Oregon PERF to invest $300m in agriculture, timber

The Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund in investing $300m (€270m) in agricultural and timberland strategies.

The US pension fund committed $100m to Brookfield Asset Management’s Brazil Agriculture Fund II, its first in the country.

It earmarked a further $200m for Plum Creek Timber Company and Silver Creek Capital Management’s Twin Creeks joint venture.

Ben Mahon, investment officer in the alternatives division of the Oregon Investment Council, said Brookfield’s fund invests in soy beans and corn, for which demand in Brazil is strong.

Targeted IRRs are net to mid-teens.

The Twin Creeks venture has an existing 260,000 acres of timberland, which it bought for $560m.

The venture has assets in five states in the US Southeast, where half of the portfolio’s investments will be made.

Total equity commitments for the venture, also backed by the Washington State Investment Board, are projected to reach $1bn.

Targeted returns are a net IRR of 8%.

Assets in the venture will be 75% held by limited partners and 25% by the two management firms.

Both commitments made by Oregon PERF are part of its $1.7bn alternatives asset class, which includes infrastructure and natural resources.