Unlisted Investments

The Wine Investment fund:

This fund was launched in 2003 and a new tranche is now available every 6 months. Investors have seen significant growth as a result in increasing demand and a natural falling supply. The 2005 (1) investment tranche had increased 103% in value by 30th September 2007.

On the supply side, the fund invests in premium French wines of which there are only a certain amount made each year and with consumption there is a natural fall in supply. While on the demand side, there is already a strong developed market demand, but as Asia and the developed world develops a taste for premium western produce demand is rising and will continue to do so.

Wind Energy:

In 2004 we arranged for an investment into a start up wind energy company whose mission was to invest in options on land in Scotland and pursue planning applications for the development of wind farms. 10 sites were originally identified and 8 are being pursued, alongside a US utility company. In April 2008 we achieved our first planning permission at the North Rhins site in Scotland, where permission was given for 11 2MW turbines to be errected. For information on the sites which have recently obtained planning please go to the British Wind Energy Association.

Triodos Bank:

Triodos is a Dutch bank whose mission is to help create a society that promotes people’s quality of life and that has human dignity at its core and to enable individuals, institutions and businesses to use money more consciously in ways that benefit people and the environment, and promote sustainable development.

In 2007 Triodos for the first time made available shares to investors. This enabled many of our ethical investors to achieve a consistent dividend income stream and support a bank which goes out of its way to lend to environmental and social businesses.

Quadris:

This is a forestry investment with particular social and environmental benefits. Deforestation and an increasing global population has made forestry an attractive longer term proposition. Demand for wood is predicted to significantly outstrip supply making wood an increasingly valuable commodity and investment.

Quadris invests into a sustainable commercial teak plantation in Mato Grosso, Brazil managed by Floresteca Agroflorestal Ltda. In the past this area of Brazil had been de-forested to provide grazing for livestock, creating huge areas of wasteland and large unemployment. Floresteca now employs 1,200 local workers, with wages on average 30% higher than other local agricultural jobs, working in a sustainable forest covering 23,500 hectares of land.