Land Investment

Rising investor interest coupled with the need for outside capital to finance land purchases led Peoples Company to develop a proactive Land Investment Program tailored around identifying investment grade land acquisitions for investors and sources of capital for farmers who are looking for someone to purchase land they can lease. Peoples Company consistently attends agricultural conferences throughout the country such as the Global Ag Conference, the Agri Investor Forum, and our Annual Land Investment Expo to foster key relationships with institutional and individual investors, and form new relationships with potential referral sources on a larger scale. The Land Investment Program allows Peoples Company to act as a clearinghouse for farmers and investors by ultimately sourcing and managing deals between the two parties.

Peoples Company has developed a professional team that understands the “ins and outs” of land investing. Our team is positioned to be the “on-the-ground” resource for land acquisition or partner in finding investor capital to purchase land.

Peoples Company has created three capital sources for land investing:

1. Access to institutional investors seeking large tracts of land
2. Separate Account Land Management program that proactively guides investors with direct investment in productive farm assets
3. Self-Directed IRA investing where we help individual investors acquire farm assets in their IRA

Institutional Investors: Peoples Company has established relationships with the major institutional investors in the land investment space. With more than 50 key relationships in this area, Peoples Company has access to hedge funds, pension plans, family offices and private land funds with combined assets under management of over $8 billion. Peoples Company proactively networks with these groups to understand their investment criteria, including what rates of return they are looking for, as well as the size of the deal and states in which they will invest. Peoples Company team members work to identify acquisition opportunities for these groups, and help them through the due-diligence process of acquiring land.

Separate Account Land Management: The Peoples Company Separate Account Land Management Program is tailored for those who wish to invest directly in productive farmland 1) without the comingling of their money in an investment fund or partnership; 2) without third-party fund management personnel making important investment decisions; and 3) without working with an expensive and distant group that is not on the ground where farmers are a source of potential land for sale. Our clients identify specific parameters for their land purchase, including quality of land, return on investment, price and location. Peoples Company then works to identify purchase opportunities and provides the ongoing management after the assets are acquired.

Self-Directed IRA Investors: Farmland is a proven investment that compares favorably with equities by returning value to the owner through annual rental income (dividends) and increases in net asset value (appreciation). IRS regulations allow Self-Directed IRA funds to be invested in farmland with certain restrictions. The first step is to select an IRA Custodian who is knowledgeable in managing non-traditional IRA investments. The custodian deposits rental income into your IRA account and pays all expenses, including real estate taxes, from the IRA. Peoples Company has relationships with several IRA Custodians that provide these services. Using IRA money to buy land allows investors to diversify their portfolios with an asset that will likely appreciate while providing an annual return.

Peoples Company has designed and implemented a system to efficiently identify and analyze potential farmland investments; and then communicate those opportunities to our clients via the “Deal Queue”. All of the farms in the Deal Queue are considered “Investment Grade”, meaning they’re at least 85% tillable, and a complete Land Investment Analysis package is available on each farm. The Land Investment Analysis is a comprehensive report which has the flexibility to examine a multitude of scenarios by altering minor details and analyzing / comparing the overall results. These farms are sourced via our network of land professionals and include listed farms – both internal and external – as well as numerous pocket listings and off-market opportunities. Our team scrutinizes each opportunity in the Deal Queue separately and filters through options that meet each clients’ specific criteria and long-term goals. We then present the vetted opportunities to the client and provide our feedback and opinion regarding which opportunities may best work with the client’s ultimate goals. This system allows our team, and our clients, to stay abreast of a wide array of farms for sale and keep a finger on the pulse of farmland market activity. If you are a farmer looking for an investor, the Investor Deal Structure outlines the types of deals, returns, states, etc. investors may be interested in pursuing.

If you have an investment strategy that includes acquiring farmland, or wish to speak with Peoples Company about capital for a land acquisition, email us at Landinvestment@PeoplesCompany.com or call 855.800.5263 (LAND).