A new article in the Financial Times has pointed out the fact that many pension funds and other institutional investors may need to take on more research staff if they want to make the most of alternative investment opportunities. This has led AAA to warn pension funds that they may want to think twice about bringing their research in house.

Boston, MA, USA, August 9, 2012 -- A new article in the Financial Times has pointed out the fact that many pension funds and other institutional investors may need to take on more research staff if they want to make the most of alternative investment opportunities. This has led Alternative Asset Analysis (AAA) to warn pension funds that they may want to think twice about bringing their research in house.

This view was reflected by Peter Urbani, who used to work for Infiniti Capital, and who spoke to the FT about his experiences. He said, "The recent acquisition of Sovereign by Mercer is an indication that pension funds are starting to look at alternatives, but realising that they need to do it internally.”

He explained that turning to alternatives meant that researchers would have to carry out more in-depth due diligence than when dealing with traditional asset classes, which equates to more work.

A growing number of large investment institutions, such as pension funds are turning increasingly towards the idea of alternative investment. Following the economic crisis, investors are keen to receive something tangible in exchange for their investments and are also interested in diversifying their portfolios against risk.

One option is direct forestry investment. This can be done by buying up physical sections of forest or plantation and cashing in the profits once trees grow and are harvested for timber. However, investing through a firm like Greenwood Management means investors get all the benefits of timberland investment, but will start to see returns on their investment much sooner.

Timberland investment has become extremely popular as it has regularly outperformed stocks and shares and provides a very effective hedge against inflation. What’s more is that if, when the time come to sell the timber you have been growing come, but the market price isn't right, investors can simply hang on to their investment and watch it grown some more.

About Alternative Asset Analysis:
The remit of Alternative Asset Analysis is to analyse and provide news on the global performance of a wide range of alternative asset classes including, but not restricted to, commodities, real estate, forestry, foreign exchange, hedge funds, private equity and venture capital.

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