More than 115 expert speakers from top investment and ag companies will present at the 6th annual Global AgInvesting (GAI) conference, opening today at the iconic Waldorf Astoria here and running through Thursday, May 1. This premier agriculture investing conference brings together a global community of investors and industry executives for an examination of the rapidly evolving agriculture investment sector.
Nearly 700 attendees are expected at this week’s flagship event. Included in that list are representatives from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), International Finance Corporation (IFC), and dozens of North American pension funds, family offices, endowments and foundations interested in making agriculture allocations.
“This year’s event comes at a critical time for the industry and provides a unique opportunity to assess how far agriculture has come in terms of being viewed as an emerging asset class,” said Philippe de Lapérouse, chair of the Global AgInvesting conference, noting that top discussions will address the affects of the current political turmoil in Ukraine and Russia on the industry, as well as how legislative changes in the U.S. are broadening crop production to include hemp and what challenges and opportunities this presents for the ag investing community.
The four-day conference begins today with the popular half-day Short Course in Ag Fundamentals, and is followed by two full days of plenary and breakout sessions focused on myriad strategies for including agriculture in the investment portfolio, opportunities across all major global production regions, and even a presentation on investing in the emerging cannabis sector. The event will end Thursday with the 2nd annual GAI AgTech Investment Summit, including a keynote address from David Friedberg, CEO of the Climate Corporation, and many agricultural technology success stories and up-and-coming opportunities.
Registration is still open for the event. Visit www.globalaginvesting.com/GAI2014 for more information.
HighQuest Partners, headquartered in Danvers, Mass., is a globally recognized strategic consulting practice and conference company serving the agriculture, agribusiness, grains/oilseed, food, and biofuels markets.
The company, founded in 2000, hosts the Global AgInvesting conference series (New York, Singapore, London, Dubai), the Oilseed & Grain Trade Summit and Women in Agribusiness Summit series, and publishes the annual Soya & Oilseed Bluebook, the leading industry oilseed and agribusiness directory. www.highquestpartners.com.
