FirstSuper, the industry superannuation fund for the forestry industry in Australia, is exploring the opportunities the introduction of a carbon price would provide for investing in carbon storage facilities.
The fund said carbon pricing could potentially provide the Australian forestry industry with an advantage over its international competitors.
"The question for us is: Will carbon pricing make investment in forestry from various aspects more attractive?" FirstSuper chief executive Graeme Russell said.
The fund is holding a roundtable discussion on the topic next week, which will include presentations from investors and the forestry industry.
"We will be interested to hear what a major commercial forester thinks that carbon prices will do for investment opportunities, and the main interest there is going to be in plantations," Russell said.
"The question is: Will carbon pricing provide the commercial reasons for major forestry companies to plant more plantations?"
The $1.5 billion FirstSuper had a 2 per cent allocation to forestry in its overall portfolio, which was not yet fully funded, Russell said.
In 2009, the fund participated in the bidding process for the assets of failed managed investment scheme Timbercorp.
"FirstSuper was a bidder in a consortium that bid for the Timbercorp assets when they were for sale," Russell said.
"We weren't the successful bidder, but we have an allocation to forestry, a small one, and we continue to look at forestry investment opportunities, but they have to stack up."
The Timbercorp assets were ultimately sold in October 2009 to United States-based Global Forest Partners for $345 million.
Russell said the fund's focus on the forestry industry would not see it make any rushed decisions.
"We have the fundamental obligation to invest in good investments for our members. We will look at every proposal at its investable merits," he said.
FirstSuper also launched a new investment option for its accumulation members last month.
The new option is a growth fund and will sit in between the fund's balanced option and share plus option.
It will have 33 per cent in Australian equities, 26 per cent in international equities, 5 per cent in Australian private equity, 1 per cent in international private equity, 5 per cent in Australian infrastructure, 5 per cent in international infrastructure, 10 per cent in property, 13 per cent in fixed interest and 2 per cent in cash.
