Global capital turns to Australia as Global AgInvesting heads to Brisbane

25 May 2026, Australia: Australia’s agriculture sector is attracting increasing attention from institutional investors as global capital shifts towards food production, water assets and natural capital linked to sustainability, inflation protection and long-term resource security. 

That trend will be on display in Brisbane this June when the Global AgInvesting conference is held in Australia for the first time. The event, regarded as one of the world’s largest agriculture investment conferences, has previously been hosted in major financial centres including New York, London and Tokyo. 

The conference will bring together institutional investors, fund managers and agribusiness leaders representing more than $10 trillion in assets under management. 

Investors expected to attend include APG Asset Management, one of Europe’s largest pension investors, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s private-sector investment arm. 

The growing investor interest comes as institutions globally reassess traditional portfolio allocations and increasingly look towards real assets linked to food production, water security and climate resilience. 

“For years, many of Australia’s leading agricultural fund managers and agribusinesses travelled to New York, London and Tokyo to connect with global capital through Global AgInvesting,” said Jonathan Levin, portfolio director at Global AgInvesting. 

“We believe the market has now reached an inflection point where it makes sense to bring the world’s institutional investors directly to Australia,” Levin said. 

“Investors globally are looking for scalable real assets tied to food production, water, natural capital and long-term sustainability, and Australia increasingly sits at the centre of that conversation.” 

The shift reflects broader changes across global investment markets. As higher interest rates and volatility pressure traditional private equity and commercial real estate strategies, agriculture and natural capital are increasingly being viewed as defensive and inflation-linked assets with lower correlation to mainstream markets. 

Australia’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry sector generates around $100 billion in annual production value, supports approximately 300,000 jobs and exports nearly 70 per cent of what it produces. 

“Australia’s agriculture sector has been reliant on international capital and export markets from its very beginnings,” said Kim Morison, chairman and chief investment officer at Argyle Group. 

“We’ve recently benefitted from some fantastic long-term investment in farmland, water and processing facilities, which have further built scale, productivity and regional economies,” Morison said. 

“On the world stage, Australia does two things really well — mining and agriculture.” 

Morison said the conference would provide an opportunity to showcase the scale of Australian agriculture and the sophistication of local operators and investment managers. 

The Brisbane event will focus on themes including water and natural capital, agtech and innovation, food security, supply chains and sustainable agriculture. 

One of the major themes emerging globally is institutional interest in water assets. Australia has developed one of the few systems globally where water rights can be separated from land ownership and traded independently, creating what many investors view as a scarce and investable asset linked directly to agricultural production and climate variability. The country’s water market is estimated to be worth more than $50 billion. 

Ahead of the conference, investors will participate in tours across Queensland, including the Central Queensland Highlands and the Toowoomba–Lockyer Valley region. Delegates will visit cattle, cropping and horticulture operations, logistics hubs and export infrastructure as investors assess the operational scale and supply chain systems supporting Australian agriculture. 

“One of the most important parts of agricultural investing is understanding the asset beyond a spreadsheet,” Levin said. 

“These tours give investors the opportunity to experience the scale, operational sophistication and supply chain infrastructure that underpin Australian agriculture firsthand,” he said. 

“Whether it’s irrigated horticulture, cotton, beef production or export logistics, Queensland offers a unique combination of productivity, innovation and access to global markets that investors increasingly want to see up close.” 

The increasing focus on Australian agriculture also comes as domestic superannuation funds remain relatively underexposed to the sector despite managing more than $3 trillion in retirement savings. 

“As markets become more volatile and resource constraints become more visible, investors are looking for assets that are both essential and finite,” Levin said. 

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