Key Takeaways
- • Nest, the UK's largest workplace pension with £40.1 billion (US$51.6 billion) in AUM across 13 million members, selected Campbell Global for a timberland investment mandate.
- • Campbell Global, a J.P. Morgan company based in Portland, Oregon, was chosen from a dozen fund managers after a search for sustainably managed timberland that began a year earlier.
- • The mandate covers direct investments in core traditional timberland across the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Chile.
- • Nest cites diversification, stable returns, inflation hedging and carbon sequestration as the rationale for its first allocation to timberland.
- • Campbell Global has overseen 5.5 million acres (2.2 million hectares) globally for institutional investors and has close to four decades of experience.
Summary
UK pension scheme Nest has selected Campbell Global, a J.P. Morgan company, for a high-profile timberland investment mandate, according to Global AgInvesting. The mandate will give Nest a global portfolio of direct investments in core traditional timberland sites across the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Chile. Campbell Global, a Portland, Oregon-based firm specializing in forestland, was selected out of a dozen fund managers in a search for sustainably managed timberland that started a year earlier.
Nest, the UK's biggest workplace pension, oversees £40.1 billion (US$51.6 billion) in assets across 13 million members. Timberland is a new asset class for Nest's pensions. According to the report, the allocation reflects an idea among fund managers, dating to around 2021, that timberland can add portfolio diversification and stable returns. Nest managers were also drawn to the environmental case, given the role of forests as a major carbon sink.
The article notes that institutional timberland investing dates to the 1950s and has grown to include millions of institutionally owned timberland acres worldwide. It states that timberland outperformed fixed income and equities over the three decades leading up to 2020, and that its low correlation to most other asset classes makes it a natural inflation hedge. Properly managed timberland also supports sustainable forestry, biodiversity preservation and ecosystem care, including carbon storage, water filtration and soil preservation.
Campbell Global, described as one of the largest and most experienced timberland managers in the world, has overseen 5.5 million acres (2.2 million hectares) globally for pensions, endowments and foundations. Stephen O'Neill, head of Private Markets at Nest, said the pension expected a strong bid from Campbell Global given its scale and longevity, and cited the sophistication of its operations, responsible investment philosophy and ability to minimize operating costs while maximizing integrated asset management. O'Neill added that preserving natural capital will grow in importance and that net zero emissions by 2050 will require it.
John Gilleland, CEO and chairman of Campbell Global, said timberland offers Nest's members a way to combine investment and sustainability goals, including diversification, an inflation hedge, carbon removal and biodiversity preservation. The article also notes that Campbell Global was recently named a "forest champion" through a partnership with the Pacific Forest Trust to conserve the Shasta Timberlands Working Forest in California.
Nest, the UK's biggest workplace pension, oversees £40.1 billion (US$51.6 billion) in assets across 13 million members. Timberland is a new asset class for Nest's pensions. According to the report, the allocation reflects an idea among fund managers, dating to around 2021, that timberland can add portfolio diversification and stable returns. Nest managers were also drawn to the environmental case, given the role of forests as a major carbon sink.
The article notes that institutional timberland investing dates to the 1950s and has grown to include millions of institutionally owned timberland acres worldwide. It states that timberland outperformed fixed income and equities over the three decades leading up to 2020, and that its low correlation to most other asset classes makes it a natural inflation hedge. Properly managed timberland also supports sustainable forestry, biodiversity preservation and ecosystem care, including carbon storage, water filtration and soil preservation.
Campbell Global, described as one of the largest and most experienced timberland managers in the world, has overseen 5.5 million acres (2.2 million hectares) globally for pensions, endowments and foundations. Stephen O'Neill, head of Private Markets at Nest, said the pension expected a strong bid from Campbell Global given its scale and longevity, and cited the sophistication of its operations, responsible investment philosophy and ability to minimize operating costs while maximizing integrated asset management. O'Neill added that preserving natural capital will grow in importance and that net zero emissions by 2050 will require it.
John Gilleland, CEO and chairman of Campbell Global, said timberland offers Nest's members a way to combine investment and sustainability goals, including diversification, an inflation hedge, carbon removal and biodiversity preservation. The article also notes that Campbell Global was recently named a "forest champion" through a partnership with the Pacific Forest Trust to conserve the Shasta Timberlands Working Forest in California.
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