable returns – are making a real oversight by ignoring the value timber and forestry investments could bring to their overall portfolio.

One question that is always worth considering when looking at investments is where …

Gold has long been seen as “real money”. It is seen as a stable store of value, and today, it is seen a “must have” alternative investment for any diversified portfolio. Indeed, gold’s popularity is demonstrated by the fact that the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) has already gathered approximately US$75 billion of assets.

We believe, however, that those looking for “hard asset” alternative investments are making a mistake by limiting themselves to gold alone, and would be well served by also considering such assets as agricultural land and for…

Global food and agribusiness consultancy HighQuest Partners has recently launched the inaugural issue of Global AgInvesting Quarterly, a publication that seeks to be the best source of research, insights, and market observation available to all stakeholders interested in investing in agriculture related sectors.

As a natural extension of the company’s highly successful, industry leading Global AgInvesting (GAI) conference series, their GAI Research & Insight platform provides ongoing sector updates and actionable market intellige…

The latest prediction from investment guru Jeremy Grantham that timber will outperform all other asset classes in the coming seven years has been welcomed by FRA.

The latest prediction from investment guru Jeremy Grantham that timber will outperform all other asset classes in the coming seven years has been welcomed by Forestry Research Associates (FRA).

The research and analysis consultancy supports forestry investment and is backing Mr Grantham’s prediction that annualized returns for timber investors will reach around 6.5 per ce…

Forests are feeling the squeeze. Overall forest loss ran at 5.2m hectares per year between 2000-2010, driven principally by increasing consumer demand for food, fuel and fibre from a global population soaring upwards of 7 billion.

People are the ultimate losers; half a billion indigenous people and 1.3 billion others whose livelihoods are attuned to and dependent on forests, are losing more, and more quickly than others. But of course all of us indirectly and ultimately depend on forests; to sequester carbon and slow climate chan…

Alternative investments expert Graham Rowan of Wealth Invest Limited gives his top three tips on his favourite ‘green’ investment: timber.

With negative interest rates and cash in the bank losing value every day, more and more of us are looking for alternative investments to grow our wealth. I spoke to speaker, author and alternative investments expert Graham Rowan of Wealth Invest Limited to get his top three tips on his favourite ‘green’ investment, the little known alternative investment – timber.
Insight 1: Money really does g…

FRA is welcoming a report from the UN, which says that countries need to introduce the right policies to ensure that their forestry assets fulfil their potential.

The report claims that if the world’s forests were managed properly and sustainable, they could create a solid green economy. The report also includes the UN pledge to replant 18 million hectares of forests – a move that has been welcomed by FRA, a research and analysis consultancy specialising in forestry investment and sustainability.

UN Food and Agriculture Organization (…

Figures released yesterday confirmed the Scottish timber industry is enjoying a boom time, with harvesting at its highest recorded level yet.

The most recent figures show seven-and-a-half million cubic metres were harvested last year, which is half a million more than the previous year.

At the same time, Scotland’s sawmillers produced 7 per cent more sawn timber, with much of it being sent to markets in England. The price has also strengthened, with timber prices 2 per cent higher in real terms compared to 2010.

All of this hom…

Pension funds are increasingly attracted to forestry investments because of their low correlation with equity and bond markets, and because of the inflation hedge they offer, according to fund managers and investors.

But the novelty of the asset class – and the relatively limited allocations to alternative assets in general – means take-up of forestry remains slow, say investment managers. “We have lived through extraordinary times for investors,” Hugh Humfrey, managing partner, Timberland Investment Resources (TIR) Europe, to…