Listed agribusiness firm Timbercorp has begun the process of establishing a funds management business, with the group applying to ASIC for a dealer's licence.
"We've set up an entity and we are in the course of applying for a dealer's licence with ASIC," Timbercorp deputy chief executive Sol Rabinowicz told InvestorDaily.
"The application is proceeding okay. I guess in the next quarter we should have that side of things bedded down."
In December last year, Rabinowicz announced Timbercorp's intention to establish a funds management business under a new brand.
At the time he also said the group was on the look out to partner with a global institution to launch new co-branded products.
While he could not reveal the name of the new entity, he did comment on the progress made in securing an offshore partner.
"I've proceeded further with a global investment bank to develop a co-branded product, which I think will be quite unique in this market. Based on the market testing I've done, I think we'll be quite well received by the market," he said.
"It will basically give investors the opportunity to invest in a portfolio that will be based around some of the very exciting industries of the future."
The planned products include a range of retail and wholesale investment opportunities, which will be based around assets in Australia and overseas.
"We're looking to introduce thematic investment options across some of the investment themes like agribusiness, water, carbon, possibly renewable energy," he told InvestorDaily late last year.
The new investment opportunities would comprise a mixture of attractive running yields and some capital growth, he said.
Timbercorp has raised more than $1.3 billion from sales or projects in forestry and horticulture to investors since its foundation in 1992.
