September 14, 2023
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The Merricks Capital Agriculture Credit Fund returned 0.9%* in August and 9.9%* on
an annualised basis since inception. The FY23 final distribution of 4.0% was paid during the
month, bringing the total distribution for FY23 to 8.0%.
The Fund was fully deployed in August after taking an increased allocation of 1.8% of NAV to
an existing New Zealand (NZ) investment during the month. The NZ loan is an apple and pear
grower, harvester, and marketer with assets in Hawkes Bay. The orchard assets were minimally
impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023 and the business has met all interest servicing
and amortisation requirements since the loan facility was settled in September 2022.
We’re seeing significant new credit opportunities for agricultural lending in New Zealand. By
2027, NZ’s agricultural export is expected to reach revenue of $62bn, marking a 10% projected
growth over the next four years (MPI). Over the past decade, NZ’s primary industry export
growth has outpaced non-primary sectors in eight of the last ten years. Target sectors in NZ
include permanent plantings like wine grapes, apples, kiwifruit, cherries, etc, and farmgate
dairy where the 10-15% pullback in the milk price over the past 12 months has created an
opportunity to fund new loans on lower valuations and cyclical commodity price upside.
Due diligence continued on $150m of new loan investments across mixed-farming, meat &
livestock and horticulture with a weighted average LVR of 57% and forecast investor IRR 11.2%
(net of fees and costs). We continue to be highly selective around capital deployment, with
funding demand outpacing supply across the market.
*These returns are stated net of fees and costs