Independent manager Fiera Capital, which has over 100 insurers globally to thank for providing one-sixth of its $123bn assets under management, has won alternatives manager of the year in Insurance Asset Risk's 2025 awards.

Among 47 strategies, Fiera Capital's alternative offerings for underwriters in the UK and Europe include "highly differentiated" global agriculture, timberland and global real estate debt products. Each exhibits consistent performance and deal structuring that encourages profit-sharing.

Its eight-year-old, $1.7bn agriculture strategy strikes partnerships that help "farmers and indigenous landowners," and invests in agricultural assets globally for "attractive risk-adjusted returns", inflation hedging aspects and "low or negative" correlation to other asset classes. The strategy is now reviewing 12 further opportunities, worth $110m.

Meanwhile, at just one year old, Fiera's Global Timberland strategy has sealed cutting rights with the Ngaī Tahu Holdings charitable trust, reinvesting profits into projects promoting longevity among the indigenous Ngaī Tahu tribe.

Fiera's global real estate debt platform gives insurance clients "high quality, customised senior secured private credit solutions with a conservative loan-to-value". One $612m strategy finances with senior real estate-backed loans, secured on first-ranking mortgages in Australia and New Zealand. The "diversified portfolio of loans" of another strategy, worth $542m, is secured by high-quality Canadian property. A third, Article 8 strategy focuses on "structural dislocations" in Europe's CRE debt markets.