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From Benedicte Gravrand, Geneva: For those who want to invest in meat, and in particular Australian meat, Macquarie has just started a new fund: the Macquarie Pastoral fund. It will be managed by Macquarie Pastoral Management and the operating entity will be Macquarie Livestock Company Ltd (MLC), of which Alan Hayes is the CEO. MLC will own and operate sheep and cattle enterprises, generating returns from the breeding, fattening and trading of livestock and some cropping; it will be the sole asset of the fund. Macquarie Pastoral Services Ltd will provide executive management, marketing and administration services.

Consumption of meat tied to economic growth Australia is the world’s second largest beef and land exporter. And the fund comes in just as worldwide demand for Australian meat is growing. Indeed, the value of beef and lamb exports grew at 8.2% p.a. and 14.4% p.a. respectively between 1997 and 2005. Increase in meat exports is also partly tied to economic growth throughout the developing world. Estimates show that by 2010, Asian imports of beef may exceed Australia’s total production, and their sheep and goat meat imports could be equal to 90% of Australia’s sheep production.

Australian beef also enjoys the benefit of being free of trade-restricting diseases. Added to that, the available arable land and the proximity to Asia markets make Australia a very competitive market.

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