New Farmland Investment Fund "The Future of Institutional Investing" - Institutional Investor Magazine

Swedish farmland fund investor AP2

We recently came across a very interesting article in the magazine Institutional Investor.  The article, written by a senior research associate at Oxford University, notes that the huge pension fund in TIAA-CREF in the United States has recently launched a new farmland investment fund called TIAA-CREF Global Agriculture.  The fund is capitalized by a number of large Canadian and European institutional investors, including AP2 in Sweden, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (bcIMC) in Canada, and  Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (Caisse) in Canada. 


What we found interesting is that one of the areas where the new fund will invest is in Australian farmland, which makes sense from our perspective as GreenWorld have long seen fantastic value in Australian agriculture investments, which we discussed in a previous post.  As our previous post notes, long time agriculture and farmland investor Jim Rogers also has a farmland fund company focused on Australian farming and agricultural land.

Whilst the TIAA and the Jim Rogers farmland funds are obviously focused on huge institutional investors, GreenWorld's projects - such as our farmland investment in Lithuania in Eastern Europe and our African farmland investment - have low enough minimums that they are easily accessible by individual investors.  For those with UK SIPPs, all of GreenWorld's farmland investments are SIPP eligible.

For those interested, here is the link to the article for the new TIAA farmland fund.

Benefit from Farmland Investments as Wheat Price Skyrockets

Wheat Farmland Investments Benefit from Price of Wheat

As we have mentioned before, GreenWorld offer two investments in farmland where the anchor crop involved is wheat.  These two are:  

• Farmland Investment in Europe
• Farmland Investment in Australia

Most of the investment opportunities in farmland are actually designed as farmland funds, usually hedge funds with huge minimum investment requirements as well as the usual the usual 2% management fee plus 20% of the profits.  All of GreenWorld's investments in farmland, by contrast, are targeted at individuals with low enough minimums that retail investors can participate, AND there are no ongoing costs whatsoever.

The reason we mention our two wheat farmland investments now is that the price of wheat has shot to the moon, up 17% just in the last week.  6From the perspective of those investing in farmland that produces wheat as its core crop, this naturally presents an opportunity to obtain a much higher dividend yield when the crop is sold into the marketplace.   For those not interested in running a farm, we have mentioned previously the fact that GreenWorld's farmland investments are purely passive ones, with everything from the planting to the sale of crops done for the investor.

Please feel free to contact us at info@greenworldbvi.com if you are interested to participate in the explosive price gains in wheat through our wheat farmland investments.

Farmland Investment in Central Europe

Invest in farmland in the new EU country of Lithuania

One excellent area to consider investing in farmland are the new EU countries of central and Eastern Europe.  In many of these countries, the price of agricultural land is well below that of the richer EU countries, and over time as incomes gradually converge the value of farmland will slowly rise as well.  In addition, the new EU countries are receiving substantial subsidies from Brussels for their agriculture sectors, which will greatly help increase the value of farmland in the region.  Here are some highlights of GreenWorld's investment in European farmland:

• The farmland investment is in Lithuania.
• It involves direct ownership of farmland.  This is not an agriculture stock fund or the like, but actual ownership of farmland, allowing you to follow Jim Rogers and other farmland investors into this asset class.
• This is a purely passive investment.  Everything from the planting to the cultivation to the sale of the crop is done for you by the farm managers.
• Track record - the land forms part of a farm which has been farmed profitably for 10 years.
• The land is substantially undervalued when compared to similar EU countries.
• The main crop produced from the land is wheat, which is in a long-term upward trend and is one of Jim Rogers' favorite commodities to own for the next 10-20 years.
• There is a shortage of food and world food consumption is set to double by 2050.
• Investments start from just £5,325/US$8,300 an acre (including the cultivation fee).

Jim Rogers - Play High Agriculture Prices by Investing in Farmland

Jim Rogers: "Invest in Agriculture and Farmland" 

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal noted that legendary commodities investor and agriculture investing proponent Jim Rogers recently spoke at the Global AgInvesting conference, at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York.  Speaking to the  audience on the theme of investing in agriculture, Rogers noted that farmland investments were a great way to take advantage of  the agricultural investing theme.  According to the article in the Wall Street Journal:

Farmland has become a popular asset class among investors. By owning a piece of agricultural land, investors expect to see cash flows based on the proceeds. But it requires a big upfront investment and is not exactly liquid. To fill that void, many farmland investment companies are being set up to attract those who want a piece of the land but don’t want the hassle of hiring farmers, planting or irrigating. Dismissing the bubble talk surrounding farmland investment, Mr. Rogers said the investment idea is probably “in its third inning.”

 As we noted in a previous post, Jim Rogers recently established an Australian farmland investment fund.  We at GreenWorld are also involved with a farmland investment in Australia.  However, whilst the Jim Rogers farmland fund is targeted at high net worth individuals, the GreenWorld Australian farmland project is targeted at individual retail investors.  GreenWorld also offers a unique farmland investment in Africa we discussed in this previous post, as well as a farmland investment in Europe.  For those interested in exploring any of GreenWorld's farmland investments, please contact us at info@greenworldbvi.com or ring us on +44-20-3286-2975.

For those interested, here is the article from the Wall Street Journal on Jim Rogers and farmland.

Summary of GreenWorld's High Dividend Farmland Investment in Africa

Profitable Farm Farmland Investment in Africa - An Overview
    Project is a SIPP Eligible Investment
    Leasehold title registered in investor's name - DIRECT Ownership of farmland, not just a farmland fund
    Projected dividend income yield targets 15pc per year from rice harvests - the last harvest produced a dividend yield to investors of 16.2%
    Annual appreciation in the value of the farmland targets 7pc per annum.
    Currently over 50,000 acres of farmland under management
    Non-cyclical investment – excellent diversification from a traditional portfolio of stocks and bonds
Interested?  Contact info@greenworldbvi.com or ring us on +44-20-3286-2975

High Income Yielding GreenWorld Rice Farmland Investment in Africa

    

How Can a Retail Investor Invest in Farmland?

One of the things we hear constantly about farmland is some variant of "its a great idea, I know lots of big institutional investors are going into the asset class, but how can I as as an individual make an investment in farmland?"  There is the perception that one needs to make a huge investment and actually own a farm, hire out a farm manager etc.  The good thing though is that it is now possible for individual investors to make investing in farmland a part of their portfolio.   The method for this is to pool a number of individual investors' capital together to purchase a large parcel of land, and then divide it into individual parcels to offer to investors. Farmland investments for individuals generally pay a regular yearly dividend from the sale of crops, and also provide the opportunity for long-term capital gains as farmland continues to increase in value.  Of course, an alternative investment like farmland should only constitute a small percentage of an overall portfolio, but the option is now absolutely possible. Below is a summary of GreenWorld's farmland investments for individuals:

• farmland investment in Africa
• farmland Investment in Europe 
• Australian Farmland Investments

Farmland a safe haven from today's economic situation

In today's economic climate of volatile stock markets, negative returns from bonds and term deposits plus the uncertainty surrounding the economies of most western countries, Farmland stands out as an asset class that can not only be a safe haven but is likely to provide a return that at least keeps up with inflation and preserves your capital.

For example our Australian Farmland investment, has a projected annual return of 8% plus the opportunity for capital gain. Australian Farmland has averaged greater than 10% annual increase prior to 2010 (see here). This investment is designed for retail investors with low minimum investment.

To be sure of the safety of the capital you invest, it helps if you can invest at prices that are a good discount to land values in similar countries, here is where Australian land is the pick of the bunch. At an average $1600 to $1700 USD/ ha Australian Farmland is a bargain compared to the likes of the UK and even New Zealand.

Driven by increasing Global food demand, limited availability of arable land and situated within a politically stable country, investing in Australian Farmland is arguably one of the safest places to store your wealth.

For me the icing on the cake, with this investment, is that economic drivers like population demographics are pretty much beyond the meddling of local politicians printing and spending themselves to political success!!

To have a look at our opportunity follow the link here.