Investment Articles

Capital Alternatives: Climate change investment strategies

Economics of the world are moving towards attaining a low carbon growth which involves reducing carbon productivity and increasing energy efficiency. The phenomenon of weather change is, scientifically, recognized as a threat to the environment, which can be reduced by controlling the emission of greenhouse gases. Today weather change is not recognized as a social responsibility but as an opportunity which can provide continued returns over the years, and institutional investors are eyeing the global climate play for diversification and secure returns. Clean energy investments rose by 5% from 2010 to 2011, and institutional investors believe weather change investments provide returns of more than 10%.

The increasing level of Greenhouse gases

The concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increased after the Industrial Revolution significantly due to increased burning of fossil fuels and urbanization, which led to the process of deforestation and changed the concentration of major greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide increased from 280 parts per million to 391 parts per million (Mauna Loa Observatory) in 2011 and it can reach the dangerous level of 500 ppm, if its emission is not reduced. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization predicted rise in food prices in the year 2012 and one of the causes for rising food prices is poor agricultural production in some parts of world due to change in global climate.

Why to invest in climate change?

Global investors are watching the carbon credit market and examining its capabilities. In a UN meeting in New York, institutional investors claimed it was a profitable area to invest. Some of the main reasons for investing in weather change are -

The value of energy efficiency market will rise to more than $500 billion by 2050 (Stern) and the demand for projects into GHG emission credits will rise to $100 billion by 2030 (UN).
More and more governments and regulators are supporting investment opportunities in weather change.
Diversified strategy of investment in environment offers secure returns.

Factors determining returns in climate change strategies

The returns in climate change strategies are determined by

Changes in policy and regulation
Forecasting and change in prices of carbon
Climate changes
Corporate responsibility
The government policies (Climate change policies are imposed either through the taxation system or the cap-and-trade regulatory system. Certain regulatory organizations provide incentives and subsidies for investment in green policies)

Why investors should invest in weather change?

Global organizations such as United Nations, regional organizations and global groups are demanding weather change initiatives.
State governments across the world are making policies to prevent weather change.
Institutional investors are interested in combining a variety of portfolios to their profile for diversification benefits.
Global and local governments are supporting investment into forestry and agriculture.

Two natural and easy ways of reducing carbon emissions

Land management (rice cultivation and planting trees) and forestry are two natural ways to reduce carbon emissions.

Forestry projects reduce the rate of destruction of natural forests and also prevent the loss of biodiversity. Primary untouched forests contain 2 times the carbon produced by secondary forests. The main challenge of forestry management – forest area density varies and it is exposed to danger of fire and destruction.

Planting trees is another way of reducing degradation of forested land and it includes either permanent managed forests or plantation for carbon exclusion. Forestation is eligible for generating project based Clean Development Mechanism credits and it requires land for forestation, and if forests are grown on land it may take 15 to 50 years to grow depending in on the soil and tree’s varieties.

Capital Alternatives options in Land management and Forestry

Capital Alternatives provides investment opportunities in weather change in forestry and land management projects located at different geographical regions of the world. Forestry projects are offered at Amazon Rainforest and Gola forests of Sierra Leone, and Land management projects are provided in Sierra Leone (rice cultivation) and Australia.

To know more about the investment opportunities, please contact – info@capitalalternatives.co.uk

This article has been written under the guidance of expertise that has the vast knowledge in alternative investment

There is a difference between being afraid to invest and be cautious. When you are considering whether or not to buy stocks, invest in ETFs or purchase mutual funds for your financial future being afraid to act does nothing but insure that you will not be successful.

Being cautious with your investments is totally different from being afraid. Caution should be part of every investment decision. But there are precise ways to exercise caution so you can be successful with your investments and grow your money.

Growing your money is what investing in the stock market is all about. If you grow your money you accomplish many key factors including:

• Less stress because your portfolio or checkboo9k is expanding
• Comfort in knowing you will have enough money to live in retirement
• Comfort in knowing you have a financial cushion if it is ever needed.
• Knowledge you can dream about big purchases or trips and they can become a reality.

So how do you invest cautiously yet with confidence and knowledge that your money will grow? A few simple premises:

• Pick a proven method of analysis to guide you in your evaluations.
• Pick a software program that enables you to invest to meet your objectives.
• Pick a software program where help from a real human being is just a quick phone call or email away.
• Back test your investment strategies or ideas to make sure they are most likely to see going down the road.
• Pick a software program that makes reading charts clear and easy.
• Pick a software program that goes beyond charts and evaluates your stocks, mutual funds or ETFs on other factors, especially in comparison to the general market and other stocks, ETFs or funds.
• Use a software program that tells you when to get out of the market and preserve your money.

If you follow these principles the fear of investing, the fear of losing, will be diminished. Will it go away completely? No. We are all human and all afraid of losing but if you invest with caution and base your decisions on solid recommendations your likelihood for success jumps dramatically.

Will you ever lose in the stock market? Yes. Not every decision, even with the best of analysis is going to turn out right. But remember that a successful baseball play is one who bats over 300 which means he gets a hit one out of three times. A successful quarterback never throws each pass for completion, just the majority. On the other hand if you can score a gain on 60% or 80% of your investments while keeping those losing choices to a bare minimum your portfolio, your checkbook is going to see substantial growth.

You can see substantial investment success if you follow these key principles.

Author Raymond Dominick is the designer of Dynamic Investor Pro investment software for stocks, ETFs and mutual funds. He has been investing in the markets since his teenage years. An experienced business manager and journalist, he has been a registered investment advisor representative, also a professional photographer who loves escaping to the wonders of Glacier National Park in Montana.

View his software at: http://www.dynamicinvestorpro.com

When it comes to making long range investment goals for your future many first time investors want to jump in head first without having any prior knowledge of what they are doing. Eventually and unfortunately many of these investors never become successful investors and usually just give up. Investing in itself does require some level of skill and it takes time coupled with your ability to learn.

It is important to understand and remember that every investment that you make is not a sure thing in itself. There is always a the risk of losing money. However, your risk can be minimize if you take the time to learn and know when to take a loss and run! Before you dive in head first it is imperative to not only find out more how the investment game works, but to determine what your investment goals are.

The questions that you should ask yourself before taking the plunge are, what are the reasons that you are investing. Are you investing for long term or short term reasons? What are you trying to achieve with your investments? Are you investing for your children college education? Your retirement? A vacation? Buying your first home, etc? Before you part with a single red penny, think about these questions and write down what you hope to achieve by investing. Knowing what your long and short range goals are will help you make smarter and wiser investment decisions for you and your family.

All too often people invest their money with pipe dreams of becoming an overnight millionaire. I have been there too! I am quite sure that it has happen for a few people, but overall those types of opportunities are rare indeed. It is not a very good idea to start your investment portfolio with unrealistic dreams and goals of becoming rich overnight. It is always best to invest your hard earned money in such a way that it will increase slowly and safely over time where it can therefore be used for a child’s education or your retirement, etc.

Another strongly advised decision would be to talk with a financial planner before you make an investment. A financial planner can guide you in the right direction and help you determine the type of investments that you are looking for that will help you reach your financial goals that you have set. He/She can give you a realistic overview of the type of returns that you can expect and how long it will take to reach your specified goals.

Again, remember that investing for your future will take time and effort and your willingness to learn. Never entrust your financial and investment future to someone else. You must also do your due diligence and learn investment strategies for yourself as well. It will take your delving into and doing your research and acquiring knowledge about the stock market and other types of investments if you hope for your investments to be successfully.

M. Cunningham Is the owner and webmaster of Investment Top Tips. You will find lots of information and investment advice and tips plus loads of FREE products.

Click here to learn more about the basics of investing at…. http://www.investmenttoptips.com

Probably the second most common New Year’s resolution is to do better with finances (the top one is to lose weight). If one is looking to lose weight, obviously it is better to get advice from that friend who lost 50 pounds and kept it off than to ask the one who is overweight and keeps going on yo-yo diets. With making and keeping money, the people to follow are the wealthy who hold onto money – not the friend with the fancy car who is up to debt to his eyeballs. Unfortunately few of us know many wealthy people since the average person is deep in debt.

Luckily, in his book “The Millionaire Next Door,” Mr. Stanley has given us some tips drawn from actual millionaires. These are people who became wealthy and stayed that way. If your resolution is to do better with money, here are some tips from them:

1. Control your money. This means having a budget which says what you will do with every dollar you get for the month. This should include all of your expenses, money directed into savings/investing, and some money to be spent as desired (you need to have some freedom). If needed, use a system of envelopes and cash with labels like “groceries,” “clothes,” etc… to make sure you stick to your budget for each area. While it may seem restrictive, you’ll generally find that you have more money than you thought if you stop blowing money on unplanned purchases throughout the month.

2. Get rid of payments. Rich people don’t buy things on payments. If you are paying interest you are paying more for things than they cost and you will never have nay money to save and invest. Rich people save up and pay cash.

3. Build your pipelines. Rich people buy assets – things that grow in value and pay them money. Things like stocks, bonds, and real estate. This means that every month you’ll have more money coming in than simply what you earn from working. Use some of the money you get from these assets to buy more assets, and you’ll be putting your wealth growth on turbocharging!

4. Only buy what you need. Rich people don’t buy lavish houses, relative to their net worth. While Bill Gates has a multi-million dollar house, his net worth is also many billions. People with 1-10 million dollars don’t have McMansions in general. They have solid, well-built houses in established neighborhoods. They know that too much space means more maintenance and cost.

5. Spend your time at your profession or with your family. Rich people don’t fix the car or mow the lawn unless they enjoy doing it or it is the only way to get the job done right. Rich people would rather spend the hours they would be doing such tasks making more money at their profession and hire professionals with the right tools for such jobs. Spending extra hours at work can also help you get ahead – spending all day fixing a water heater will not.

6. Find ways to make money that can multiply your time. If you rake leaves in yards for $50 per yard, you can only make about $200 per day since you can only rake so many yards. If you hire people to rake leaves, pay them $40 per yard and keep $10, you can make as much money as there are yards to rake. The easiest way to become wealthy is to do something that can multiply your time. Write a book. Start a business with employees. Invent something.

Everyone can become wealth. Make it your New Year’s resolution to start on your way.

To learn more about stock investing, stock picking, and growing wealth, please visit the Small Investor: http://smallivy.wordpress.com. Find hundreds of articles on investment strategies, tips, and tactics for investing and growing wealth.

Around 225,000 people are added to the global population every single day, all of whom require food and fuel. At the same time, incomes in developing economies are rising, causing a shift toward a more expensive and more resource intensive westernised diet based on meat. Considering that 1kg of meat requires the input of 7kg of grain as animal feed, this combination of more people and higher consumption per capita adds tremendous strain to already stretched agricultural productivity.

The amount of farmland on the planet is actually falling. Urbanisation, soil degradation, water scarcity and climate change all converge to reduce the stock of land suitable for growing the essential crops we need.

In light of this on-going and increasing disparity between supplies of farmland and demand for agricultural commodities, investors are turning to farmland in order to capture financial gains as food prices rise and productive land becomes intrinsically more valuable.

There are a range of farmland investment strategies to consider, from simple acquisition of land and leasing to farmer, through to sharing crop revenues in a joint venture under a contract framing agreement. But certainly the most profitable agriculture investment strategy is greenfield development; the acquisition of land with agricultural potential and converting into productive agricultural assets through the establishment of infrastructure such as irrigation, storage facilities and road, as well as amending the soil profile to ensure maximum productivity.

Greenfield farmland developments add substantial capital value to previously unused land, as well as positively impacting the current black hole in agricultural productivity that leave over 1 billion people hungry around the world each year. Investors also benefit from on-going income from crop revenues as newly converted land produce an annual yield from the production of crops.

The majority of future growth is widely expected to come from developing regions including Asia, Africa and Latin America, where economic growth outpaces that of the west by a huge margin. It is these key growth regions that the appetite for agricultural commodities will grow the most. In fact, in Germany the population is expected to get smaller in the next 40 years, whilst in China the population is expected to expand by some 30% in the same period.

It is fair to say then that agriculture investments based on the development of suitable land, in close proximity to key growth regions in Asia, Africa and Latin America offer investors the best opportunity to capture not only short term appreciation through development, but also long-term growth and income driven by population growth and rising incomes.

David Garner is Partner at boutique alternative investments boutique DGC Asset Management Limited.

What are the best Australian investments in 2011 and for the coming years? This article describes five of the best investments in Australian based on data and information provided by several of the leading advisers and institutions in Australia. While views and opinions may differ on the viability of these investments it is felt that these segments offer he best potential for a return on investment in both the short term as well into the foreseeable future. It should be noted that the information presented here is offered as opinion only and should not be considered as professional investment advice. For professional advice seek the services of a registered and licensed Australian financial adviser.

Property and Real Estate:
Property in both residential and commercial varieties remains a stable investment. Australian has seen significant growth in property values over the last ten years and this trend is set to continue into the future. In the second quarter of 2011 the Australian real estate market saw a 1.3$ increase in property values. The majority of experts in this are agree that a real estate bubble is not likely to occur making this a solid investment both today and into the coming years.

The Share Market:
The Australian Share market while affected by the global economy has not seen the major fluctuations experienced by overseas markets. Some of the hot share markets and segments to consider and those which are expected to increase in value over time are:

Energy

Financials

Health Care

Industrials

Materials

Telecommunication Services

Utilities

Managed Investment Funds:
Managed investment funds allow investors access to a professionally managed portfolio investments through a single security or contract. With managed investments an investor owns a percentage of the overall investment portfolio in consideration of the size of the investment and are therefore entitles to profit and dividend of the portfolio as well being subject to loss in circumstance where the portfolio values declines. As an investor it is important to compare the financials managed funds in order to determine their viability. Consult with a financial advisor to discuss various funds and management opportunities available to you.

While there are many more investment strategies to consider in Australia the three outlined here may be your best bet for the remainder of the year as well as into 2012. Remember to develop a reliable resource of research data and information to help make your investment decision informed ones.

Investing doesn’t need to be difficult. To quickly learn more about investing in Australia including shares and property investing visit http://investingaustralia.com.au

You work hard for your money, and you want your money to work hard for you. We all need savings and investments to retire comfortably or to fall back on should unexpected circumstances arise. To that end, common investment vehicles include the stock market, mutual funds and retirement/superannuation accounts. But whichever investment vehicle you opt to employ, it pays to ensure that you are familiar with the mistakes commonly made by new investors.

1) Not having an adequate plan. The saying goes that failing to plan is planning to fail, and in the case of your investments, you not only need a solid strategy as to how to invest your funds, but you need to have realistically mapped out the regular contributions you will be able to put into your investments. If your investments are not tailored to suit your age and situation and managed according to current market conditions, then you basically have a glorified savings account.

2) Placing all of your eggs in one basket. This is not only a risky strategy, but one which is certain to limit your money’s growth potential over time. The reason you need to have a good combination of stocks, bonds and other investment options is that different investment vehicles will perform differently, depending on the economic conditions at the time. A diverse investment portfolio has a greater potential to endure an unpredictable economic climate.

3) Too much emphasis on high-risk investments. The age-old concept of the “get rich quick” scheme is a common pitfall that many people are aware of, yet continues to burn investors. A new investor must keep in mind at all times that their investments are a long-term strategy, and as such, a potentially high short-term gain is simply not worth pursuing when it is weighed up against the risk of losing your hard-earned money.

4) Overly conservative investing. Although this is of far lesser concern and it may even seem counter-intuitive at first, it is worth keeping in mind that a lack of market knowledge could lead an individual to be too conservative in their investments. This can ultimately result in a lack of sufficient returns to meet the investment goal.

5) Investing with debt. Of fundamental importance when you are laying out your overall investment plan is to make an honest assessment of what you can afford to set aside for investment contributions. Put simply, your money must be free to invest. If you have already racked up credit card debts for example, and you are being charged upwards of 19% interest on this debt, then your first priority should be to pay off that debt. As your investments are unlikely to pay you a return anywhere near the interest on your debt, the elimination of debt ought to be the higher priority.

6) Paying astronomical commission fees. Just as you would with any other product or service, you should take the time to shop around and compare prices before you invest, once you have decided upon a course of action. It pays to take into account an investment professional’s background and level of industry experience.

7) Failing to seek the advice of a professional. Mastering finance and investment requires many years of industry experience and expert knowledge. In the same way that you would trust your health & wellbeing to a medical professional, so to you should consult an investment professional when you are planning for your future and financial well-being. As much as it can be useful to conduct your own research to gain a broad understanding of investment strategies, a qualified financial professional will take your own particular circumstances into account when making recommendations.

Provided that your investment strategy reflects a long-term focus, has enough inbuilt diversity to withstand market volatility and is managed with the aid of experienced and professional advice, you should reap the benefits of a robust investment portfolio that will yield excellent returns on your hard-earned income.

This article was written by James T. Hannagan for Australian-Dollars.com, a site that follows and investigates the Australian Dollar against the world currency market, with a view to investment in this heavily resource-backed currency amidst global economic uncertainty.

First of all, choosing an investment strategy is a lot like finding your dream job. If you don’t like what you are doing, you will hate it and try to do the minimum possible just to get by. This will result in you not getting the best out of the experience and being very very miserable. On the flip side if you enjoy what you are doing you will constantly try to find new ways to do a better job. Investing is A LOT like this. So, here we go!!

Step 1 – Identify your strengths and weaknesses

The first thing you want to do is identify your strengths and weaknesses. Think about all the activities you have ever done. Try to remember examples where the work seemed fun and easy. Try to think of examples where people constantly complimented you on how good you were at doing this task or job. Doing this exercise (identifying the EASY WORK) will help you to figure out your strengths. Make a list of the examples.

Another method would be to take a personality test. Personality tests are great at helping you to identify what your strengths are and what your weaknesses are. I have taken several personality tests and Meyers Briggs is a very popular test. You should be able to find personality tests online or at your local career center. Taking a personality test is as easy as taking a survey. Make a list of your strengths and weaknesses.

Step 2 – How much money do you want to make and how much do you have to spend to get started.

There are some investing strategies that require absolutely no money (buying real estate, article writing, affiliate marketing, mystery shopper, online surveys) to get started. On the flip side, there are strategies (stock market investing, tax lien investing, buying a business) that are impossible without some startup capital. Decide whether or not you want to spend money to get started or if you want to do as much as possible without spending your own money. Contrary to popular belief YOU DO NOT NEED MONEY TO MAKE MONEY!

Step 3 – Think about how much involvement you want to have with your strategy (active or passive)

Passive (residual) income strategies require very little involvement to keep them going once they are setup, hence the term “passive” income. On the other hand there are investing strategies that WILL require your constant involvement in order to be successful. A perfect example of an active strategy would be buying a stock option. Stock options lose value over time, so with this strategy time is working against you. The passive strategy to options investing would be if you were to “sell” stock options. With this strategy, time is in your favor and once you sell the option you usually don’t have to do anything.

Step 4 – Do a search on different types of investing strategies and make a list

Run a google search on “investment strategies” and you will get millions of results. The goal here is to get a sizable list of the different different investment strategies that are available to you. Write down as many strategies as you can find, have fun in this step. Think of if as a scavenger hunt to find investment strategies. They’re out there, just waiting to be discovered by you!

Step 5 – Do Further Research on Each Strategy in your list

Once you have your list of different strategies, you will want to do some further research on each one. Some will be strategies you may have already heard about and some won’t. Either way do some research into these strategies. You will want to find out how these strategies line up with the requirements from steps 1- 3 above. Basically you should have a checklist that factors in your your personality and interests so that you can screen the strategies. Use that checklist to eliminate the strategies that don’t match up.

Step 6 – Narrow your list down to five strategies, screen again then pick the top one

Once you have used the checklist to narrow down your list of investment strategies, get even more information and go through the list again. Identify the pros and cons (good and bad) of each strategy and then use that to pick the best strategy. Choose the investment strategy that most closely matches up with your personality and requirements from steps 1 -3.

Step 7 – Get Started!!

Once you have your strategy in hand, the only thing left to it, is to do it. Get started and start making money now.

Note: I followed a similar process to determine that options investing was the right strategy for my personality type. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me by leaving a comment.

Dale K Poyser has been investing for 11 years and has done meticulous research on various strategies that can add residual streams of income to your life.

Not only does Dale personally practice the methods he writes about, he has also coached many others in these methods to show how easy it is to make money with residual streams of income. You can read more about Dale’s options trading strategies at http://creatingresidualincomestreams.blogspot.com/

The “socially responsible” and green investment market has been growing exponentially over the last few years, making up over 11% of all assets under professional management. This should not come as a surprise, considering that more and more top CEOs and institutional investors are adopting a decision-making paradigm that requires social and environmental impacts to be carefully considered before money is lent or invested.

Yet despite all of this growth, research shows that this market is far smaller than it would be if investors were more fully informed about how competitive the returns could be. Luckily, this inefficiency has and could pay off for those investors who have stayed ahead of the investment curve. As we learnt with the internet boom of the 90s, it is generally the early stage and informed investor who ultimately succeeds.

The challenge of green investing is twofold: To increase personal wealth while avoiding harm to people and the environment. This can be a daunting task, but new breed of investment consultancy companies specialising in green investment projects in rapidly growing, emerging markets, aim to provide unique green investment opportunities that will maximise the profit for investors, as they at the same time work towards a healthier planet.

These companies specialise in consulting on green investments, with the conviction that they are destined to make a higher, longer and more sustainable return on investment than traditional stocks and bonds.

Together, socially responsible and Green investing should aim to help make the planet a better place. As we collectively strive towards this goal, one thing is undeniable: Enormous profits are at stake as the World goes Green. Perhaps, the time has come where we are now witnessing the next social and technological revolution that will change the course of history.

The timing could not be more perfect for new investors. It should be possible to generate solid returns, capital wealth and environmental protection at the same time. Sustainable investment is the only investment that has a future, and investment strategies concentrating on this theme will also help to restore and maintain the health of our forests, fields and seas.

The main aim for Green Investors is to find new, ecologically responsible and profitable solutions to global environment dilemmas. Investment consultants have to understand that the only viable way to attract adequate investment capital to restore and maintain global health is to ensure that green investing is more attractive than the alternatives.

GlobalGreenCapacity Ltd. acts as consultant on green and socially responsible investments to the private and institutional investor community in Europe Our goal is to provide consultancy to managers of unique, green investment opportunities that will maximise the profit for investors, as they at the same time work towards a healthier planet.

It is essential to find a lucrative investment strategy if you are ever going to make a decent return. So many people make the mistake of going into investments blindly, and then pay the price. First decide what kind of a return you want to make, what constitutes a lucrative strategy to one person, may be a low turnover to someone else. The appropriate strategy will be one that you are comfortable with.

Choosing how you will invest your money is very much down to how much risk you want to take. If the risk is too low, then you won’t make a high yield on your investment, if it is too high then you have crossed the line from taking a calculated risk, into gambling. You should have researched your strategies and have a good understanding of the market. Being prepared when going into a lucrative investment strategy may mean the difference between making a fortune and losing it all.

Is Buying Long a Lucrative Strategy?

By buying stock long you are essentially choosing an option that offers minimal risk. Unfortunately you are not going to make a huge amount of money using this strategy. However a passive technique called the “buy and hold” is a lucrative investment strategy in some respects. This means buying stock and holding onto it, even if the market takes a dive. Long-term investments, such as these, are taxed lower than short-term investments. This type of investment is only suitable for those who are prepared for the long haul.

Buying short is the way to make fast investment returns. They carry bigger risks, but also massive rewards! It is essential in this game that you invest the money yourself, and don’t pass it on to some fund manager. This way you will learn about stocks fast. One of the main pitfalls is by getting over excited and trying to make too much money in a short space of time. If you have initial success, do not run away with yourself by increasing your risk threshold. You should stick to the same strategy, especially if it works.

Setting Triggers Is The Key To Success

This is an excellent investment technique and lucrative investment strategy. Set triggers for yourself. An example of a trigger is a fall in stock prices. This is a strategy that can pay dividends if you set yourself strict rules and guidelines to stick to.

Understanding lucrative investment strategies can be a complicated business, and it is paramount that you understand them fully before making an investment. Only professionals really understand the process, and it is definitely a good idea to take advice off somebody who knows what they are talking about. Guidance doesn’t mean they should be making the decisions; so always speak your mind about what it is you want. In time you will be the one dishing out the advice!

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