INVL Asset Management to offer informed investors the chance to invest in forests

INVL Asset Management, one of Lithuania’s leading asset management companies, has established the first closed-end umbrella fund intended for informed investors, the INVL Alternative Assets Umbrella Fund, and its subfund, the INVL Baltic Forests Fund I. They began operations on 13 February this year after the Bank of Lithuania approved the fund rules.

The period of the INVL Baltic Forests Fund I subfund’s investment activity will be 5 years, while the subfund itself will operate for up to 8 years with the possibility to extend that term for 2 more years. It is planned that the offering of the subfund’s units to informed investors will begin this month.

“In broadening the range of alternative investments, we first of all focus on the value created, so in introducing this new fond we’ll be offering a chance to invest in assets which we know well and believe in. We see investments in the Baltic region’s forests as an opportunity to broaden a portfolio with an asset class which stands out for annual natural growth and is characterised by stability and attractive returns with little correlation to global markets,” said Vytautas Plunksnis, the Head of Private Equity Funds at INVL Asset Management.

The new INVL Baltic Forests Fund I subfund will invest in forests in the Baltic countries, above all Lithuania, which are suited to forestry activity. The aim is to build up a consolidated parcel of forest land plots, thus increasing their value and the potential income from planned harvestings. The target average annual net return on investments after expected costs for the fund is 8 per cent.

“In our assessment, forests in the Baltic countries, especially Lithuania, have big potential. We believe in this investment and are prepared to participate in this market in accord with the principles of sustainable forest management,” said Sigita Bizulienė, the manager of the INVL Baltic Forests Fund I subfund, who has extensive experience in the area of forest and agricultural land management.

Sigita Bizulienė holds a master’s degree in forestry from Aleksandras Stulginskis University and has completed the “Euroforester” international master’s programme at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. From 2005 to 2014 she managed a portfolio of agricultural land within the Invalda INVL group, and from 2014 to 2016 she served as forest purchasing manager for an international forest management company.

Units of the fund will be available for acquisition by natural and legal persons who meet the established criteria for informed investors. The minimum investment amount for professional and informed investors will be EUR 30,000. During the initial offering, no single investor will be able to acquire fund units for more than EUR 1 million, with a total of EUR 5 million expected to be raised. Later, with successful development of the fund’s activities, its assets under management may reach up to EUR 50 million.

INVL Asset Management obtained authorisation to manage investment funds intended for informed investors from the Bank of Lithuania in October 2016. It is part of the Invalda INVL group, whose companies manage pension and mutual funds, alternative investments, private equity assets, individual portfolios and other financial instruments. As of the end of 2016, they had been entrusted with over EUR 500 million of assets by more than 170,000 clients in Lithuania and Latvia and international investors.