New frontier markets are attracting new agricultural investing

This interesting event in central London was well attended by members of the investment and investment advice community with delegates coming from across the UK , North America and Europe , providing a useful dialogue between companies creating & managing funds and those investing & recommending investments. The focus was less on actual "product" and more on the concept, strategy and reasoning behind their creation and how these investment classes are being appreciated by a wider audience for their unique characteristics. It was generally recognised that the assets, and therefore also the returns, of some funds in this sector are not correlated with regular stocks and bonds, and again how this has advantages to certain types of investor.

Agricultural Investing News

 
Of course the advantages to the wider society of ethical and sustainable funds were also touched upon, but this was not a stakeholder meeting it was a gathering of financially tuned minds. The audience was treated to spreadsheets and graphs illustrating both returns and the measurement of risk. Due diligence was a phrase mentioned by many speakers, it was apparent that the professionalism of investment teams and the sound management of teams on the ground running these sustainable projects is key to the overall success of this sector.

"We believe that you can plan for portfolio success when you deal across a number of diverse projects in different geographical areas" stated Michael Young. "Land prices in developed markets are severely impacting on remuneration rates …. there is inadequate compensation for the lack of liquidity. This is a significant factor in our strategic approach to sustainable agricultural projects in frontier markets".

He went on to explain how Sustainable Capital was not just trusting to the "combined luck" of due diligence, a skilled investment team & strong project management, but would also be bringing in state of the art technology to help. Using sophisticated and robust remote access measurement and data collection instruments, communication tools and smart software from a Singapore based company BioMachines. These systems "allow you to remotely check the health of your plantation" clarified Young "in real time … from your desk in London , Singapore or wherever. In fact I can check the health on my plantations before the competition have even got to the airport on the way to check their own! It is also cheaper for me to install this technology than it is for my competition to send an independent consultant to their managed sites for a weekly visit, something they may well repeat several times during the year."

The Financial Times billed this event as a unique conference for wealth managers, discretionary fund managers and pension fund trustees, and it certainly cast new light on the reasons and confidence behind the significant growth seen in the demand and opportunities for ethical and sustainable investments.

Sourced: investorideas.com

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