Pension Protection Fund appoints seven farmland and timberland managers

The Pension Protection Fund, the UK’s £12bn (€14.8bn) pensions lifeboat scheme, has appointed seven farmland and timberland fund managers.
They are: Brookfield Asset Management; Dasos Capital; GMO Renewable Resources; Hancock Timber Resource Group; Macquarie; New Forests Pty; and Stafford Timberland.
Some managers will be funded immediately while others are appointed for deferred investment. They were appointed for four years, with the flexibility for two extensions of up to two years.
“Investing in farm and timberland will complement our existing alternative investment portfolio, allow us to diversify our investments more widely and make our portfolio more resilient,” said the PPF’s Executive Director for Financial Risk, Martin Clarke.The PPF had said it was looking to hire a panel of managers to run farmland and timberland “responsibly and sustainably” in February this year. Candidate firms’ approach to responsible and sustainable investment was one of nine criteria for selection.
The fund’s size now means it can take advantage of a broader range of investment opportunities, he added.
The new investments would allow it to diversify its investments and them ”more resilient”. The approach will be to invest conservatively.
The proportion of PPF assets allocated to farm and timberland will vary over time and depend on opportunities.
Last month the PPF named Hermes Equity Ownership Services (EOS) as its new voting and engagement advisor.