Blue Sky Real Asset is preparing to launch of a new Australian agribusiness fund that will target North American institutional investors, according to the company’s  investment director, Michael Blakeney, at Global AgInvesting 2015 in New York,

The fund will have A$300 million target size and a ten year life. It will have a low volatility, three-pronged strategy of investing in Australian perpetual water rights, agricultural infrastructure, and agricultural expansion capital, targeting a healthy, mixed return of yield and growth that is uncorrelated with global markets.

Free trade agreements recently forged by Australia with China, Japan, and Korea, have positioned Australia to be able to deploy capital in order to capitalize upon an additional US$1 trillion in Australian exports between 2015 and 2050. Because of their scarcity, high quality, and geographic location with proximity to Asian markets, Australian agricultural land and perpetual water rights have increased in value by between 5% and 12% per year over the past 20 years.

The new strategy will be managed by Blue Sky Water Partners, a division of Blue Sky Real Assets which has posted net returns of 13% per year since its launch in 2012, and the team will be backed by the group’s asset management platform of Blue Sky Alternative Investments.

 

Stay tuned for Global AgInvesting’s interview with Blue Sky’s Michael Blakeney later this week!               

 

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