Research house Adviser Edge has set up a new agribusiness consulting firm, Lati_tude 232.
The business will operate independently from the researcher and will be managed by Reagan Thompson and Marc Soccio from a separate office, with a conflicts pol_icy in place to keep the researcher and cor_porate adviser apart.
“The genesis for forming Latitude was the Adviser Edge profile in the agribusiness industry,” Thompson said.
“This generated a lot of enquiries on find_ing assets and setting up managed invest_ment schemes, so this was the basis of set_ting up a separate consulting company.”
The changes to the treatment of non-forestry managed investment schemes have been another spur for the business, he said.
This sector’s managers are required to create a new investment structure, such as a unit trust, if they wish to continue to raise money this financial year.
Forestry schemes are not affected by the tax changes, although the Australian Tax_ation Office has a test case before the courts to prove the validity of product rulings for agribusinesses.
“We have started work on non-forestry managed investment schemes and how they can move into forestry and make a new start in horticultural operations,” Soccio said.
“There are new challenges helping non-forestry clients position their businesses in new wholesale markets to raise funds.”
Thompson had a background in finance before moving into the wine industry and subsequently joining Adviser Edge as a researcher.
Soccio has a forestry background and has worked in the wholesale capital placement industry.
“This gave me a deep understanding of wholesale investment opportunities and this will be an area of the market we will be targeting for agribusiness investment,” he said.
There has been increasing investment in Australian agribusiness, with superannua_tion funds and investment banks buying into the sector.
“The corporate farm is important to captur_ing efficiencies and that is why it has attracted some monies,” Soccio said.
“On the other side, we have retail investors who don’t understand farming.”
International investors, such as UK fund manag_er Radicle, have been investing in Australian agribusiness.
Thompson said there was more interest in Australian agribusiness from international financial services organ_isations than locally-based operations.
“We have seen a lot of Pan-European interest in Australian agricul_tural assets and I will be visiting the US shortly to gauge interest there,” he said.
“The key struggle is access to deal flow, but there are lots of oppor_tunities out there and we have to find them.”
The corporate advis_er has completed its first project, raising $6 mil_lion of capital for grain producer Australian Agricultural Contracts.
Thompson said Lati_tude 232 was not going to create its own man_aged investment schemes, as it wants to work with fund man_agers in the industry and not be a competitor.
