Why Farmland Is Missing From So Many Portfolios

Portfolio management has changed dramatically in the aftermath of the financial crisis, with investors understanding that it’s not enough to diversify assets, it’s also important to diversify underlying correlations. Farmland, which consistently has an above average risk/return profile, was underrepresented according to most metrics before the crisis. Its low correlation with equities and high correlation with inflation (making it a good hedge) would seem to make it an even more important asset class, but that underrepresentation has only continued, and a recent study from the TIAA-CREF Center for Farmland Research explains that it’s the idiosyncrasies of agriculture that make it…