• About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
FREE REPORT
BEST PLACES TO RETIRE
*No spam: We will NEVER give your email address to anyone else.
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Portugal
      • Panama
      • Belize
      • France
      • Colombia
      • Dominican Republic
      • Thailand
      • Mexico
      • Spain
      • Argentina
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
Live and Invest Overseas
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Portugal
      • Panama
      • Belize
      • France
      • Colombia
      • Dominican Republic
      • Thailand
      • Mexico
      • Spain
      • Argentina
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
No Result
View All Result

Investing In Timber

Live And Invest Overseas by Live And Invest Overseas
Jun 25, 2010
in Investing, Panama
0
A Teak Forest In Panama | Specific Countries Residency In Panama
208
SHARES
3k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The Best Risk/Reward Ratio Of Any Investment Sector (Or How To Turn US$1 Into US$13)

My beat is real estate, but timber qualifies in my view…assuming you’re investing in land planted with trees rather than in shares of some timber company.

Historically, timber has enjoyed the best risk/reward ratio of any investment sector. Depending on whose chart of historical returns you consult, timber as an asset category has produced an annualized ROI in the 12% to 15% range every year since they started keeping records on investment risk versus return.

On top of this, timber is the kind of investment I like. It’s real and productive. This is more important right now than it’s ever been. If you don’t have some of your money in this kind of real, productive asset, you should.

I was reminded of these facts when a couple of new timber opportunities crossed my desk this week. I’m reviewing these now and will have a report for my Marketwatch members shortly.

Meantime, here’s how a direct timber investment should work.

You buy the land. A management company plants trees on it and maintains them for you. They take care of everything–from insect and weed control to thinnings–until harvest time. Come harvest time, the management company organizes the cutting and the sale of the trees. The revenue from the harvest goes to you, as the owner.

Here’s the best part: You still own the land, meaning you can replant and start the process over for another harvest.

I’m over-simplifying things, of course, but the point is that you want to be buying the land.

I’ve seen offers where you buy only the trees and the management company owns the land. Once you harvest the trees, your investment is done…closed out.

And I’ve seen many offers where you buy shares of the operating company that owns and manages the land and the timber. I find this option much less appealing, because you’re not buying a real productive asset; you’re buying a company. You have no control over the land, the timber, or how the business is operated. The only thing you control is the timing for when you sell your shares.

On the other hand, you probably don’t want to learn how to grow and manage a forest. That’s why I recommend direct ownership of the assets–land and trees–with a management company in place to take care of everything for you.

As I said, I’m reviewing two new opportunities for myMarketwatch members, but one opportunity that I’ve long recommended is teak farms in Panama. A friend, Robert Kroesen, whom I met years ago during my first few scouting trips to this country, has a reforestation company that today owns and manages more than 3,000 hectares of teak plantations (and that is aggressively working to acquire more land).

With Robert’s help over the past seven or eight years, I’ve learned a little about this business and have come to appreciate the opportunity tremendously.

Robert’s company, United Nature, was founded in 1993, meaning he is now getting into full harvest for some of his early plantations. Growth rates have been good in the region of Panama where United Nature has cultivated its plantations, and Robert is positioned now to achieve an excellent return on his initial investment.

Robert started United Nature with a single partner as a personal investment undertaking. About 10 years ago, six or seven years after he’d been planting for his own portfolio, Robert began putting together packages for other investors. This had never been his intention, but, when people saw what he was doing and that he had the infrastructure in place to manage the plantations, they came to him asking to invest.

Rather than sell those people shares in his company, as other plantation operations in Panama were doing, Robert segregated out specific parcels of land for people to own directly. He continued to manage the plantings, the maintenance, and the harvesting, but each investor was given the opportunity to own his own piece of land and the trees planted on it outright.

Each investor with United Nature decides himself when to take the final harvest (though I’d say the sensible thing would be to take Robert’s team’s advice on this). And each investor can sell his land and/or his trees whenever he wants.

There is an active and expanding market of investors looking to buy older plantations. As other investment types become increasingly volatile and uncertain, more and more investors are looking to things like timber for long-term safety. However, many don’t want to have to wait the full 17 to 25 years from initial planting to harvest. They’re willing to pay a premium to accelerate the exit and the payout.

Robert’s projected annualized ROIs are in the low teens.

This modest statement, though, doesn’t do justice to the real opportunity here. Because this is such a long-term proposition, the total return come harvest time can be extraordinary. US$1 can turn into US$13.

Yes, I’m invested with Robert.

Lief Simon

Comments

Tags: best investmentsinvesting in timber stocksinvestment opportunityland buyerstimber investment management
Share83Tweet52
Previous Post

Real Estate On The Copper Coast

Next Post

Travel Belize

Live And Invest Overseas

Live And Invest Overseas

Live and Invest Overseas is the world's savviest source for top opportunities to live better, retire in style, invest for profit, do business, and own real estate overseas. Established in 2008, the Live and Invest Overseas' editors and correspondents have more experience researching and reporting on top opportunities for living well, investing for profit, doing business, and owning real estate around the world than anyone else you'll find.

Related Posts

White sand beach and beautiful palm tree in La Miel, Panama.
Panama

Is Retiring In Panama Still A Good Choice? If So, Where?

by Kathleen Peddicord
January 20, 2021
0

Last week, Lief Simon and our entire Panama-based Live and Invest Overseas team showed the hundreds in attendance at our Live...

Read more
Panama City Skyline from Cinta Costera Park, Panama City, Panama.

How Panama Became A Great Economic Success Story

January 19, 2021
The colorful urban skyline of Panama City, Panama.

The Current Events In Panama–How The Little Isthmus Shines

January 8, 2021
Keel-billed Toucan, shot in Panama.

The 10 Best Places To Discover Wildlife In Panama

January 7, 2021
Avenida Balboa at Dusk in Panama City, Panama.

The Panama Golden Visa: Residency And A Second Home For The Price Of One

January 6, 2021
Panama City Skyline and Cinta Costera Park, Panama City

Is Panama A Third-World Country? Finding The Truth About Panama

January 5, 2021
Santa Catalina, Veraguas, Panama.

Starting A School In Panama Near Los Islotes

January 3, 2021
Next Post
Travel In Belize

Travel Belize

A world full of fun, adventure, and profit awaits! Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we'll send you a FREE report on the 10 Best Places To Retire In Style Overseas Today.

Start Your New Life Today, Overseas

Get Your Free Panama Report Today!

​​Simply enter your email address below and we'll send you our FREE REPORT - 101 Things You'll Wish Someone Had Told You About Panama.
 

how to retire overseas

LIOS Resources


  • New To LIOS
  • Ask An Expert
  • Media Center
  • Contact Us
  • FAQs

Quick Links


  • Best Places To Live
  • Best Places To Retire
  • Finding A Job Overseas
  • Real Estate

Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and get your FREE report: The 10 Best Places To Retire Overseas In 2021

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe

© 2008-2021 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Countries
  • Budgets
  • Archives
  • News
  • Events
  • Bookstore
  • Newsletters
  • About Us
  • Members Area
  • Contact Us

© 2008-2021 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

WANT TO RETIRE OVERSEAS?

Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we’ll immediately send you a free report on the 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE in style overseas. Each day you’ll learn about the best opportunities for international living, retiring overseas, offshore diversification and asset protection, and investing in real estate around the world.

Get Your Free Panama Report Today!
 

​​Learn more about ​​​PANAMA and other countries in our free, daily Overseas Opportunity Letter​​, as well as our ​In Focus: ​Panama ​newsletter​​​​​​. Simply enter your email address below and we’ll send you our FREE REPORT – ​​​101 Things You'll Wish Someone Had Told You About Panama.
 

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.