January 14, 2025

By Gerelyn Terzo, Global AgInvesting Media

The ASR Dutch Farmland Fund, which oversees close to 39,000 hectares (96,371 acres) of Dutch agricultural land worth €2.1 billion (US$2.15 billion), has clinched a follow-on investment from an ag-industry pension fund. BPL Pensioen, a Rotterdam, Netherlands-based fund that oversees the pensions of employees who work for companies in the ag and green sectors, has earmarked €90 million (US$92.4 million) for the farmland fund. The latest allocation comes on top of a former €210 million ( US$215 million) investment made by the pension fund into the sustainable farming fund.

BPL Pensioen invests in the Dutch farmland fund alongside other institutional investors including insurer Cooperatie DELA, ING pension fund Stichting Pensioenfonds and ASR. Institutional investors have poured over €550 million (US$564.8 million) into ASR’s farmland fund since it was opened to outside investors in 2022, when BPL first invested. The farmland fund strategy targets agricultural land in the Netherlands with a focus on long-term value creation, offering investors a combination of stable returns and portfolio diversification. ASR leases out ag land to climate-smart farmers with terms greater than 20 years, targeting an IRR of over 4 percent and low volatility.

Farmers receive a discount on their leases for implementing sustainable land management practices, such as organic farming, improving soil quality, and adopting innovative and nature-inclusive agricultural methods. Fund Director Dick Van Den Oever stated, “Last week I received the figures on how much land in our portfolio is now managed sustainably, which is 25 percent. Our goal for 2025 is 30 percent and in 2027 it will be 40 percent.”

Van Den Oever considers ag land a safe investment, recalling only a single red year in ASR’s land portfolio over its century-long history, back in 1937, telling Dutch publication fd.nl, “There was so much commotion at the time due to new lease rules that landlords slept with a gun under their pillow because they were evicting farmers from their land…resulting in falling land prices.” Today ASR expects land prices to continue rising at a 2 percent clip, owing to a booming population coupled with innovative ag practices.

Of the pension fund investment, Van Den Oever stated, “The fund aims to grow further and to pass on agricultural land in even better condition to future generations. With the confidence BPL Pensioen has placed in us, we are pleased that we can continue to pursue our climate-smart farming strategy, helping farmers to make their business more sustainable. The new commitment will enable us to help dairy farmers, among others, to [expand] their operations and help arable farmers to achieve a more sustainable extensive cultivation plan.”

BPL Pensioen Investment Committee Chairman Mark Rosenberg said, “Our investments in agricultural land help diversify our portfolio and deliver an attractive real return for our participants.”

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