Overview
Firm Description
Resource Management Service, LLC (“RMS”) is a vertically integrated,
privately held timberland investment manager serving institutional investors.
U.S. operations are conducted through RMS which is domiciled in the U.S. and
located in Birmingham, Alabama. RMS also has regional offices throughout the
southern U.S. International operations are conducted through wholly owned
subsidiaries in Brazil and New Zealand.
RMS is owned and operated by its employees. RMS has 37 Members,
including most senior management and key employees.
RMS was founded in 1950 as a timberland management and consulting firm
providing forestry services to the forest products industry and other private
landowners. In 1985, RMS partnered with a timberland investment manager as
its southern U.S. asset manager.
In 2004, RMS became a timberland investment manager, offering
comprehensive timberland investment services to pension funds, endowments,
foundations, family offices and other institutional investors.
Principal Owners
RMS’s owners consist of 37 members. A total of 24 RMS employees and one
board member owns 65% of the firm. Thirteen local individual investors own
the remaining 35%. Ownership in the company is broadly distributed. The
largest ownership interest by an individual
represents 11.05% of the
membership interest of RMS, with seven senior employees holding a total
ownership interest of 41.02%.
Types of Advisory Services
RMS provides timberland investment management services to institutional
investors through pooled timberland funds (“Funds”) for which RMS is the
manager. RMS also serves a small number of institutional investors through
direct accounts (“Direct Accounts” and together with the Funds, the “Clients”).
RMS sources transactions, manages timberland assets, conducts timber and
land sales, and performs client accounting and reporting – all on a vertically
integrated basis (i.e., with in-house staff). RMS does not tailor advisory services
to the individual needs of investors in the Funds.
As of December 31, 2023, RMS managed approximately $1.3 billion on a
discretionary basis and $3.8 billion on a non-discretionary basis in timberland
assets in two countries for 13 Clients.
Investment Management Agreement
An investment management agreement or similar governing document is
executed between RMS and each Client. The agreement specifies investment
management, property management and performance-based fees charged to
the Client by RMS, and these vary by Client. Other provisions such as
investment term vary by Client.