As we at GreenWorld have noted on a number of occasions, investors would be well advised to study global macro trends to find interesting niches in which to deploy capital. Indeed, we have noted that shrinking arable land and a growing global population makes the case for investing in  farmland an attractive proposition. In that regard, whilst large institutional investors may make some catastrophically poor choices at times, the fact remains that they do deploy gobs of money, and if small investors can spot where institutional money is starting to go they can ride the wave behind the big guys. In that regard, we came across a piece from Reuters on how pension funds and other institutions are beginning to partner together to invest in farmland. The article mentions a number of institutional investors including TIAA CREF, the British Columbia Investment Management Company, AP2 out of Sweden and Adveq out

As we have mentioned in a couple of previous posts – here and here – there has been a large amount of outside investment going into African farmland.  In that regard, we thought it might be helpful for anyone interested in the subject of farmland investing in Africa to read a number of articles we have come across recently on the subject of outside investment into African agriculture: Article on Saudi investment in African farmland Article on how Africa is the top global target for foreign investment in farmland Article on Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are looking into buying farmland in Sudan Article on Africa “coming of age” for farm investments Given that approximately 60% of the world’s unused arable land is in Africa, it is easy to see why African farmland has been such a popular investment choice for investors of all stripes and sizes. Much of this outside

We at GreenWorld have long been enthusiastic about our African farmland investment.  Its’ paid yearly dividends so far of 16%, 14% and 14% – in a zero rate world, where else can one find legitimate returns like that?  We also feel that our African project captures a couple of important global macro trends, namely: 1)  The dynamic of a growing population plus shrinking arable land; and 2)  The fact that nearly 60% of the world’s uncultivated but potentially arable farmland is in Africa; 3)  Food security is becoming an increasingly critical issue for countries globally, especially in the Middle East.  Hence, we have seen a number of cases where investors from the Persian Gulf countries are actively purchasing land in Africa.  Just as an example, here are two cases of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait purchasing land in Africa. Taken together, this means there are important global macro trends providing tremendous

We at GreenWorld have long felt that Australian farmland is one of the more underrated investments in the agriculture sector.  One a price and yield per acre comparison, its’ much cheaper then farmland in Western Europe or the US.   Along those lines, just today, we came across an article showing how Australian wheat exports to Burma (Myanamar) have been soaring.  Of course, given that GreenWorld’s offers a farmland investment in the Western Australian wheatbelt, we were quite happy to read about this. If you are interested in learning more, feel free to contact us at info@greenworldbvi.com!

As the tsunami of QE continues to pour down upon us – pundits are now predicating that US Central Bank Chair Ben Bernanke will launch QE 4 in December, whilst printing in the UK continues unabated – the average citizen continues to actively seek solutions to hedge against inflation.   For most, Gold is the asset generally associated with being a hedge against inflation.  Gold, however, has a number of weaknesses, and as an alternative “hard asset” investing in farmland is well worth considering. Why might investing in farmland be a good idea?  Well, for starters, farmland acts like Gold by hedging against inflation.  Investing in farmland, however, offers you something that Gold does not – real, genuine income!  Yes, investing in farmland not only offers protection from inflation, it also pays you to own it! Depending on where you invest in farmland, yearly dividend yields can run between 5%-15%,

GreenWorld has long believed that alternative investments such as forestry and farmland should be a substantial part of any investors’ portfolio.  Now, we see Jeremy Grantham (one of our favorite investors along with Jim Rogers) talking about the ongoing global food crisis and advocating forestry and farmland investments.  In a recent quarterly letter on his GMO website, Grantham stated the following: “We are about five years into a chronic global food crisis that is unlikely to fade for many decades…Food production will need to increase 60 to 100 percent by 2050 in order to adequately feed the more than 9 billion people who will populate the Earth.   Farming and forestry are at the top of the list for alternative investments.   Serious long-term investors should have a very substantial overweighting in a resource package.” This pretty much confirms what we at GreenWorld have been advocating all along.  GreenWorld was

As we noted on our website, GreenWorld tries to focus as much as possible on so-called “impact investment” projects.   Impact investing focuses on not just achieving a financial return, but a social impact as well.  Just the other day, we came across an article from the President of the Rockefeller Foundation Dr. Judith Rodin called “Investing for Impact”.  Dr. Rodin writes: “Until recently there were not many opportunities for socially conscious investors — either institutional or individual — to pursue financial returns and the greater good with the same investment. But that’s all changing, thanks to the emerging field of impact investing, and the impact investors who are building a new kind of marketplace in which financial and social returns are closely linked.” From our carbon credit investments, to our bamboo investment, and our ethical African farmland investment, we at GreenWorld allow you to invest for both financial and

We have just coom across another excellent little article from our favorite investor.  In this article, Jim Rogers once again discusses why he believes agriculture investments such a great place to be right now.  According to Rogers: “Various problems point to higher agricultural prices, and investors should buy now. Any weather problems will have big effects because of the dire situation in farming. Agriculture will be one of the best sectors of the world economy for years as I have told you often,” he said. Consider the following logic.  If prices for agriculture commodities such as wheat are high, then those investors who own farmland will naturally benefit from a quite high dividend yield when the wheat crop is sold into the marketplace.  In a low or zero interest rate world, many retail investors are searching for secure high yield investments for income.  Whilst many may “reach for yield” by

Whilst farmland investment has not been considered by many individuals, there are some excellent reasons for savvy investors to consider farmland as an investment.  When discussing farmland investments, GreenWorld are not talking about agricultural funds, but rather about direct investment in farmland. One reason in particular to consider farmland as an investment is that as a “hard asset”, farmland investments are also an excellent inflation hedge. With western central banks having already engaged in extensive Quantatative Easing (QE), and likely to engage in further QE as well, investors would be well-advised to consider adding an inflation hedge of some kind.  Just to take one example, a farmland investment in Europe in Central or Eastern Europe Europe in one of the new EU countries where the price of farmland is cheaper than in the UK or France is a good option to consider. As an alternative, GreenWorld’s Farmland investment in Africa is also an excellent way to

GreenWorld’s favorite investor, Jim Rogers, has continued to speak out in favor of farmland investing.  In a recent interview Rogers commented on weather patterns’ and their affect on agriculture commodities prices: “Such problems point to higher agricultural prices, and investors should buy now. Any weather problems will have big effects because of the dire situation in farming. Agriculture will be one of the best sectors of the world economy for years as I have told you often,” he said. Rogers continues to put his money where his mouth is, as he personally has a large amount of money invested in a farmland fund in Australia.  Whilst Rogers’ farmland fund is targeted at the very rich and institutional investors, you can still access the farmland asset class with GreenWorld’s three farmland investments targeted at individual retail investors: African farmland investment European farmland investment Australian farmland investment Please contact us at info@greenworldbvi.com