An investment to make you feel good

Saturday 23rd October 2004

Money Managers boss Doug Somers-Edgar's latest investment idea will make you feel good no matter what the returns are.

He is involved in a venture that is growing and planning to export ginseng - a herbal remedy with many positive qualities.

The business has been developing a major ginseng plantation near Rotorua. Currently it has more than 80ha planted under 250km of shade cloth and more than 60 million plants. It aims to be the biggest producer and exporter of the plant in New Zealand.

Somers-Edgar says it is a little bit like the kiwifruit where New Zealand can develop a good growing advantage and export the high value crop.

The idea is to develop a special partnership as an investment where people buy the plants.

"The partnership will buy the plants off Ginseng New Zealand and they will be grown under management contracts." Somers-Edgar says it is the logical structure as investors can claim tax-benefits in the early years.

In many ways it is similar to the structure used in the forestry industry.

Somers-Edgar says like many horticultural investments it is high risk, however the projected returns are high too. He says it is the sort of thing which will appeal to high net worth investors looking for something different and good returns.

The proposed investment won't be sold through the Money Managers network of investment advisory firms.

One of the key players in the venture is former Kiwifruit grower Brian Sage. He came across ginseng when he was hunting for the a new crop which would would be a high producer.

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