Can this really be true? STAND IT UP
66 | INVESTIGATION WORDS | John Howell
am sure that you, like me, receive a few of these emails each month (if I am truthful, dozens). Does the old saying “if it sounds too good to be true it probably is” still hold good? Are these emails all scams or are some of them marketing really clever and innovative products that can deliver as claimed? OPP thought that it would be a good idea to fi nd out. So, in each of these occasional columns, we will be contacting a company that has told me about some amazing new investment and asking them to ‘stand it up’. For those of you not familiar with this expression, it is a phrase used by journalists meaning to produce supporting evidence or to show that something is true.
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Then we will print their response. Sometimes the claims made and
our questions will be relevant only in connection with the company making the promotion but, usually, we will choose cases where the issues are of broader importance. Some of the offers may turn out to be great investment opportunities that you will want to investigate further and then pass onto your clients. In these cases, we will be happy to have helped spread the word.
Inevitably, some of these claims may not stand scrutiny. In these cases we hope that drawing the claims – and the company’s statements intended to justify the claims – to your attention might prevent you getting caught up in something that would not be wise. Of course, just to be clear, OPP will not have carried out any due diligence on the claims that have been made or the justifi cation that we receive and it
This month’s promotion:
The statements that we would like the company to ‘stand up’ are highlighted in yellow.
Invest in Renewable Energy Certificates Many Investors recognize they can achieve more than just a ROI, they can
now invest ethically and profit whilst helping the environment. Investments such as Carbon Credits, Bio-fuels and Climate Reserves are ethical investments that tick all the boxes. These commodities have seen recession proof growth, are globally trad- able with an increasing demand worth in excess of 184 billion each year and growing. Another environmental commodity to have reached public atten- tion is the Renewable Energy Certificate or REC’s. The market for Rec’s is increasing yearly, however project supply cannot meet the market demand. The UK has agreed to reduce Green House Gases by increasing renewable energy sources to meet the European commission agreement by cutting emissions by 20% over the next 12 years by 2020. To meet this target the UK has to increase its renewable energy output by at least 15% of total electricity production. In 2005 this figure was 1.3% of total electricity production, a clear sign that its time for change, change does not have to cost the earth.
Why buy RECS?
• Access to the biggest potential emission market in the world, with already 29 US states signed up it is highly likely that within the next few years all 50 States, plus Puerto Rica, will sign up - already giving a potential growth in excess of 60%.
• The price of electricity and demand for renewable energy sources is expected to increase significantly over the next five years amidst tentative
does not accept any legal responsibility in respect of those claims. Equally, we are not giving any investment advice. We will merely be publishing the statement made and a summary of the evidence produced to support it. This month we take a quick look
at Renewable Energy Certifi cates (RECs). What is a REC? Well, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency, “A REC represents the property rights to the environmental, social, and other nonpower qualities of renewable electricity generation. A REC, and its associated attributes and benefi ts, can be sold separately from the underlying physical electricity associated with a renewable-based generation source.” Still don’t understand? “RECs serve the role of laying claim to and accounting for the associated attributes
www.opp.org.uk | JULY & AUGUST 2012
Double your money in 12 months – completely legal and risk free. Are all the investment deals offered by email just junk or are some of the claims true? Should you investigate further or should you just press the ‘delete’ key? OPP asks the companies claiming the highly improbable to ‘stand it up’
of renewable-based generation. The REC and the associated underlying physical electricity take separate pathways to the point of end use. As renewable generators produce electricity, they have a positive impact, reducing the need for fossil fuel-based generation sources to meet consumer demand. RECs embody these positive environmental impacts and convey these benefi ts to the REC owner.”
Could these RECs really be an alternative to investing in real estate? See next month’s OPP for the follow up.
If you come across any amazing
offers that sound too good to be true, please let us know by email:
john.howell@opp.org.uk.
economic recovery, increased awareness and heightened demand for energy independence.
• The REC market is only just beginning to develop and the potential growth is huge and as yet quite unexploited from anything else but local sources.
• Similar legislation in the UK, France and Germany drove market prices to increase by over 160% in each country.
• As the underlying asset is the generation of renewable energy, there is a strong probability of heightened market stability as it is less subjective then simply greenhouse gas capture.
• Many independent manufactures of energy saving equipment offer the chance for clients to offset using voluntary RECS so there is a retail market already developing i.e. when a client buys solar panels or loft insulation they can choose to offset their energy usage using RECS.
• As companies take a more ethical standpoint they are also a vast potential market for voluntary RECS, with many Fortune companies such as PepsiCo and Lockheed Martin, already purchasing heavily in the RECS market. Equally Micro- soft’s recent commitment to carbon neutrality is due to be heavily focused on renewable energies within the US. Invest from £5,650 with anticipated returns in excess of 80%”
Our additional questions 1. What green energy is behind the product and where is it produced?
2. What about fraud? How does the buyer of your product know that there has been a genuine ‘green’ saving behind the certificate? How do they know that the certificate has not been sold many times? What tracking is in place?
3. What are the figures for RECs, rather than the green energy set off market as a whole?
4. How and where can these investments be sold on? How many have been sold?
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