5
Forestry as an asset class has been favoured by the wealthy
as a tangible store of wealth for centuries, but largely it has
been out of reach for the vast majority of investors.
INTRODUCTION
Since 2008 there has been a marked increase in opportunities for retail investors to gain
exposure to forestry, 2009 alone saw 21 new product launches, and investment activity
and regulatory scrutiny has increased as a result. The majority of investment products
are genuine businesses looking for alternative sources of capital, but a small number are
opportunistic, set up in locations where land is cheap, offering outlandish levels of return
many years in the future, without any upper limit or timeframe for closing their fundraising.
SCOPE
This report aims to examine the global forestry sector in the context of the investment
opportunities available to retail investors. While the aim is to refer to the mainstream
investment opportunities, the focus is on the products where investors can get exposure
to the sector through investing directly, via a corporate element or a collective investment
scheme. These products are not well covered by the analyst community, yet they form the
bulk of opportunities marketed to retail investors.
WHO SHOULDREADTHIS REPORT?
The report is aimed at financial advisers, professional intermediaries, pension operators,
investment providers, sophisticated investors and other market practitioners who have an
interest in forestry.
The intention is to highlight recent developments and capture the current state of play.
Giving the reader an appraisal of the drivers that are shaping the sector; the opportunities
that are on offer; changes in regulation; pitfalls to avoid and how to sensibly evaluate and
gain exposure to the sector.
The purpose of the report is to help readers make informed decisions about their or their
clients exposure to the forestry sector.
THE INVESTMENT REGISTER
As with all of the reports in the AiR series, this report includes a comprehensive register
comprising 83 investment products. This is the only known register where you can view and
compare such a large cross-section of the forestry opportunities available to retail investors.
Detailed analysis of the products in the register has been conducted alongside a
widespread survey of the forestry investment providers. Meaningful trends have been
drawn from this research that will give the reader an understanding of how the forestry
sector has developed, and an indication of as to what the future might hold.
