Matching a passion for agriculture with business and finance has meant investment banker Tim Faulkner, 32, found his perfect job.
While he didn’t grow up on a farm, he said he spent a lot of his childhood at his grandparent’s property, in the north of South Australia.
His grandfather originally grew barley and also ran sheep at Wirrabara, in the mid north of the state.
“I was from an accounting firm in Adelaide, I did commerce at University, worked at an accounting firm for three years then saw the opportunity to come and work for Kidder Williams Limited in Melbourne,” Mr Faulkner said.
Kidder Williams, of which he is a director, specialised in food and agribusiness, matching prospective investors with vendors or businesses looking for capital.
“That really linked two passions of mind, that is food and agriculture, business and investment, so it was a perfect job for me.”
The company helped Bega Cheese list on the stock market and continued to work with the dairy processor.
“Select Harvest is another one of my clients, so I do quite a lot of work with nuts, and everything else in between,” Mr Faulkner said.
He said he believed dairy would continue to run hot, while horticulture and nutraceuticals – products derived from food sources with extra health benefits – were under-developed.
Horticulture, fruit and vegetables, needed a lot of consolidation, to get real scale, but this was yet to occur, he said.
“You’ve seen the demand, out of China, for things like infant formula, but it’s not only that – they are looking for lots of other products, which will improve their general well being.
Mr Faulkner said it was likely the trend of overseas investment, in agriculture, would continue, particularly from China and Asia.
“There always has been a reluctance, unfortunately, for our own institutions to invest in Australian agriculture – yes, there have been various super funds who have had a go at it, and they have done alright,” Mr Faulkner said. “But the thing that sets overseas investors apart is that they have large amounts of money and they are willing to make big acquisitions and invest further.”
“I don’t see that as a bad thing; we have always had a lot of foreign investment in Australia.” Agricultural assets were a “long term play,” with lower returns from other assets.
Mr Faulkner said he didn’t think the tightening of foreign investment rules would put overseas companies off: “They see a lot of value in owning Australian agricultural assets, and it’s not that much of an impasse, to get through.”
He encouraged young people, who had an interest in both agriculture and finance, to pursue opportunities to combine both.
“I find the ability to be able to mix food and agriculture, with finance and investment banking, a dream job.”
