Timberland Investing in the Midwest

Cruse Hardwoods manages timberland, agricultral land, timberland-related investments, for public and corporate pension plans, corporations, and individuals in the Midwest including Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Illinois.'

Investing in timberland property offers a good means of portfolio diversification and as a hedge against inflation. Timberland is also a “hard” (physical) asset with limited supply. There is a great deal of satisfaction in owning undeveloped land with numerous outdoor opportunities which include hiking, camping, hunting, fishing and jogging. There are also income and estate tax advantages to owning real estate.

Why Invest in Timberland?

According to the folks at J.P Morgan, investors looking to boost returns, diversify, and participate in green investments may want to look at Timber land. J.P. Morgan Investment Analytics and Consulting, a division of J.P. Morgan Worldwide Securities Services, conducted an analysis of the company’s performance over the past 22 years. The study showed that Timberland has provided an annualized return of 14.60% as well as impressive diversification benefits.

A timberland investment is one whose primary source of return is derived from the growth and harvest of timber. Forest Land investments offers particularly attractive benefits to the long-term investor. They are:

* Timberland investments have historically provided competitive returns relative to its risk profile. Such returns hold up well against many traditional asset classes, including stocks, bonds and real estate.

* Because of its unique nature, timberland often performs differently from securities or other investment assets. As such, it can offer an excellent opportunity for diversification when added to a broad portfolio of investments.

* Timberland-a renewable and biologically growing asset-represents an array of advantages among alternative investments.