Australia’s water market: Investing in a sustainable future

Crescent Wealth has diversified its socially and environmentally responsible investment options by providing members with access to investments in Australian water rights.

Water rights which provide the agricultural sector the right to access a certain volume of water in a year, area great fit to Crescent’s investment principles and will complement its range of alternative investments.

In Australia, water rights are freely traded in an open market with the twin objectives of ensuring economically efficient water use and environmental sustainability. The market is well established and regulated which gives us assurance as investors that we are entering a market with good governance, stability and transparency.

As one of the driest continents in the world in terms of water assets, Australia will see great potential in the growth of the water rights industry as the market develops and matures further.

Water right investments provide the additional attraction of reducing volatility in the investment portfolio because returns from this asset class are uncorrelated to traditional asset classes.

Crescent Wealth is able to invest in water rights through funds managed by Riparian Capital Partners. Riparian invests in perpetual water right entitlements and is then able to sell or lease annual water allocations available under these entitlements. These can vary each year in response to factors such as storage levels in reservoirs and climate conditions.

The vast majority of water rights traded in Australia are located in the Murray-Darling Basin area which contains approximately 66 percent of Australia’s irrigated farmland.

Australia’s water market is formally regulated and enforced including legislative functions regarding enforcement, price setting, monitoring and reporting, which protects everyone from the farmer all the way to the mum and dad investor.

From an environmental, sustainable and ethical point of view we believe this is a great opportunity for our members. We will continue to explore innovative investment opportunities for our members whilst adhering to the highest Islamic investment standards.

Before choosing to invest in water rights through your Crescent Wealth Super account you should consider whether they are suitable for your own retirement planning objectives and you may wish to consult a financial planner before investing.