Key Post Investment in Irish Forestry Funds

frande, which investment plan are you in? I am giving it till the end of next week before I call to the office! I am on the seventh forestry investment plan. Matured in 2013. I need this money asap. Cant find the terms and conditions or prospectus, any grounds for interest under late payments act?
 

Hi Buddy1977, I am in the 10th
2013 that has been a long wait for you.

Like you I also really need the money now, considering to date, they have never been correct on any of their predictions; rate of return, when we would get our money, I am also concerned that we will not be paid by Christmas
 
From Ms. McCarthy today -

"We are still on track for all cheques to be posted to shareholders prior to Christmas. Unfortunately, I cannot be any more specific with regards to a postal date at this time"

Keep ringing, txting and sending emails folks. only way to get a resolution on this saga.
 


I phoned IFF today. All cheques will be in the post at the very latest next Friday 11th December. I asked why they are not telling us what the return on investment is yet. I was told that all shareholders have to be given the information at the same time hence the reason all cheques are being posted on the same day. At last our long wait is at an end. We just have another 10 days (approx) before the envelope drops through our letter boxes. Hope we are all happy campers at that point. Enjoy spending or clearing debts, whichever applies.
 
I think most of us will just be glad to have the original stake returned! Anything else is a bonus. I think for most the money is so long gone it'll nearly feel like a windfall (obviously that's not the proper way to look at this but you know what I mean).
 
"Anything else is a bonus"

And lets not forget the bonuses/salaries that the people running this fund will be receiving
 
Got my cheque just now for the 11th fund, €15k investment, cheque for €17,543.2 which equates to an APR of 1.58%. Pathetic..But yes I do appreciate getting my money back and within 6 months but that's not how this product was marketed.
 
as you say lukkie a pathetic excuse for a return my investment was due to mature last november so i consider what i received an insult for 11 years investment wondering if we have any recourse to law on this
 
Investment in the 4th fund - €15,000 returned €18,270 - due to mature in May 2012!!
 
Got my cheque today for the 7th and 9th FIP
Invested €7500 in 7FIP returned €9359 after 12 years.....pathetic
Invested €15000 in 9FIP returned €17438 after 11 years...even more pathetic.

This is SO FAR off the 'projected returns of c9% PER ANNUM that it is a farce.
I would NEVER NEVER invest with these guys again

I wonder how much these directors collected in fees attributable to these funds over the last 12 years...a lot more proportionately than I received.
 
jaja95 said:
What you think is irrelevant, shareholders have no say here, we are lucky to get any return back at all, final judgement will be made when cheques arrive, im glad this saga is coming to and end.
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4 cheques for Forestry Investment Plans arrived today as follows:

These were all supposedly 10 year plans.

4th FIP - due June 2012 - matured (4 Dec 2015) - cost €750 - total amount paid €913.74 - profit €163.74 (13yrs 6 months)

5th FIP - due Nov 2012 - matured (4 Dec 2015) - cost €750 - total amount paid €943.72 - profit €193.72 (13 yrs 1 month)

6th FIP - due May 2013 - matured (4 Dec 2015) - cost €750 - total amount paid €898.17 - profit €148.17 (12 yrs 7 months)

11th FIP - due June 2015 - matured (4 Dec 2015) - cost €750 - total amount paid €877.16 - profit €127.17 (10yrs 6 months).

No sign of a cheque for the 10th FIP which was due in November 2014.
 
Hilarious tragic and nothing we can do about it. Someone said the returns would be dismal and he was not wrong.

Well never again, though I still have 4 or 5 shares in the pipeline. God knows what they will return (or when)
 
My cheques arrived this morning

4FIP Investment €3000, cheque €3654
5FIP Investment €3000, cheque €3774
6FIP Investment €1500, cheque €1796
 
8th FIP Investment €7500, cheque €8779 an annual compound rate of return of 1.32% pa since investment in 2003.
Management fees were €579,498 according to accounts between 2005 to 2015. i presume similar management fees were extracted from each fund.
 
I just got a e-mail inviting me to invest in a Swiss forestry investment with the promise "Growth guarantee - trees will always grow"

My mother taught me that money doesn't grow on trees and I know who I believe
 
IFS has published financial statements for the wound-up funds online. I would have thought this would be in the post along with the cheque but maybe it arrived earlier? Don't recall getting the usual hard copy in the post.

I'm looking at the accounts for 6th Forestry Investment Plan. Interesting that the amount usually included in the notes to financial statements for "forest growth" (almost €3 million in the 2013 annual report) seems to have disappeared, beyond the comment on p12 that "forest timber growth is not recognised in the financial statements". I wonder does this mean that the value IFS had attributed to such growth every year was highly dubious? I don't have 2014 statements to hand but in 2013 this "timber growth" contributed almost half of the value of estimated total shareholder assets of 6m+. On windup, total shareholder funds were only €3.6m. Some interesting related party transactions on p19 - it appears that "forestry management" (charged to the plan by IFS) got more expensive during the year, even as shareholders were waiting for their paltry returns. Perhaps there's a good reason for this, perhaps not.
 
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Invested €3000 in the Fifth Forestry Investment Plan in 2002

Projected Return according to the prospectus was 9.6%

After 10 years this would have amounted to €7,503
After 13 years this would have amounted to €9,877

Amount actually received €3,774.88
Or a 1.783 % return
 
I see from the 6th FIP statements that the assets were sold for 3.8 million.

Land costs (2.7 million) and afforestation costs (506k) on the books totalled 3.2m, so they realised a "profit" of around 600k.

You can do the maths yourself. Don't know how land prices have changed since the land was acquired in 2002 (?) but the results have been pretty miserly. Luckily for IFS they have first dibs on the proceeds and were able to charge the usual fees and admin costs to the plan.
 
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