The cover of the shares prospectus features a man in a pinstripe suit but beneath the desk he is wearing Wellington boots. The marketing message is clear: in uncertain times there is no safer asset than farmland.

Braemar, a niche fund manager based in Hale, Cheshire, is preparing to float its pioneering UK Agricultural Land fund. It is one of the few offerings this year on the Alternative Investment Market, which has suffered a slowdown in the recession.