ERA Forest Products Research is an independent financial research company with an exclusive focus on the Paper and Forest Products Sector, including timber, lumber, OSB, plywood, pulp, newsprint, communication paper, tissue, packaging and fibre companies.

• ERA covers all companies in the Forest Products Sector, Domestic and International, Equity and Debt.
• The firm’s proprietary models, data sources, and extensive industry network allow its team of analysts to identify turning points in commodity price cycles.
• ERA combines these forecasts with fundamental analysis and on-site company visits to determine corporate valuations and to make actionable investment recommendations.

The firm is a Canadian based firm located in Gibsons, British Columbia, providing research to major institutional investors, industry executives, and government organizations world-wide.

Philosophy

ERA’s philosophy is that in order to make money in the Paper & Forest Products sector, you must get the commodity call right.

As such, ERA’s research team devotes a tremendous amount of time looking for inflection points in commodity prices, and forecasting commodity prices six months to three years out. Once ERA determines the direction of the commodities, we then incorporate our forecasts into company financial models and, combined with our view of management teams, we make long and short investment recommendations.

Methodology

Expert Network
Managing Director, Kevin Mason maintains an expert network of over 200 contacts globally and within the paper & forest products sector. While he is on a first-name basis with many of the CEO’s and CFO’s of these companies, it is important to note that the most valuable information is often derived from employees at the ground level. These include:

• Mill Managers
• Plant Engineers
• Union Representatives
• Insurance Brokers that underwrite policies for the mills
• Government Officials
• Paper Brokers
• Sales Directors and front-line sales people at major firms

Chart & Model Database
Containing over 1500 charts examining every aspect of how commodities interact with each other – as well as with currency changes and other economic indicators, ERA maintains the world’s most comprehensive research database of Paper & Forest Products sector data series. Each month, within the Monthly report, ERA selects 30 of the most relevant charts to explain future forecasts.

Data Sources
ERA subscribes to numerous high-value global data sources relating to the Paper &Forest Products sector; imports/exports, supply/demand, etc.

Research Team

Kevin Mason, CFA
Managing Director

Kevin Mason joined ERA Forest Products Research in 1997 after starting his financial career in banking, and then co-founding a consulting practice that included corporate advisory and valuation services to diverse industries from biotech to retail. Since joining ERA, Kevin’s focus has been exclusively forest products, covering the sector’s major North American companies and providing detailed analysis of the global forest products industry to clients worldwide, including institutional investors managing over $5 trillion in assets.

After more than a decade as a forest products analyst, Kevin has built a solid reputation among his peers in the industry. He is a regular speaker at conferences hosted by industry organizations such as the Pulp and Paper Products Council, Council of Forest Industries, and the Western Wood Products Association, and is also quoted extensively in mainstream media such the Wall Street Journal and the National Post, as well as on CBC radio and television programs.

Kevin holds a bachelor of commerce degree from the University of British Columbia, has been a CFA charterholder since 2001, and is a member of the Vancouver Society of Financial Analysts.

Claire Huxtable, RPF, CFA
Analyst

After beginning her career in the woods working for Western Forest Products on BC’s Vancouver Island, Claire Huxtable moved into private equity markets, working in the U.S. as a portfolio analyst and account manager for Hancock Timber Resource Group, one of the world’s largest timberland investment management organizations. Prior to joining ERA Forest Products Research, she was a member of RBC’s top-ranked capital markets forest products research team, where she focused on North American paper and forest products companies.

Claire holds a bachelor’s degree in forestry from the University of British Columbia and Laval University, and an MBA from the University of British Columbia. She is a registered professional forester with the Association of British Columbia Forest Professionals, a CFA charterholder, and a member of the Vancouver Society of Financial Analysts.

Our Clients

Institutional Investors
ERA’s research is designed for institutional investors on the buy-side—asset managers, hedge funds, mutual fund, pension funds—both equity and fixed-income, as well as private equity investors.

The firm helps investors spot turning points in the commodity cycles—the key driver in determining the future success or failure of companies in the Paper & Forest Products Sector.

ERA Forest Products Research focuses exclusively on making investment recommendations and providing industry analysis of the Paper & Forest Products Sector and, since inception:

• no stock trading,
• no investment banking,
• no money management.

Important note: ERA Forest Products Research is a member of Investorside, certifying that we are free of investment banking conflicts.

Industry and Government Executives
Since its inception in 1994, ERA has enjoyed a strong client base, including large institutional investors, small hedge funds, industry executives (public and private forest companies) and government entities.

ERA’s quarterly and annual price forecasts, combined with their detailed industry knowledge, provide clients with an understanding of current and future market conditions in the forest products sector. Moreover, ERA’s proprietary models, data sources, and extensive industry network allow its team of analysts to identify turning points in commodity price cycles.

Click here to view our companies/equities coverage list.
For a complete list of commodities covered by ERA, visit this link.