Investing in forestry: resilience and future growth prospects

White paper - December 2022

Analysing US and UK Forestry investment performance

Forestry as an asset class has experienced stellar investment returns over the past 36 years, with the UK in particular delivering risk-adjusted returns far greater than mainstream asset classes. US forestry represents a more mature investment proposition, as reflected by the proportion of institutional ownership and subsequent lower return profile.

In this paper, we explore historical performance across the two timberland markets, finding characteristics that have shaped past performance and providing insight into potential future return profiles. US data, which is more robust and wide-ranging, is presented within the paper, with corresponding UK data enclosed in the Appendix.

Analysis from Francis Ireland and Luke Hyatt looks at forestry’s distinctive and defensive characteristics, including how the biological growth of trees and ability to postpone harvesting lend it a unique return profile, uncorrelated to more volatile mainstream asset classes during macroeconomic shocks.

Please note: Forestry investment is not for everyone and your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. All tax reliefs are subject to individual circumstances and may be subject to change in the future.