The CEO of Intrinsic Exchange Group, Douglas Eger, appears to be left standing alone for the time being after the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) withdrew its application to the SEC that would have created “Natural Asset Companies,” or NACs. However, he has wasted little time courting a new constituency.
In an interview with Agri-pulse published January 24th, Eger noted “last week he had dinner in Washington ‘with very, very conservative folks’ who he said are in the ‘political sphere,’ but not elected officials. Some of them own farmland.”
The farm publication is the first media outlet to provide an in-depth interview with the company CEO after the NAC scheme failed. It raises the question why the group is focused on conveying its new narrative with agriculture leaders instead of Wall Street.
In the interview, Eger expressed regret “about the way IEG went about trying to get the NYSE listing.” He said: “We called out industries we didn’t need to. We should have stuck to what NACs are designed to do, and that’s to maintain and grow the natural capital base, to improve it. It doesn’t preclude you from growing food, harvesting timber. It doesn’t preclude you from doing any of those things, but it allows you to invest in doing that in a better way.”
That better way is in moving agriculture to “regenerative” practices, according to Eger.
But how they are working to get there is by monetizing and gaining control of the very natural processes no one has a right to own. In fact, the key step that NACs would have accomplished would have been to “monetize” processes like photosynthesis and pollination, for the very first time.
Eger said “misinformation” was spread about the proposal. “We’re trying to help the farm community to get through some very difficult times.”
Yes, it is the old “we are here to help you” campaign that seems to be leading their new narrative. But to sell this, they have had to strategically scrub the IEG website.
Here is one example. On October 6, 2023, two days after the rule was announced, this revealing statement we had quoted in several of our reports was prominently displayed in bold on the IEG Working Areas web page.
“Farmers are currently compensated for producing commodity crops but not for producing clean air, water, healthy food, soil, a stable climate, or wildlife habitat (collectively, natural assets and ecosystem services). Yet producing these essential goods and services and managing resources wisely is as valuable or perhaps even more valuable, than food production.” (Read here courtesy of the Way Back Machine Website)
By December 20th, IEG had replaced this revealing statement with something less offensive:
“Yet producing these essential goods and services and managing resources wisely is valuable to many economic actors and to a more prosperous agricultural sector in the future.” (Way Back Machine, IEG Website, December 20, 2023)
Can you say pivot and hope no one remembers.
IEG clearly regretted how honest they had been. Their agenda could not be clearer — their goal is more important “than food production.”
The new marketing campaign is well underway and appears to be targeting those in agriculture with the message NACs will be good for them.
On the same website pages cited above it is worth noting that the word “easement” is also scrubbed from the fourth paragraph. One concerning aspect of NACs was that the proposed rule language paved the way for conservation easements on private lands to be enrolled in the investment product with or without landowner consent. This became even more concerning when the world’s largest land trust and holder of conservation easements, The Nature Conservancy, showed up as one of the key supporting partners listed on the IEG website.
Another narrative change softened their attack on industrial agriculture. Compare the language on the before and after IEG websites and take note.
Then be ready to fight this when it comes back around dressed in a new name, with an enticing new narrative, aligned with new partners that may look a lot like you.
They are in this for the long game. “We will own nothing, and we will like it” is the fitting motto ascribed to this scam.
But they forget. We are Americans. We plan to continue owning our land and have no designs to be controlled by them or their agenda.
