Journal of Forest Economics > Vol 37 > Issue 2

The Performance of Private Equity Timberland Funds in the United States between 1985 and 2018

Rafał Chudy, Forest Business Analytics Sp. z o.o., Łódź, Poland, rafal@forest-analytics.com , Bin Mei, Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources, University of Georgia, USA, Svein Skjerstad, Norskog, Norway
 
Suggested Citation
Rafał Chudy, Bin Mei and Svein Skjerstad (2022), "The Performance of Private Equity Timberland Funds in the United States between 1985 and 2018", Journal of Forest Economics: Vol. 37: No. 2, pp 199-215. http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/112.00000550

Publication Date: 30 Mar 2022
© 2022 R. Chudy, B. Mei and S. Skjerstad
 
Subjects
 
Keywords
JEL Codes: B26, G11, M21, Q0, Q23
Timberland fundsprivate equityforest investmentsUSA
 

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In this article:
1. Introduction 
2. Data and methods 
3. Results 
4. Discussion and conclusion 
References 

Abstract

Between the end of 1980s and today, the timberland asset class managed by timberland investment management organizations in the United States has grown from one to over 30 billion USD. However, to date, the application of scholarly research on the assessment of the performance of private equity timberland funds has been limited. In this study, we attempt to fill this knowledge void by investigating the performance of private equity timberland funds in the United States between 1985 and 2018 based on confidential data from Preqin Pro (February 2020). Our results show that the historical returns of private equity timberland funds (4–6%) were close to the returns of the bond markets (3.4% and 7.6% for 3-Month Treasury bill and US treasury 10-year bond, respectively) and much less than BAA Corporate Bond (9.7%) and stock markets (12.6%). The results may help investors better understand privately placed timberland as an asset class and therefore improve their strategic investment decisions.

DOI:10.1561/112.00000550

Companion

Journal of Forest Economics, Volume 37, Issue 2 Special Issue - The Economics of Global Forest Investment: Articles Overiew
See the other articles that are part of this special issue.