Investment fund combines oil and PV stocks

In April 2005, the Hamburg-based specialist for alternative investment Aquila Capital Concepts GmbH launched the Raptor Peak Oil Fund. 

Contrary to what the fund‘s name would suggest, in addition to large crude oil stocks, the fund also includes »non-fossil fuel« titles. According to Aquila‘s managing director Dieter Rentzsch, these stocks primarily come from manufacturers of solar cells, biomass, or alternative fuels like biodiesel. In November, the fund was expanded with »Tranche A,« which one can purchase with an investment above €1 million ($1.2 million).
The fund‘s investment philosophy proposes that particular industries and companies will profit when the world reaches the moment of »Peak Oil« production in the near future, the moment world oil production has achieved its highest level, after which it will begin to decline. At this point the exploitation of untapped oil deposits will become increasingly expensive – since they will be increasingly difficult to develop – before it finally becomes unprofitable at all. Many countries have already experienced their production peak, for instance the US (1970), Iran (1978), Russia (1980), and Norway (2000).

The Peak Oil Fund tries to make the best of this development for its investors. In the beginning, the fund consists of about 60-percent crude oil producers and »oil-related« stocks like refineries. The remaining stock is from companies that are already profiting from increased oil prices, about 10 percent of which are PV stocks. An additional 5 percent is invested in gold as »protection from inflation.«