Older people turn to green investments
Investing in wind turbines popular with older people.
Investing in renewable energy projects is proving surprisingly popular with older people.
That’s according to Trillion Fund, which analysed the profiles of hundreds of people that have participated in loans to wind projects via the site, and found that around a third are aged over 61.
What’s more, these older lenders are putting the most money into these projects too. Just under half of the money which has been lent in peer-to-peer loans to the E2 and E5 wind turbine projects have come from this age group.
The average investment among the over 61s is a whopping £7,017, compared to £2,625 from younger investors.
Where does the money go?
The latest wind turbine investment via Trillion Fund, a Financial Conduct Authority-regulated crowdfunding site, is the E5 project, which is looking to raise a minimum of £1.25 million to finance at least ten turbines on farms across the UK. These turbines will generate enough clean energy to power more than 500 average homes.
In return you’ll get a return of 7% per annum over a three-year term.
Here’s what you should get back after three years, based on a number of different investment levels.
|
Investment |
What you’ll get back |
|
£50 |
£60.50 |
|
£500 |
£605 |
|
£1,000 |
£1,210 |
|
£2,500 |
£3,025 |
|
£5,000 |
£6,050 |
You’ll get your first interest payment on 31st October 2015, then every six months you’ll get your next payment.
With a few weeks left before the investment deadline, so far more than £1 million has been invested into the project from 268 different lenders. You can put in as little as £50.
If you are interested in investing, or have any questions about the project, Trillion Fund's CEO Julia Groves will be hosting an investors' call on 21st April.
The appeal of green crowdfunding investments
So why are these investments proving so popular with older people?
I think there are a number of simple reasons. Firstly, the rates on offer are far superior to anything you can get from a fixed rate savings account.
The 7% you can get with the E5 project is absolutely miles ahead of the return you can expect from more traditional homes for your savings cash. For example, even the NS&I 65+ Guaranteed Growth Bond (also known as ‘pensioner bonds’) only pays 4%, while AgriBank is paying 2.70%. And saving with Agribank means you'll have to accept a smaller safety net for your cash in the form of the Malta Depositor Compensation Scheme, rather than the UK equivalent.
That takes us to the next point: the safety of your money. If you want to get a better return on your money, you have to take a little risk, but as far as gambles go investing in projects like E5 are pretty palatable. For example the E5 loan is ‘asset backed’, with your money secured against wind turbines that are already up and running, and generating income. The sums are all based on very modest weather predictions too, so this isn’t some pie in the sky guesswork.
It is still a risk though, with the potential for you to lose all of your money, so these projects should only be a part of your investing strategy, not all of it.
Finally, there’s the fact that you know your money is going towards a worthwhile cause. Your money isn’t helping to line the pockets of a hedge fund manager in the city, it’s going towards wind turbines which will help the environment. You get to help the planet and your savings pot, and can cut the banks out in the process.
That’s obviously a pretty strong selling point to many.
More from loveMONEY:
The best fixed rate savings accounts
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