How to branch out into timber

Demand for timber looks set to increase, at least in the near future. Sarah Moore looks at the best ways to invest.

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Managing forests is a specialist business but a profitable one

With asset prices being distorted left, right and centre by record-low interest rates, global pension funds are increasingly searching for "alternative" assets in which to invest. In 2014, around $8.4trn of pension money was allocated to alternative assets, almost 25% of the total. That's up from just 5% in 2001, reports investment manager Forestry Investment Management. These alternative assets include everything from commodities to property (by some definitions), or even rare coins and stamps.

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Sarah is MoneyWeek's investment editor. She graduated from the University of Southampton with a BA in English and History, before going on to complete a graduate diploma in law at the College of Law in Guildford. She joined MoneyWeek in 2014 and writes on funds, personal finance, pensions and property.