Ceres Partners - Identify, acquire and manage productive agricultural land

I interview Chief Investment Officer Brandon Zick to find out about their: 1. Strategy - In-house farm management with a disciplined value investment: a. Acquire farms below market value (why and how) b. Make Improvements (disruptive technologies) c. Lease to Top Farmers 2. Sustainability Drives Returns: Globally, agriculture uses 95% of freshwater, emits 25% of greenhouse gas emissions, and uses 50% of the habitable landmass. The highest return investment opportunities are in companies with disruptive, sustainable business models that have positive, measurable environmental impacts. 3. Less Competitive Capital Market: disproportionately low private investment and only 15-20 dedicated funds. Financial buyers don’t have and can’t easily develop domain expertise and industry networks. 4. Attractive Yield: the spread between net operating income on the benchmark NCREIF Commodity Cropland index and the 10-year Treasury note is near all-time highs. 5. Inflation Hedge: Fed policy will eventually result in inflation exceeding 2%. Farmland is positively correlated with inflation and serves as an effective hedge. 6. Portfolio Diversification: Farmland returns are negatively correlated with stocks and bonds.