Australia-based New Forests is evolving beyond its 20 year-long regional approach to forestry and agriculture investing with a new global strategy.
The firm’s Global Landscape Opportunities fund will invest in forestry and agriculture, as well as carbon and biodiversity projects in developed markets, including Brazil, Uruguay and Chile. The fund will have earmarked allocations for emerging markets in Latin America, Asia and Africa.
“There is a deepening understanding about natural capital as an asset class,” said New Forests’ David Shelton in a statement. The firm is reportedly looking to raise A$1 billion (about US$700 million) from institutional investors.
Regional expertise
New Forests, which is majority-owned by Mitsui & Co. and Nomura, manages $7.2 billion in natural capital assets and 11 million acres through a series of regional investment strategies in Australia and New Zealand, the US, Southeast Asia and Africa.
It is backed by Swedish pension fund AP2, German pension group Bayerische Versorgungskammer, Australia-based Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Japan-based Kyushu Electric Power, and development finance institutions British International Investment, Norfund and Finnfund.
