A founding partner of Forest Systems, Nicol is a trained professional forester more than 25 years of experience managing forest assets. He is responsible for designing and developing portfolio composition, performance management and risk analysis capabilities for Forest Systems. He led portfolio management operations for the firm’s $800+ million client investment programs in the United States, up until their divesture in 2007. He has also been responsible for client relations and for defining acquisition objectives and due diligence parameters. Under his direction, the firm acquired and sold more than 2.5 million acres of US forestlands with a combined value exceeding $2.5 billion. Jim has also served as the chief timberland investment officer for a leading Timber Investment Management Organization where he served as portfolio manager for the various institutional portfolios, including California Public Employees’ Retirement System’s $1.2 billion portfolio of forest assets. He has extensive experience managing federal and state timberland taxation as well as forest valuation issues for corporate forest products companies.