Barings' agricultural fund sees opportunities in fisheries, as fertiliser and grain prices fall

Barings' Jonathan Blake has increased exposure to fish and poultry suppliers within his £151m Global Agriculture fund as a result of subdued grain and fertiliser prices.

Blake, who has managed the fund since launch in 2009, has opened a 6% weighting in fisheries with a particular bias to salmon farms, and has upped exposure to chicken producers from 5% to 8%. In addition to benign grain prices, Blake says lower input costs for materials such as feed and fertiliser also prompted the move. He says while demand for salmon remains strong, supply has been hit by diseases which have decimated Chilean stocks, prompting him to introduce a 3% weighting in Norwegian farmer Marine Harvest. "The Chilean salmon industry has been affected by a very nasty disea...