The Environment Agency Pension Fund (EAPF) has become the latest UK scheme to branch into forestry and timber.

The scheme has launched a tender process, looking for a manager “capable of selecting, implementing, monitoring and performance reporting of a globally diversified segregated portfolio of funds investing in real assets with an estimated value of up to £250,000,000 (300 000 000 euros)”.

The EAPF says it anticipates the portfolio consisting primarily of managed funds investing in UK and global property, infrastructure, farmland and forestry and timber.

Forestry as an asset class is a common component of Scandinavian pension portfolios, and particularly popular in Canada.

It is valued for its bond like income generating potential, but has remained rare in the UK, with the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) the other high profile scheme to take an interest.

The PPF launched a similar tender this summer and is set to announce a manager before the end of the year.

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