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Oxigen Investments plc is one of the most respected UK based companies specialising in ethical and sustainable forestry investments. With 37 per cent of existing clients
reinvesting, Oxigen is the UK’s only sustainable choice when considering investing in tropical forestry. Oxigen’s policy is to use land in an ecologically responsible way through sustainable rotation, which means planting and harvesting tree crops for literally hundreds of years on the same sites. Oxigen in Malaysia have been established since 1985 under the same management as exists today. These plantations have been featured in a definitive book on teak practices in Malaysia.

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"A GREEN ETHICAL INVESTMENT SOLUTION"
HELP SAVE THE WORLD WITH AN ETHICAL INVESTMENT .

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Tropical hardwoods – standing firm in volatile markets

There has never been a better time to invest in timber. The stock markets are down, the currency markets in turmoil … but you can depend on trees. Over recent years timber has proved itself resilient to volatility in other asset classes, delivering illegally logged. More and more countries, most recently the EU, are outlawing the import of unsustainable harvested wood.
Hardwood prices have kept on rising – by around 15 per cent a year between 2002 and 2006. Teak returns during the past 18 years have averaged almost 10 per cent a year.
Oxigen Investments plc uses investors' money to create hardwood plantations in Brazil and Malaysia. For an investment of £10,000 upwards, investors lease their forestry investment plot, receiving 100 per cent of the net profit generated when the timber is harvested and sold on maturity.
The investment is particularly suitable as a long-term investment in Child Trust Funds. However it differs from most other CTF’s where you see nothing over the term of the investment. Oxigen gives investors the opportunity to take dividend payments when it suits them. Timber is also a suitable investment for Self Invested Pension Plans.

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www.oxigenplc.com "the ethical investment"

Timber outperforms the stock market
For many investors, putting money into timber may seem somewhat novel, especially in South-
East Asia. But there is nothing new in trees as a credible asset class. Timber has a long and
profitable history, especially in the United States where trees have consistently produced better
returns than stocks and shares.
But the big point is that trees in the tropics have a growth rate that is eight to ten times
faster than those in cooler climates. Harvesting can take place many years earlier allowing a
better return on investment.
But back to the USA. From 1973 to 2003, managed timber in the US returned 15% per
year – which puts the projections listed above into perspective. Meanwhile, stockmarkets
returned about 11%. Just as important, timber did so with considerably less risk. Over the last
45 years, timber investments were down only three times against a dozen crashes in the stock
market.
Another advantage for trees is that throughout crises like the current credit crunch they
will keep on growing, and so does their value. Even when the timber market is soft, you can
simply leave the trees in the ground till it picks up again.
As well as the US, there’s a strong tradition of investing in timber in the UK, encouraged
by the government. Commercially managed woodland in the UK can be passed on free of
inheritance tax once it has been owned for only two years; it qualifies for capital gains tax
rollover relief ; and income derived from commercial woodland is free of income and
corporation tax. So a return of 5% from woodland is the equivalent of a return of over 8% from
any other investment to a higher-rate taxpayer.
Nonetheless, real soft timber prices in the UK are still 50% below those of 1996 though
that may be about to change. Over the last three years, prices have recovered by around 11%
(according to the FIM Timber Index) and that is a trend most experts see continuing.
From a South-East Asia perspective, notwithstanding markets in Europe and the US, there are
a number of reasons for investors to regard timber as an attractive asset class:
• Forestry is the only low-risk, high return asset there is.
• The price of timber has risen for the past 200 years.
• Timber is counter cyclical.
• World consumption is up 25 times over four decades.
Both the US and Europe will doubtless remain attractive to certain investors for some time to
come. But in Europe particularly, both the Scandinavian countries and the emerging states in
the EU, it could be argued that the market is relatively static compared to what’s happening to
the East.
The great growth in future will be in the East, notably China. According to the FIM
timber index, Chinese timber consumption doubled between 2000 and 2003, and its demand is
forecast to grow 30% in the next five years. The FIM says that global forecast demand is
“equivalent to finding another source of supply of timber with five times the output of the UK
each and every year”.
That is where the opportunities arise for the fast-rising countries in South-East Asia such as Malaysia.
oxigen investments "the ethical option"

OXIGEN PLC.COM

Timber Investments in
South-East Asia
Oxigen InvestmentsPlc 0800 021 3344
An ethical way to watch your money grow
Not all investors see profit as their only motivation. Many have sought to square the circle by
seeking out investments which also meet ethical and socially responsible standards. In that
context trees take some beating. Trees are a major force in the fight against global warming.
Forests help offset climate change because trees absorb carbon dioxide, one of the main
greenhouse gases.
All across the great rainforests of South-East Asia, trees have been felled to make way
for agricultural land, new roads or expanding towns and cities. Many countries have clamped
down on this indiscriminate and often illegal activity, but the damage has been done.
One response to this, encouraged by governments, has been the steady growth of
commercial tree plantations. Not only does this reforestation begin the process of replacing the
naturally-grown trees, but it also creates a virtuous circle because as trees on these commercial
plantations are harvested new ones are planted to replace them.
From an investment perspective, becoming involved in commercial plantations is
straightforward. You buy a block of trees, either already in the ground or ready to go in as
seedlings, and literally watch your money grow. When the trees are harvested, investors take
the profit from their sale.
Taking two typical species of tropical trees, these are the sort of returns you can expect:
• Agarwood. 350 of these fast-growing trees with an initial cost of £10,000 are projected
to produce a return of £47,880 in just six years.
• Teak. 300 trees costing £10,000 are projected to return £193,000 net over a growing
span of 16 years.
These returns are calculated by looking at today's average harvest values for each type of wood.
You then look retrospectively at the respective annual increases during the last ten years and
use these as a guide when projecting potential future maturities. But, as a health warning all
investors should mark, past performance is no guarantee of future outcomes.
This article will hopefully go some way though to describing the exciting developments
in forestry – not least on the scientific front. There is much more to growing trees than meets
the eye. The modern plantations benefit from scientific breakthroughs which speed up both
quality and shorten growing times.
All of which makes timber is a unique investment over the relatively short or longer term
which is genuinely green - and helps save the planet.Ring now 0800 021 3344 for more info

ethical investments www.oxigenplc.com

Timber Investments in
South-East Asia
Oxigen InvestmentsPlc "GREEN ETHICAL INVESTMENTS"
An ethical way to watch your money grow
Not all investors see profit as their only motivation. Many have sought to square the circle by
seeking out investments which also meet ethical and socially responsible standards. In that
context trees take some beating. Trees are a major force in the fight against global warming.
Forests help offset climate change because trees absorb carbon dioxide, one of the main
greenhouse gases.
All across the great rain forests of South-East Asia, trees have been felled to make way
for agricultural land, new roads or expanding towns and cities. Many countries have clamped
down on this indiscriminate and often illegal activity, but the damage has been done.
One response to this, encouraged by governments, has been the steady growth of
commercial tree plantations. Not only does this reforestation begin the process of replacing the
naturally-grown trees, but it also creates a virtuous circle because as trees on these commercial
plantations are harvested new ones are planted to replace them.
From an investment perspective, becoming involved in commercial plantations is
straightforward. You buy a block of trees, either already in the ground or ready to go in as
seedlings, and literally watch your money grow. When the trees are harvested, investors take
the profit from their sale.
Taking two typical species of tropical trees, these are the sort of returns you can expect:
• Agarwood. 350 of these fast-growing trees with an initial cost of £10,000 are projected
to produce a return of £47,880 in just six years.
• Teak. 300 trees costing £10,000 are projected to return £193,000 net over a growing
span of 16 years.
These returns are calculated by looking at today's average harvest values for each type of wood.
You then look retrospectively at the respective annual increases during the last ten years and
use these as a guide when projecting potential future maturities. But, as a health warning all
investors should mark, past performance is no guarantee of future outcomes.
This article will hopefully go some way though to describing the exciting developments
in forestry – not least on the scientific front. There is much more to growing trees than meets
the eye. The modern plantations benefit from scientific breakthroughs which speed up both
quality and shorten growing times.
All of which makes timber is a unique investment over the relatively short or longer term
which is genuinely green - and helps save the planet.
ETHICAL INVESTMENTS