Anyone know about Silva Tree investments? intially looks too good to be true: 13% p.a

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aristotle

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I came across an ad for Silva Tree invesments which intially looks too good to be true (13% p.a. returns etc).

Details are here... http://www.silvatree.com/timber-investment.html

I would assume that if something seems too good to be true then there probably is a catch? Could someone with a better eye for evaluating investments give it a look over?

Thanks
 
The disclaimer at the bottom of the page would be enough for me.

It's not an Irish company.
It's not even a UK company.

Silva Tree is the business name of Silva Tree Panama Sociedad Anónima, constituted in the Republic of Panama under Card 662964 Document 1583442, in the Mercantile Section of the Public Registry of Panama. Silva Tree is not regulated by the UK Financial Services Authority and is not authorised to give investment or tax advice to the public. Please read our legal disclaimer.
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A certainty to be filed under 'S', and that is not for Silva.
 
I saw the ad for it in Business & Finance magazine where it also has published a one page "commercial profile" of Silva Tree.

It says the returns are gauranteed via an insurance policy (i.e. if the current buyer of the trees decides to pull out of the deal when the trees mature in 5 years time) and that all monies are handled via a London based third party so that even if Silva Tree goes bust the investment is not affected.

Having said all this, a Google search comes up with some interesting stuff.
 
Do you not remember the "guaranteed" rental income on French leaseback properties a few years back? Where are those guarantees now?
 
Check out who has the contract to maintain the forests? If it happens to be another business operated by the investment promoters, you know where your money is going to go.
 
Do your homework

Just ask your IFA to do some due dilligence on this investment. I also saw them in the magazine and asked my IFA to find out if it's legit. From what I can see, they do have a UK company, they use a 3rd party for the management and they check out with everyone, including some big UK & Ireland pensions companies. There's also a trustee involved and they check out too. Looks good to me.
 
Cynic said:
Just ask your IFA to do some due dilligence on this investment. I also saw them in the magazine and asked my IFA to find out if it's legit. From what I can see, they do have a UK company, they use a 3rd party for the management and they check out with everyone, including some big UK & Ireland pensions companies. There's also a trustee involved and they check out too. Looks good to me.
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Cynic, is there any reason you registered an account on AAM to post this?
 
there are solid forestry ( teak plantations) investment funds in panama...see www.greenbelt.ie supported/promoted by other irish brokers.
Perhaps there is a parallel or a linkage between silvatree and these
 
My remarks were in direct response to the comments made, not vague in my opinion. I think I had better keep my views to myself if this is the reception they receive, as I said I was just trying ot help. Aristotle, good luck. I invested in this product, I'll let you know how it goes.
 
Silva Tree

Data Protection legislation would prevent you from posting a list of your clients in Ireland. But it would not prevent you from posting a list of your agents or distributors. Please provide this list or a sample from it.

The investment has been signed off by an FSA regulated UK Trustee and given subsequent SIPP approval by many providers there.
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This could be misinterpreted by readers that the FSA has in some way "approved" your product. I presume that it has not?

Anyone who invests in your product has no protection in Ireland.

Please also explain who provides the "guarantee" of the return. Or is that also covered by the Data Protection Act?
 
For anyone interested in timber investments, Phaunos Timber Fund plc(ticker code: PTF-L) is a UK-listed investment company with a spread of timberland assets across the globe including good presence in emerging markets. The latest net asset value of the fund is $1.07 and the shares trade near $0.7.

You can read about the company by googling their website etc. You buy into and sell out of an investment company as you would CRH or any conventional company through your stockbroking account.
 
We don't allow discussion of individual shares on askaboutmoney, but as this particular post shows people how to invest in a commodity through a share, we will leave the post stand. But please don't discuss the valuation of the share itself.

Brendan
 
Brendan Burgess said:
We don't allow discussion of individual shares on askaboutmoney, but as this particular post shows people how to invest in a commodity through a share, we will leave the post stand. But please don't discuss the valuation of the share itself.

Brendan
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Comment above on Phaunos Timber amended somewhat Brendan to respect your rules, which make sense.
 
Silva Tree, who provides the gaurantee on the return and what terms and conditions are attached to that?
 
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