November 1, 2023

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Founded in Melbourne in 1993, Warakirri is a multi-boutique asset management firm that has been a leader in agricultural investment and management for more than 25 years. Over that time, the team has developed an in-depth understanding of the critical principles contributing to the success of such investment. 

Today, Warakirri has A$3 billion (US$1.93 billion) in assets under management and commitments across 200,000 hectares and nearly 70 properties in Australia and New Zealand. Warakirri’s REIT strategies, the Warakirri Diversified Agriculture Fund launched in 2020, and Warakirri Farmland Fund launched in 2021, offer exposure to low-volatility agricultural farmland assets under a passive, own and lease partnership strategy, with more than A$250 million (US$160.7 million) in funding raised from Australian and foreign wholesale investors including one of Europe’s leading pension funds.

The firm explained that now, after exclusively managing large cropping portfolios for two institutional investors, it’s reached a unique point in its business, and is in a position to offer its leading cropping management capabilities to new institutional investors for the first time in decades. 

“Australian agriculture portfolios managed by Warakirri for some of the world’s and Australia’s largest pension funds have delivered competitive returns in excess of 10 percent per annum over the past decade with low bond-like volatility. Australian agriculture provides significant portfolio diversification benefits and is one of few investments to provide a true inflation hedge,” said Adrian Goonan, investment director, agriculture, Warakirri. 

This evolution is manifesting in the launch of the Sustainability Broadacre Cropping Strategy – a new open-ended, positive-impact investment vehicle that will own and operate a diversified portfolio of Australian investment-grade, broadacre cropping and infrastructure assets. 

“After investing in and developing large scale broadacre assets for more than 25 years, we are excited to be bringing to market a new sustainable cropping strategy, offering institutional investors the opportunity to access the competitive advantages offered through an investment in Australian agriculture,” said Jim McKay, managing director, Warakirri.

This new strategy is being specifically designed with the goal in mind of delivering strong risk-adjusted returns while realizing positive impacts on the environment and the regional communities in which it plans to invest. 

Toward this end, the strategy will include specific carbon reduction strategies and a long-term pathway to net-zero. This positive impact overlay will directly interface with a geographically diverse portfolio of assets representing differing climates and production zones that have the flexibility to produce a variety of crops and to serve multiple markets. 

“There is a clear opportunity for large scale investment, supported by highly experienced and quality management, to extract higher margins and contribute positively to the environment at the same time and this strategy reflects our high conviction that Australian agriculture will continue to provide stable, long-term return as the world seeks a more sustainable future,” noted McKay. 

Aligned with this ambition to reshape the future of agriculture is the Warakirri team’s steadfast commitment to taking a holistic approach to sustainability. 

Goonan commented, “We are very excited about the future of Australian agriculture and specifically the significant opportunity set in front of us – we continue to see value opportunities and significant upside in productivity from large-scale cost-effective productivity and amelioration strategies which will drive strong cropping returns into the future, whilst playing our role in decarbonising the economy with our carbon abatement strategies.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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