Forest Investment Associates

What Forest Investment Associates does

Forest Investment Associates (FIA), founded in 1986 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is a global SEC-registered investment adviser that manages institutional capital allocated to sustainable timberland. The firm oversees approximately $5.2 billion in assets under management across roughly 2.03 million acres of forests located in 20+ U.S. states plus Brazil and Chile, with 527 million+ trees planted since inception. FIA serves pension funds, endowments, and similar institutional investors through two core product structures: customized separate accounts that allow portfolio tailoring to specific investment policies, and commingled funds that provide diversified timberland exposure at lower minimums. Contractual relationships are multi-year and revenue is generated through negotiated investment management fees on AUM.

The firm's underlying capabilities combine in-house investment and forestry expertise with a hybrid network of local consultants, operators, and communities, enabling agile local execution at global scale. FIA's ESG infrastructure includes an ESG Principles framework launched in 2022 (built on tenet "Do No Harm" and "Contribute to Solutions"), a proprietary Impact Framework with carbon reporting readiness and EU Taxonomy alignment assessment, and a Climate-Smart Forestry Strategy launched in late 2022 with a Danish pension fund. FIA holds SEC registration, SFI 2022 Forest Management Standard re-certification across nine U.S. forest management units, and FSC certification for its Brazilian operations; it became the 22nd member of the International Sustainable Forestry Coalition in July 2025.

In April 2026, FIA completed the acquisition of all founding-era limited partner interests, achieving 100% employee ownership with 54 of 56 employees as shareholders, making it one of the largest fully employee-owned timberland managers globally. The firm completed a $220 million acquisition of approximately 86,000 acres from Weyerhaeuser in November 2025, continued executing conservation-driven dispositions such as the 12,243-acre Florida Forever sale in June 2025, and underwent a planned leadership transition in 2024 with Michael P. Cerchiaro becoming the firm's fourth President and CEO.

Name

Forest Investment Associates

Legal name

Forest Investment Associates L.P.

Website

https://forestinvest.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Forest Investment Associates is a global SEC-registered investment adviser that manages approximately $5.2 billion across 2.03 million acres of sustainable timberland for institutional investors including pension funds and endowments via separate accounts and commingled funds.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Timberland Investment Management

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), All Other Financial Investment Activities (52399), Timber Tract Operations (11311), Timber Tract Operations (113110)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282), Investors, Nec (6799)

akta.pro primary industry

Natural Resources — Timberland (FSAAAKAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Real Assets — Timberland & Forestry (FSAHAIAJ), Timberland Asset Management (Institutional/Private) (AFAMAKAA), Timberland & Forest Asset Management (IMAMAJAA)

Keywords

• Timberland investment management
• Sustainable forestry investing
• Institutional asset management
• ESG forestry strategies
• Natural capital investments

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Investment Management Fees: FIA operates as a global SEC-registered investment adviser specializing in sustainable forest investments, generating revenue through investment management fees on assets under management. Offers customized separate accounts and commingled fund investments.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Forest Investment Associates (FIA) is a global SEC-registered investment adviser that provides timberland investment management services to institutional clients through customized separate accounts and commingled fund vehicles. The firm manages approximately $5.2 billion in assets under management across roughly 2.03 million acres of sustainable forests in the United States, Brazil, and Chile, integrating ESG principles and a proprietary Climate-Smart Forestry strategy to deliver sustainable returns, carbon sequestration, and portfolio diversification for pension funds, endowments, and other institutional investors.

Product overview

Forest Investment Associates (FIA) operates as a global SEC-registered investment adviser specializing in sustainable forest investments. The company offers two core investment products: customized separate accounts providing maximum flexibility for institutional clients with specific portfolio requirements, and commingled fund investments offering diversified timberland exposure through pooled vehicles. These core offerings are enhanced by specialized ESG and sustainability frameworks including the Climate-Smart Forestry Strategy launched in 2022, which addresses climate resilience and carbon sequestration. Additional services include hunting leases on managed timberland properties and comprehensive sustainability reporting. FIA manages approximately $5.2 billion in assets across approximately 2.03 million acres of sustainable forests in the United States, Brazil, and Chile.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Separate Accounts Customized separate account investment management services that allow maximum flexibility in meeting portfolio objectives for institutional clients seeking tailored timberland investments aligned to specific investment policies.
• Commingled Fund Investments Pooled investment vehicle offerings that provide institutional investors access to diversified timberland portfolios with shared risk and returns, typically with lower minimum investment requirements than separate accounts.
• ESG Principles & Sustainable Investment Framework Responsible investment framework embedding ESG factors into FIA's investment decisions and active ownership, founded on the 'Do No Harm' and 'Contribute to Solutions' tenets and underpinned by six thematic principles.
• Climate-Smart Forestry Strategy Investment strategy addressing climate resilience, carbon accountability, and long-term value creation, structured around carbon sequestration and ESG alignment to support institutional clients' net-zero ambitions.
• Hunting Leases Recreational hunting lease program allowing approved hunters to access FIA's timberland properties through a lease approval process.
• Sustainability Reports & ESG Reporting Annual sustainability reports and ESG performance disclosures documenting environmental, social, and governance metrics and initiatives across FIA's managed forest portfolios for institutional clients.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over the past decade, U.S. timberland achieved a Sharpe ratio of 1.43, nearly double that of the S&P 500
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• WeyerhaeusercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 November 2025FIA announced acquisition of approximately 86,000 acres of timberland in Georgia and Alabama from Weyerhaeuser for about $220 million, expanding FIA's U.S. South portfolio. Transaction focuses on sustainable management of high-quality timberland with strategic considerations for future value growth related to natural capital and infrastructure trends.
• International Sustainable Forestry Coalition (ISFC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 July 2025FIA joined ISFC as 22nd member, participating in global network of leading forestry and investment organizations committed to advancing forests as contributor to nature-positive sustainable bioeconomy. With more than 22 million hectares of forests stewarded across 37 countries, ISFC aligns forestry's role in addressing global challenges from nature-related financial disclosures to circular bioeconomy solutions.
• State of Florida (Florida Forever Program)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2025FIA collaborated with State of Florida on sale of 12,243 acres from Bear Creek Timber Company to support Florida Wildlife Corridor expansion. Transaction contributes to Bear Creek Forest Florida Forever Program aiming to permanently protect more than 85,000 acres within the Florida Wildlife Corridor.
• Florida Department of Environmental ProtectionmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2025Collaboration partner in Bear Creek Forest conservation sale, working with FIA to facilitate transfer of property to Florida Forever program for permanent ecological and community benefit management.
• Florida Forest ServicemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2025Partner in Florida Forever conservation initiative; will manage transferred Bear Creek Forest property ensuring ecological and community benefits remain for generations.
• Florida Wildlife Corridor FoundationmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2025Nonprofit partner collaborating on Bear Creek Forest conservation transaction supporting statewide wildlife corridor protection initiative.
• Northwest Florida Sentinel Landscape PartnershipminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2025Partner in multi-stakeholder conservation collaboration facilitating Bear Creek Forest property transfer to Florida Forever program.
• Big 4 Consulting FirmmajorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 June 2024FIA partnered with a Big 4 consulting firm to complete a carbon reporting readiness assessment, advancing client's goal to obtain third-party assurance and solidifying FIA's role as a credible climate investment partner.
• Swedish Consultancy FirmmajorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 June 2024FIA collaborated with Swedish consultancy firm to conduct gap assessment on alignment with EU regulatory criteria, helping refine FIA's internal ESG reporting and supporting client's disclosure obligations under emerging standards.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Molpus Woodlands Group: Molpus is a privately held timberland investment management organization that acquires and manages forestland for institutional clients, making it a closely comparable peer to FIA in business model and client type.
• BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group: BTG Pactual's Timberland Investment Group manages Latin American timberland portfolios for institutional investors, overlapping with FIA's Brazil/Chile operations and competing for global LP allocations.
• Hancock Natural Resource Group (Manulife Investment Management): Hancock Natural Resource Group, a Manulife IM subsidiary, is one of the largest global institutional timberland investment managers and the most direct competitor to FIA in managing separate accounts and commingled timberland funds for pensions and endowments.
• Global Forest Partners: Global Forest Partners is a private timberland investment manager offering commingled funds and separate accounts to institutional investors, directly overlapping with FIA's product set and LP base.
• Brookfield Asset Management (Brookfield Timber): Brookfield operates a sizable global timberland and forest products franchise competing for the same institutional real-asset mandates as FIA, particularly from large pension funds seeking natural capital exposure.
• The Campbell Group (UBS Asset Management): The Campbell Group, now part of UBS Asset Management's real assets platform, manages institutional timberland portfolios and competes directly with FIA for separate-account and commingled-fund mandates from U.S. and European pensions.

Broad incumbents

• PotlatchDeltic: PotlatchDeltic is a publicly traded timber REIT owning ~2.2M acres of timberland in the U.S. South and Pacific Northwest, competing with FIA for institutional timberland capital allocations and occasionally as a transaction counterparty.
• Weyerhaeuser: Weyerhaeuser is one of the world's largest private timberland owners and the seller of the 86,000-acre Georgia/Alabama package FIA acquired in 2025. It overlaps with FIA in timberland ownership and forest management but operates a much broader vertically integrated wood products business.
• Rayonier: Rayonier is a publicly traded timberland REIT with a large U.S. South portfolio and timberland management capabilities; it is a broad incumbent competitor for institutional mandates and is also a destination for FIA alumni (Jamie Ulmer previously worked at Rayonier).

Emerging players

• Resource Management Services (RMS): RMS is a smaller forestry services and investment manager that purchased 11,000 acres from FIA in 2025 and operates in an adjacent, partially overlapping niche in sustainable timberland management.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/forest-investment-associates

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Forest Investment Associates