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When discussing saving the environment, politicians and economists alike love to tell you that it is a black hole for money. This new initiative squashes the archaic thought that being green and making money can’t exist together. Better yet, there’s no fees and you can withdraw your investment whenever you like.
What Is Array?
Array is an app that allows you to invest as low as $5 in renewable energy. The app, available on both IOS and Android, allows users to micro-invest, which is basically investing small amounts of money without fees, either on scheduled dates or otherwise. The money will then directly be pooled with thousands of other peoples’ money to fund the building and maintenance of large scale renewable projects, all the while making you money.
The initiative is backed by Future Super Services, who have been a heavy hitter in the Australian super industry for the past 7 years, also heavily focusing on providing customers with an ethical investment opportunity. Basically what that means for users, is your investment is completely safe in their hands.
With the ability to withdraw at any time, you can offset your environmental impact, without spending anything. Better still, even if you don’t care much for the environmental side of it, the app aims to give you a 5.2% per annum return on your investment. Obviously this doesn’t stack up to the potential returns of traditional investing, but as the threat of another major market crash looms, your investment is in one of the safest places it can be. The nature of the investment also means your return is extremely predictable.
The money invested into the app will be split between renewable energy projects (60%) and government and corporate bonds (40%), meaning as long as the sun is shining and the wind is blowing, you will make money. The other 40% of your investment is put into ethical companies and corporate bonds; without this you wouldn’t be able to cash out your investment and the fund just wouldn’t work.
Array Is The Most Stable Investing Platform There Is
The bigger question though is, is Array stable? The short answer is yes, definitely. The reason apps like this have never happened before is because they simply wouldn’t work without a large initial investment to kick them off. Future Super have bridged this gap for us, however this isn’t to say they won’t benefit out of this.
They will also make money off these investments both directly through withholding profits and indirectly through exposure for their super company. Regardless, what you need for stability is a backer that is happy with what they are funding and as long as the app exists, they’ll be happy.
The Future Of Array
Array is still only a very young app. It is currently only just leaving the beta testing phase (what bad timing to be launching an investment platform), however that’s not to say their physical efforts haven’t already started. In fact, Array now jointly owns three separate solar farms, with the third at Brigalow Farm, in Queensland Australia, finished construction and awaiting grid connection.
As for the app itself, the development team are looking towards implanting features that will display how much Carbon your investment is offsetting and how many people have avoided being sick from reduced air pollution. While it would be tough to get a truly accurate number for those, the real world connection sure makes your investment feel meaningful.
Who Can Use It?
Currently the app is only available to Australian users aged 18 and over, however I wouldn’t at all be surprised if this eventually changed to allow international investment and included international projects. Australia is notoriously bad for giving big government grants for large scale renewable projects, but in some other countries like Sweden, the government are heavily invested, meaning it would cost less for the same level of power production.
Final Thoughts
I honestly think this app is perfect and has all the ingredients to succeed. Full disclosure, I care about what’s happening to the environment probably more than most, however I wouldn’t let that get in the way of making me money. In saying that I’m in no way affiliated with or receiving payment from the people behind this, I truly believe this app is the way we must approach the future.
Once this app is completely functional, I it will without a doubt revolutionize the way to invest. The security of your money is far greater than other investing options, while saving the environment at the same time.
So if you want to be a part of the movement, join Array today here
