Mining Could Tempt Back Pension Funds

Franco Nevada CEO David Harquail held out hope of a mining industry rapprochement with pension funds in a recent Melbourne Mining Club address. Mostly (and unsurprisingly), he spoke about the virtues of funding though royalty streaming. More objectively, Harquail lamented the loss of pension fund support for mining development. This he attributed to the industry losing sight of the sources of long-term value in its search for near-term cash flows. He described the industry as having been pushed into liquidation mode as it increasingly ignored the long-term horizon preferred by pension funds. Harquail was optimistic about a return of pension fund money but cautioned that “in the future, it needs to be in a different form”. Harquail sourced some optimism from examples in Canada of “partnerships on even feasibility stage base metal projects” to hold out hope for “a very good marriage between the mining industry and long term capital”. My more detailed commentary on the Harquail presentation is here: (VIEW LINK)