Timberland investment conference set for late October

Timberland, as an investment, has held its own in most places during this two-year recession despite demand weakness in both new home sales and fiber products of various kinds.

Is timberland, both domestic and abroad, a lagging investment bubble, ready to burst? Is it the coming inflation hedge, ready to carry your money through a future economic recovery? Are returns likely to track recent experience? Will timberland prices continue their 20-year upward trend? Are there ways to make timberland carry more of its weight through green practices, such as carbon credits, water and wetlands protection and power generation? What risks do timberland investments face, here and abroad?

LANDFLIP.com and LandThink.com are two of the media partners who are sponsoring the three-day 6th Timberland Investment World Summit on October 26-29, 2009 at the Millennium Broadway Hotel in New York.

Both LANDFLIP.com and LandThink.com attract thousands of visitors searching for and researching land every day. “When you have an engaged visitor base, it becomes important to promote events that offer knowledge and benefits to our visitors,” said Ryan Folk, founder of LANDFLIP and LandThink.

LANDFLIP.com is the fastest growing Internet site devoted to land real estate—timberland, farms, homesites, conservation properties and undeveloped land. It attracts land buyers and investors from over 160 countries searching for land. LandThink.com is the Internet’s most active resource where land investors, owners and sellers learn about and discuss the various aspects of investing, selling, and owning land. New columns are posted each week by industry insiders.

Sponsored by the International Quality & Productivity Center, the conference is bringing together investment managers and industry personnel who are working with these questions on a daily basis. As a partner of this event, LANDFLIP and LandThink offer you a 20% off the standard pricing for the event! Contact Kim Vigilia directly at 1-212-885-2753 or kim.vigilia@iqpc.com with reference code IUS_LANDFLIP_#1 or IUS_LANDTHINK_#1.

The first day is devoted to pre-conference workshops:

1. The “When, Where, and How” of Gaining Exposure to the Timberland Asset Class” with Jack Lutz of FourWinds Capital Management;
2. Turning Mitigation Banking, Conservation Easements, and Clean Water Services into Powerful Additional Cash Flows”;
3. Optimizing valuation, negotiation and litigation for easements and condemnations”; and
4. “An In-Depth Review of Timberland Valuation Practices for Investors.” These can be purchased singly or in combination with the entire conference.

The first day offers presentations related to the macro-economic landscape for timberland (Chip Dillon, Managing Director of Credit Suisse); the future of forest and wood technology; changing global markets; TIMOs and investments; forest health issues; wood-based power generation; and making money through carbon credits.

The second day involves panel discussions on timberland as an inflation hedge for institutional investors; increasing forestry yields; tax strategies for timberland; and conservation and reforestation issues in investments.

An optional pension and endowment fund think tank is also scheduled for early on day two before the panels begin.

While the conference is tilted toward large timberland investments and big players, the information presented should benefit real-estate brokers, consulting foresters, financial planners, wood processors and buyers who are involved with smaller tracts as well.

LandThink.com will report on the conference. Curtis Seltzer, LandThink.com contributor, will be attending and would welcome the opportunity to share thoughts with our site visitors. Contact him in advance at curtis@landthink.com.

1. Timberland is a valuable investment in a volatile time
2. Crystal balls are never very clear: What’s the future of timberland investing?
3. Timberland investing: Risk and reward in the woods
4. Is timberland overpriced? If so, what to do?
5. A few cold-resistant thoughts on Southeast timberland are offered