Our history

New Forests was founded in 2005 to offer institutional investment strategies that create value from the sustainable management of forests and enhancement of natural capital.

 

New Forests was founded with the desire to offer institutional investors a diverse set of strategies exposed to investment returns from sustainable timber production alongside growing markets for carbon, biodiversity, and water.

Our ambition has always been to be the world’s leading global manager of nature-based real assets and natural capital strategies.

Over nearly two decades, we have delivered value to our clients; executed innovative investments in forestry, carbon, and biodiversity; and built a world-leading investment team.

Our approach has been to create regionally focused investment platforms with deeply experienced, locally based teams. This approach has enabled a leadership position in forestry in the Asia-Pacific region, an innovative approach to carbon forestry management in the US, and capacity to expand to Africa and beyond.

July 2005

New Forests was officially established by David Brand in Sydney.

August 2008

Established subsidiary New Forests Asia to manage assets and grow institutional interest in forestry investment in Southeast Asia.

October 2010

Closed our first regional investment fund, the AUD 490 million Australia New Zealand Forest Fund

February 2014

Completed the final close of the Australia New Zealand Forest Fund 2 with commitments of AUD 707 million

October 2015

Launched subsidiary New Forests Timber Products to market and sell Australian hardwood chip

June 2017

Australia New Zealand Forest Fund 3 closed with AUD 873 million in capital commitments for continued investment in the Australia New Zealand region

July 2019

Settled purchase of Aratu Forests Limited in New Zealand, one of the largest forestry estates in the Gisborne region

March 2020

Announced ambitious Climate Action Plan and released inaugural Climate Disclosure Report

September 2021

Announced acquisition of Lawson Grains agriculture business with our investment partner, Alberta Investment Management Company, AIMCo.

March 2022

First close of Tropical Asia Forest Fund 2, with commitments of USD120million

May 2022

Mitsui & Co., Ltd and Nomura entered agreement to acquire New Forests, supporting New Forests’ future growth and global expansion

September 2022

Launch of New Agriculture, a new business division created to grow agriculture portfolio globally.

October 2022

Announced first investors in the African Forestry Impact Platform committing USD 200million.

December 2022

Australia New Zealand Landscapes and Forestry Fund launched.
Our mission is to be the world’s leading manager of nature-based investments.
David Brand
CEO, New Forests