Friday, March 8, 2013

Investing in Farmland - Global Institutional Investors Join the Parade

Swiss Fund Adveq latest to invest in global farmland
As we discussed in a number of previous posts our blog - here and here - institutional interest in farmland continues to grow. Now, we see another article come out about this trend. In an article entitled "Pension funds join forces to invest in farmland", Reuters notes that a number of large pension funds are coming together to jointly invest in farmland projects. Just to take a couple of examples:
  • Just as an example, the article notes that the fund Adveq oout of Switzerland is discussing joint investments in farmland with European pension funds, a private family office and a Korean asset manager - now that's a diverse combination!
  • TIAA Cref - the large US pension fund - partnered with a number of pension funds including the British Columbia Investment Corporation.
The asset class is still pretty much new territory for institutional investors as their is only about US$30 million of farmland investments to date by institutional investors. This means that as more institutional investment goes into farmland, smaller investors who have invested in the asset class will benefit from the inevitable price apprecitation

If you are interested in investing in farmland, GreenWorld is proud to offer the following agricultural land investments:


Please contact us at info@greenworldbvi.com if you might be interested to discuss further

Monday, January 7, 2013

Agriculture and Wheat Farmland Investments Will Benefit as Wheat Could Soar

Agricultural land investments in wheat will surely
benefit from the long-term trend trend of wheat prices
As we have said many, many times previously, the long-term trend in farmland prices is undoubtedly up.  Of course, we may see the occasional wobble along the way, but the combination of shrinking arable land, climate change and a rising population may us feel strongly that our instincts on this question are correct.

And again, we now see another example here.  In this case, drought over in the United States could send wheat prices skyrocketing.  Therefore, those who invest in agriculture in the right way will benefit greatly from this trend.  One option to consider is wheat farmland investments.  As long as you are invested outside of the United States, if the farmland investment produces wheat and other grains, your potential for healthy dividend payouts and perhaps increases in the capital value of the land are clear.

In that regard, we believe that our European farmland investment in the new EU country of Lithuania will benefit greatly from this trend.  The project involves a large working farm that has been in operation many years.  Individual acres are now being sold to investors interested in accessing the farmland asset class.
Please feel free to contact us at info@greenworldbvi.com if you are interested in learning more about this investment.

Finally, a couple of reasons to consider this Lithuanian agriculture project for those interested:

1.  Those searching for dividends and income in a low yield environment will benefit as this investment just paid a 10% dividend yield.

2.  Furthermore, farmland in Lithuania is barely half the price of farmland in surrounding Nordic countries.  This means that as prices gradually converge over time, the potential for long-term increases in the capital value of the land exists as well.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Farmland as an Inflation Hedge

US total debt to GDP - the aim will be to inflate this debt away
In looking at the rationale for farmland as an investment, we have just came across a pretty scary chart below on the total debt to GDP in the United States.  The discussion always centers around government debt, but debt in all areas of the economy is off the charts.

How could this debt possibly be serviced?  The answer is, it cannot be, at least in any rational sense of the word.  We believe that governments will do what they have always done, which is to lower debt by printing additional money - probably through Quantitative Easing (QE) or some similar method - which will lower the real (as opposed to nominal value) of this debt. We would argue therefore that looking at farmland as a hedge against inflation makes a lot of sense.  

As a "hard asset", and investment in farm land in land will will not only provide investors this inflation hedge, but also offer a steady stream of good dividend income and offering excellent upside potential for capital gains due to the ongoing agricultural "super cycle" as coined by noted farmland and commodities investor Jim Rogers.

If you are interested to learn more about our unique, high dividend African farmland and European farmland investments, please contact us at info@greenworldbvi.com.



Additional Information on Global Farmland Funds by Institutional Investors

Retail investors can now invest in farmland just like AP2
Following-up on previous posts here and here, we have also come across yet more cases of pension funds investing in farmland.   The Second Swedish National Pension Fund (AP2) will invest $250 million in a joint venture with US pension fund TIAA-Cref.  AP2 has invested the money into a newly formed company that has joint venture partner, TIAA-CREF, as its majority shareholder and administrator.  TIAA-CREF already has extensive agriculture investments worth more than $2 billion, which include 400 farms globally.  From an article in the website Top 1000 Funds:
" TIAA's strategy for its' agricultural investments involves targeting growth crops that include corn, soybeans, sugar, apples, cranberries and wine grapes....The AP2/TIAA-CREF investment is to focus primarily on grain production.  Last year the fund made its first foray into forestry and farmland, buying assets in the United States and Australia.

In recent years, a number of pension funds have looked to real assets such as timber and farmland to provide an alternative investment that is not correlated to the markets.  These investments are also seen as a potentially attractive option in hedging inflation risk."
So, how can a retail investor invest in farmland?? The farmland investments that large pension funds make are obviously not available to individuals.  As a result of a number of innovations, it is now possible for retail investors to access the farmland asset class by owning farmland directly.

GreenWorld is proud to offer the following agricultural land investment:


Please contact us at info@greenworldbvi.com if you might be interested to discuss further.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

How to Generate Income From Farmland Investments By Capitalizing On the Need for Increased Global Food Production

Shrinking arable land - rising population
In a previous post, we discussed how arable land globally is shrinking, whilst population skyrockets. The world is set to add another billion people, whilst we are simultaneously losing 75 million acres of farmland per year through degradation, industrialization or development. That is a stunning figure, and presages serious crises in the future around food and farmland. Indeed, it may not be going too far to say that farmland may be the "new gold", an asset with the ultimate value.

That’s why private equity hedge funds are purchasing large tracts of land to profit from the macro trend of shrinking arable farmland. Money managers such as Jim Rogers are setting up farmland funds left and right, and institutional investors are purchasing these farmland funds in droves. Its' very simple really - when you have an asset that is shrinking in quantity whilst increasing in demand, the price trend over the long-term is sure to be up!

The great thing about farmland is that its' an investment where you can own an asset of true economic value, and, in a world of near-zero yield, generate additional income.  Whilst every farmland fund or investment we at GreenWorld are aware of targets institutional investors, GreenWorld is pioneering the development of farmland investing projects that specifically target individual investors.  So yes, if you are worried about generation income, and looking for an asset that is not correlated to stocks, then you have the opportunity to invest in farmland just like institutional investors.  Best of all, our projects have low minimum investing requirements, and are purely passive investments where the project manager does everything from planting, to harvesting to the sale of the crops all for you.  We have farmland investing opportunities in EUROPE, AFRICA and AUSTRALIA.  Please contact us to learn more at info@greenworldbvi.com.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Another Large Investor Creates a Farmland Fund


Farmland For Sale – A New
Institutional investors continue to establish farmland funds
Following up from our previous post on institutional investors investing in farmland, GreenWorld have also discovered that Schroders Plc, the U.K.'s largest publicly traded money manager, developed a 250 million-pound ($480 million) farmland investment fund to invest in farmland around the globe, as prices for agricultural land have continuously risen along with with gains in the underlying commodity prices such as wheat.
Farmland is enjoying its biggest revival in 40 years as investors including Jim Rogers, George Soros and TIAA-Cref bet that farmland as an investment will offer high dividends, appreciation in the price of the farmland, and an excellent way to hedge against possible future inflation due to QE and all of the new money printed.


GreenWorld is proud to offer the following agricultural land investment:


Please contact us at info@greenworldbvi.com if you might be interested to discuss further.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

GreenWorld's High Yielding African Farmland Investment Continues to See High Demand

As interest rates continue to stay at rock bottom levels in the West, investors are increasingly turning to alternative investments such as farmland to obtain higher yields then those available in traditional savings accounts.  GreenWorld's farmland investment in Africa has continued to see high levels of demand due to this trend.  For those who may be interested, below is a summary of the african farmland project:

1)  Invest from as little as £11,250 for five acres.  Smaller investment levels may be possible in some circumstances.

2)  Estimated 12-15% annual dividend income income  In fact, the last harvest produced an average return of 14% on investment.

3)  A tangible asset held in your own name removing any default risk.  Investors will own the lease to their land – and be allocated their own field providing the investor with security.

4)  A project that is supported and accredited by the Sierra Leone government at the highest levels.

5)  So far, 1,200 acres have been cultivated.  The land is ideal for rice production but is underdeveloped and high yield farming has not been utilised in the past.  The introduction of advanced agricultural technologies has now dramatically increased the productivity - and profitability - of this farmland.

6)  The project is committed to assisting the local population through employment, food, health and education support.

7)  ALL - repeat ALL - of the rice crop is sold locally, thereby providing food security in Sierra Leone.


Please contact us at at info@greenworldbvi.com to learn more.