Specialist asset manager Gresham House has just launched its first forestry fund.
Aimed at institutional, family office and professional investors, the Gresham House Forestry Fund will initially acquire a portfolio of forests in the west of Scotland for £12.1m. It will consist of five forests with an aggregate size of 1,975 hectares (4,880 acres). The fund is structured as a Scottish Limited Partnership (SLP) with a target size of £25.0m and will be advised by Gresham subsidiary Aitchesse.
Aitchesse, which was acquired by Gresham House last November, manages in excess of £200m invested in around 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) of UK commercial forestry on behalf of endowments, family offices and professional investors.
Gresham House say that investment performance by Aitchesse has been strong. There have been average annual returns of 18.3% achieved across client accounts over the past ten years, net of all costs including asset management fees.
Favourite tree variety of the fund is the high yielding Sitka spruce.
Managing Director of Gresham House Asset Management Rupert Robinson said: “AGP contracting to acquire this portfolio of forests is the first major initiative since Aitchesse became part of the Gresham House group.
“The opportunity to purchase such an attractive forestry asset as the cornerstone investment for the Fund is particularly exciting. The Fund will be Gresham House’s first new collective investment vehicle investing in forestry, a growing asset class for institutional, family office and professional investors.”
