Global AgInvesting - the world’s largest agriculture investment conference - is coming to Brisbane, bringing together investors representing more than $10 trillion in assets under management
Australia’s agriculture sector is increasingly attracting the attention of some of the world’s largest institutional investors, with global capital moving more directly into food production, water and natural assets as investors search for long-duration real assets tied to inflation, sustainability and resource security.
That shift will be on display in Brisbane in June when Global AgInvesting (GAI) - the world’s largest agriculture investment conference - is held in the Southern Hemisphere for the first time.
The conference, which has run for nearly two decades across financial centres including New York, London and Tokyo, will bring together institutional investors, fund managers and agribusiness leaders representing more than $10 trillion in assets under management.
Investors expected to attend include APG Asset Management, one of Europe’s largest pension investors managing more than $1 trillion in assets, Canada’s Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP), which manages around $300 billion in retirement assets, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private-sector investment arm with more than $200bn in assets and investment exposure.
The move comes as institutional investors increasingly reassess traditional portfolio allocations and look more closely at real assets linked to food production, water security and climate resilience.
“For years, many of Australia’s leading agricultural fund managers and agribusinesses travelled to New York, London and Tokyo to connect with global capital through Global AgInvesting,” portfolio director for Global AgInvesting Jonathan Levin said.
“We believe the market has now reached an inflection point where it makes sense to bring the world’s institutional investors directly to Australia.
“Investors globally are looking for scalable real assets tied to food production, water, natural capital and long-term sustainability, and Australia increasingly sits at the centre of that conversation.”
The shift reflects broader changes underway across institutional investing globally.
Agriculture viewed as defensive
As higher interest rates and market volatility pressure traditional private equity and commercial real estate strategies, agriculture and natural capital are increasingly being viewed as defensive, inflation-linked assets with low correlation to mainstream markets.
Australian agriculture is also benefiting from growing global demand for food security and reliable export supply chains.
Click here to see more...