Pela Terra II: Regenerate
Investment Sector
Agriculture
Investment Profile
Farmland (Operate & Regenerate Soil)
Minimum Investment
€200,000
Subscription Deadline
October 2025
Fund Lifetime
8 years
Open to US Citizens
Yes
Fund Manager
Stag Fund Management
CMVM License Number
1816
Q&A
Each fund manager or fund advisor has been invited to answer a series of questions about their own funds as well as the market in general.
We sat down with Alex Lawry-White to find out more about Pela Terra II: Regenerate.
The Pela Terra II team is unlike anything put together in Portugal before. As advisor and coordinator, it’s an honor to be part of it. We’ve brought together a Head of Investment from the Word Bank, fresh from agricultural investing in Europe, Africa, and LatAm. Partnered with the ex-Secretary of State of Agriculture in Portugal, and the same advisory team who brought Portugal’s first agribusiness fund, which is now fully subscribed. Full biographies are printed in the brochure.
Why did you decide to create the Pela Terra II: Regenerate?
This fund’s predecessor - Pela Terra Farmland - reinvented the Golden Visa market by introducing agriculture to offer a lower-risk profile that simply wasn’t available from real estate funds. Whether residential, commercial, or tourism, real estate investments are unavoidably susceptible to economic downturns. Farms that produce food are the opposite, since demand for food is consistent through economic good times and bad! Since Pela Terra Farmland became oversubscribed, we responded to continuous demand for a second Pela Terra fund. We remain driven by our commitment to sustainable food production and our desire to offer the highest quality Golden Visa investment.
Has the management/advisory team invested in the Pela Terra II: Regenerate? Please explain that decision.
Absolutely. We are both the founding investors, just as we were in the last Pela Terra fund. We have personally funded the creation of the whole structure from root to shoot, including the funds, and the advisory arm too. Pela Terra is more than a job, it’s a life mission.
Request a detailed presentation about the fund
· Min investment:
€200,000
· Lifetime:
8 years
· US Citizens:
Yes
· Subscription deadline:
October 2025
Pela Terra II: Regenerate is building on the success of its precursor which also focused on acquiring and developing agricultural land including soil regeneration. Could you please explain why investors seem to be so drawn to this particular sector and why you believe it’s a good investment target?
Two words: Low Risk! Many investors say things like “We want to invest in line with our personal ethics”, or “I want my investment to actually improve the country my family may call home in the future”. However, every single one of our investors is drawn to the economic sense it makes to protect your investment by storing it in the ground. Farmland pricing has lower volatility than both gold and US government bonds. When searching for a fund you feel you can trust, it’s hard to look past the simple honesty of harvesting trees to earn an annual dividend, and trusting the land to protect your capital.
What lessons did you learn from the first fund that will allow you to improve the Pela Terra II: Regenerate fund?
Innovation requires breaking from the pack. In order to improve the market Pela Terra had to be proudly different. (e.g. There were no Portuguese agriculture funds before our launch!) Being the first means learning en route is inevitable!
Our network has grown deeper. The inclusion of the ex-Secretary of State for Agriculture means politicians and technocrats in charge of water, land usage, and planning are helping to align conditions. We've honed our expertise in the selection and repurposing of assets in a Portuguese context. Proof of this is that we launched the second fund with €20 million worth of A-grade assets already under option contracts! That’s a huge privilege compared to the norm of a fund launching from a static start without momentum. With our proven track record, we're now poised to continue innovating in growing and investing, bolstering risk minimization and increasing efficiency, ensuring Pela Terra II capitalizes on our established successes.
How would you describe the Pela Terra II: Regenerate’s risk profile; Conservative, Moderate, or Ambitious?
Conservative (risk profile), Ambitious in modernising food supply in Portugal.
The Golden Visa rules state that a qualifying investment must be held for just five years but the Pela Terra II: Regenerate’s lifetime runs for longer. Could you please explain your fund lifetime including the launch date and subscription period?
Our commitment to investors is to make your life as easy as we can. We have planned Pela Terra II to minimise friction on your investing journey. That means the fund needs to last long enough for you to complete your GV journey, but not so long that you’ve achieved citizenship/PR and you’re still stuck in a fund for x more years. Your journey will be: GV application of roughly 1 year, plus 5 years of qualifying residency, plus Passport/PR application of roughly 1 year. That’s 7 years. Given that most investors won’t start on day 1 of the fund, 8 years is the right amount to neatly facilitate that journey for our investors.
On average, how long does it take to onboard a Golden Visa investor into the Pela Terra II: Regenerate fund and what are the main obstacles in the onboarding process?
We are proud to offer a free “concierge” service to all our onboarding investors. Portugal is a bureaucratic place, and if you don't have someone on the ground to solve your problems before they get to you, you will get tripped up and frustrated. We’ve seen it happen too many times. Each of our investors has a single point of contact on our wonderful staff, who is dedicated to assisting with onboarding with the lawyer, the tax office, the banks, and the fund itself.
In the fund, all our documentation is digital - we use DocuSign. Onboarding to the fund can be completed in under 1 week. However, investors should understand that opening a bank account in Portugal can take 2-4 weeks, and that is usually the limiting factor.
In general, some Golden Visa investors are cautious because of the funds' lock-in periods. How do you plan to deal with investors who wish to exit the Pela Terra II: Regenerate fund before its full lifetime?
Last week an investor from Asia, whose situation has changed, sold her Participation Units to another investor from Latin America for a premium! The units have appreciated well since she subscribed, and it was our pleasure to help to facilitate that process. Pela Terra has a broad demand and receives regular requests to purchase existing investors’ Units, so investors can enter and exit the fund.
Get in touch with
Pela Terra II: Regenerate
now!
· Min investment:
€200,000
· Lifetime:
8 years
· US Citizens:
Yes
· Subscription deadline:
October 2025
What distinguishes the Pela Terra II: Regenerate fund from other Golden Visa-eligible funds operating in the market?
The fund stands on the shoulders of a giant when it comes to comparing asset classes for safety. From a risk perspective, a combination of farmland and the level of expertise on the management team make Pela Terra II unique compared with anything else currently in the market. It’s simply not possible to recreate the certainty of capital preservation with real estate, stocks or startups. The experience on the team means the level of knowledge and experience is second to none.
Many investors want their investment to actually improve Portugal. While this should be a given, the reality is quite the opposite. Pela Terra only invests in the “interior” of the country - the poorest and most under-invested region of Portugal. The fund’s investments both push the boundaries of sustainability in food production and also provide meaningful careers where they’re most needed.
Many of those considering the Golden Visa have several funds to choose from. What advice can you offer to help investors make the right decision for them?
Remember that you are investing for a “fixed term”. If your fund invests in something like real estate, that rides up and down in value with the boom & bust of markets, you need to be able to choose your own exit moment. You can’t do this in a fund with a fixed lifespan, making oscillating markets and fixed-term investments an ill-advised combination.
Also, consider whether the economics really make sense. Plenty of companies in this market have handed our guarantees and buy-back contracts, only to close the company when the market downturns. It’s simply not possible to guarantee economic outcomes, and those who try should be seen as irresponsible and avoided.
For people who are unfamiliar with investing in funds and may even be nervous about learning, what advice would you like to give them?
Keep it simple! Invest in something that makes sense to you, and doesn't require advanced financial understanding to really make sense of. If things go bad, you don’t want to find that you never really understood what the fund was doing.
Considering the recent Golden Visa rule changes in October 2023, what advice would you give to investors who are currently looking into the program?
Avoid any fund that invests in buildings! The government is waging war on foreign money pushing up house prices for locals. That is what the huge reform of 2023 has been all about! And yet, some players continue to offer investments in buying, converting or constructing buildings that will, directly or indirectly, have an inflationary effect on the housing market. Once the government examines those investments, nobody can know what will happen to those investments and their investors.
What is your outlook for Portugal from both an investment and lifestyle perspective over the coming years?
Portugal still has a long way to go in terms of catching up with Spain’s level of development. While Lisbon is obviously over-heated, industry outside of the city is booming - that means factories, infrastructure, and agriculture. These are where the big opportunities lie in the coming years.
Sounds good! I'd like to get in touch now!
· Min investment:
€200,000
· Lifetime:
8 years
· US Citizens:
Yes
· Subscription deadline:
