Tag Archives: attractive
German Property Quiet Boom Attractive To Investors
News Posted On: 04 July 2013 Germany’s status as a safe haven for investors is well documented. But the forces that have generated a housing boom in the Eurozone’s most prosperous economy go beyond interest from investors anxious to squirrel their money away safely. The boom in German property has come as a result of low unemployment, rising construction rates and robust growth in rents, according to UK-based Knight Knox international. Germany was recently voted Europe’s most attractive property market, in a survey held by property consultants CBRE. The result was backed up by statistics indicating that every sector of the German property market is flourishing. The rental sector alone is worth over £890 billion in a country where homeownership is low, at around 53%. German rental rates have grown by 15% over the last five years, while apartment prices have risen by 23% in the same period, according to BulweinGesa, Germany’s leading property indices. But the growth of the German housing market is underpinned, not by foreign investment or speculation, but by genuine economic growth. Germany’s unemployment rate is near to its 2012 record low, representing the deepest cut in the jobless rate since reunification. The 2.943m Germans out of work make up 6.8% of the population, as against unemployment of 7.8% in the UK. There’s more though: part of the German employment boom is in the construction industry, where residential construction rates grew by 2.5% in the third quarter of 2012. Rather than a speculator-led bubble, though, the German property market is participating in a nationwide economic upswing. And that’s being recognised by investors. Germany drew in over a fifth of the overall investment in Europe last year and international investors carried out 40% of 2012’s transaction volume. Investment in German real estate totalled €6.7bn in the first quarter of 2013, a 21% year-on-year increase, according to Savills. Berlin, once a stoutly industrial city and then the home of the Wall separating the two Germanies, is now the home of a rocketing population – up by over 100,000 since 2007 – and increasing rents, which have risen by a third in the same period. Apartment prices have seen a 41% increase, according to online broker Immobilienen Scout. Mitte, a city centre district of Berlin, has been a vital part of the city’s property boom, with apartment prices now nudging £6,700/m2 in the district. Comparable properties in Charlouttenburg-Wilmersdorf run to £4,700/m2, though the two districts are close; German property is governed by German perceptions of desirable neighbourhoods. Germany’s boom has seen prices rise so sharply in Berlin that both Germans and foreigners have begun to look further afield. The German provincial cities are increasingly sites of investment as well as purchase for habitation, showing much lower prices but comparable rental demand. And the German economy, still Europe’s healthiest and the Eurozone’s pricipal creditor, underpins this strong housing growth, indicating bright days ahead for investors in German property. Les Calvert – overseas property reporter Continue reading
Attractive Opportunities in Agriculture: Steve Yuzpe
THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013 Henry Bonner Attractive Opportunities in Agriculture: Steve Yuzpe Steve Yuzpe joined Sprott Resource Corp. in 2009 as Chief Financial Officer. Sprott Resource Corp., a publically-listed private equity firm, manages a portfolio of investments in the natural resources sector, including a large allocation to agriculture. “Food production is a very interesting area to be in right now, because the case for higher food prices around the world is very compelling. The need for food security, the effects of rising populations, water scarcity and climate change, and the need for inflation-protected assets all make the set-up for agriculture very compelling right now. There are opportunities in the sector that should offer strong risk-adjusted returns.” Despite its attractiveness, the ability to enter the agricultural sector is quite restricted to individual and retail investors, says Steve. On a relative basis, very few investment opportunities are publicly available. Those that can enter the space through private investments – such as large investment funds – have a definite advantage by having access to a significantly larger investment universe. “In addition to the typical long-term supply and demand trends, there are three agro-economic factors that underlie the bull case for agriculture. Firstly, the sector should provide an inflation-protected asset for investors concerned with currency devaluation occurring now. Inflation drives up the costs of all the raw materials involved in food production, processing, storage, transportation, etc. For example, food and energy are over 80% correlated. So if you believe that the prices of these commodities in general and energy specifically could rise, agriculture could provide you with an additional means of protecting against this risk.” “Another major factor is global climate change. Whether or not the change is man-made or a long-term natural cycle is irrelevant. Over the past two decades, average temperatures are rising and weather conditions have become increasingly volatile, which creates a lot of uncertainty around the productivity of existing farmland. This uncertainty can have a huge impact on crop prices, as evidenced by the devastating droughts in the U.S., Russia, and India in 2012. There seems to have been a dramatic weather event in major crop producing areas in each of the last five years.” Steve believes governments will continue to implement policies to secure inexpensive food for domestic populations in response to the political upheaval that high food prices can cause. “In 2010, the Russian government imposed export restrictions on wheat. Argentina did the same thing in late 2012 and early 2013, to secure the supply for their constituency.” Meanwhile, food supply is also threatened by the reduction of existing available farmland through pollution, urbanization, soil degradation, and water scarcity, says Steve. Putting new resources into production could be challenging and costly. “There is available arable land that isn’t producing in Brazil, Russia and Kazakhstan. Most of the land is either of marginal utility, or is located in remote regions, adding transportation to the cost of bringing production to market. In addition, it takes years to convert the land into arable farmland, with heavy input costs for pesticides, fertilizers, etc. So these types of projects aren’t about to bring down the price of food. In fact, they would only be economical in a global environment of food shortages, when it’s better to have high-priced food than no food.” “In agriculture, you have to take a long-term view. We believe that the global macro-economic picture is on our side in this area. Global populations will continue to grow; the amount of cultivatable farmland per person is being squeezed down. We believe that this create opportunities for our investment portfolio over the long term.” Steve Yuzpe has 15 years of experience with financial administration management in public and private corporations. Sprott Resource Corp .is a Canadian-based company, the primary purpose of which is to invest and operate natural resource projects. Through acquisitions, joint ventures and other investments,Sprott Resource Corp.seeks to provide its shareholders with exposure to the natural resource sector for the purposes of capital appreciation and real wealth preservation. Continue reading
Forestry Investments in Emerging Markets
the Netherlands – 30 May, 2011 Investments in forestry have many desirable features. Under certain conditions, forestry investments yield attractive returns to investors and can contribute substantially to the economic, social and environmental development of countries. Environmentally and socially conscious investors are actively exploring the “ins and outs” of forestry opportunities, motivated by opportunities that are profitable, but also in line with their core values. Between the 17th and 19th of May 2011, about 50 participants attended the meeting “Forestry Investments in Emerging Markets.” About one third of the participants were socially and environmentally conscious investors and investment advisors. Another one third of the participants jointly represented 17 investment opportunities in the tropical hemisphere, together worth over 95 million of investments in responsible forestry. The meeting took place in the Netherlands, a country with significant expertise in tropical forestry and a history of public and private investment in forestry in developing countries. The meeting was organized by FAO , the NFP Facility and Tropenbos International with support of the Business in Development Network , and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation of the Netherlands. The meeting was attended by institutional investors, investment advisors, timber funds, forest business developers, and forestry specialists. Selected NFP Facility partner countries attended the meeting. Participants from these countries included forest finance professionals that have worked domestically to identify promising business opportunities. Objectives of the meetings were to: Share perspectives on challenges and opportunities regarding the greater involvement of investors in forestry (REDD+, biodiversity, forestry) in emerging markets Showcase and discuss a variety of forestry-based business cases and fund structures as a basis to better understand the requirements and potential of such business cases and for collaborative work between potential investors and promising forest business initiatives in emerging markets. Contribute to an action plan to narrow the gap between investors and forestry opportunities. The interactive programme – consisting of plenary, panel and group sessions – provided and informal platform for exchange and engagement among participants. Seventeen businessfact sheets from seven countries provided the basis to discuss in concrete terms the risks and opportunities to invest in forestry in emerging and frontier markets. The cases included plantation forestry, natural forest management, processing and alternative businesses. In addition, several participants shared short notes on their work, which were contained in the information package. Publications Documents Presentations Contact Media Report: Forestry Investments in Emerging Markets Information package Business Factsheets Programme: Forestry Investments in Emerging Markets List of participants to the Forestry Investments in Emerging Markets event Continue reading
