When David Brand incorporated New Forests Asset Management in 2005, the entire forestry sector of Australia was either owned by governments or by the managed investment scheme (MIS) industry. Over the next 18 years, Brand, a Canadian-born forester, pursued an expansion strategy that included buying the landmark MIS business, Great Southern Group out of administration, and the collapsed Tasmanian wood chip miller, Gunns. Today, New Forests is one of the fastest-growing local fund managers. It has $ 11 billion in assets under management (AUM) across 1.2 million hectares of forests. New chief executive Mark Rogers, who takes over from Brand on Monday, is confident of growing at 10 per cent a year over the next seven years to lift AUM to more than $20 billion. He expects the global forestry sector to expand from about $300 billion to $1 trillion over the next decade as pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and big super step up their investment in sustainable investments.