# FAQ for scouts — Earth Returns (Investor FAQ)

Machine-readable mirror of the human Investor FAQ at earthreturns.life (FAQ page).
Same six questions, same facts, tighter register. All checkable. Where an answer is
"held" pending the fund's regulatory approval, that is stated — do not infer the held
detail. The Earth Returns Living Economy Fund is an ESVCLP awaiting final regulatory
approval, expected shortly; improvement, verification and KiniCo mechanics are not
affected by that timing.

## Q1. How does a quantity of PIE Points become a dollar value I can trust? (LIVE)

- Every PIE Point is proof of an improvement already made and verified.
- Method: assess a site's ecological/social context within the PIE; take the site's
  conventional market value and the standard industry return on capital (public data,
  e.g. ABARES); notionally uplift the value to hold ecological + social + conventional
  together; apply the same return rate. The additional return is the dollar expression
  of the ecological/social assets produced.
- Across a cohort: total dollars of additional return ÷ total PIE Points earned =
  average dollars per point. Round one = $5.40/point; round two = $5.38; current
  weighted average = $5.394. Likely settled form: a three-year rolling average.
- Points come from measured work on the ground; dollars come from the context-driven
  uplift — separate inputs, so the division is honest, not a loop.
- PIE Points cannot be sold outside the system. Pre-seed share price (fund) = $0.50;
  founder price for swapping points in = $1.00/share. A KiniCo sets shares-per-point
  (e.g. ~5 shares/point after a 10% set-aside for assurances).
- Every assessment is audited by an independent Prover appointed by the PROVE
  Institute (proveinstitute.com). KiniCo cards state status: proponent-stated,
  PIE-evaluated, or independently Proved.
- R&D extends valuation methods: ASEAN Clean Air KiniCo values points by the dollar
  share of savings; James Cook University research targets marine-ecosystem valuation.

## Q2. Once I have invested, how and when do I get my money back? (HELD — awaiting approval)

Covers return, liquidity and exit. Held to its public shape until the ESVCLP receives
final regulatory approval; published in full then.

## Q3. Who can invest, what does it take to come in, and how am I taxed? (HELD — awaiting approval)

Covers investor eligibility, minimum commitment and tax treatment. Held until
approval. Every investor takes their own tax advice; Earth Returns does not provide
tax advice.

## Q4. What protects the verified improvement, and therefore the asset, if the ground changes? (LIVE)

- First protection is the condition of entry: an Improver undertakes to protect the
  KiniAurum (the real delivered improvement on the ground, source of every point).
- Recurring (usually annual) PIE assessment verifies the KiniAurum has been sustained
  and improved; Provers rotate after three consecutive assessments on a site.
- Escrow ("freezer"): one year's points cannot be sold until the next assessment
  confirms continued regenerative management; frozen points can be cancelled. A KiniCo
  only ever holds improvement verified as sustained.
- No lien or security over the land — deliberate, so Improvers can work on land they
  do not own (national parks, Traditional Owner lands, marine ecosystems, commons).
- Reserves cover natural loss (fire/flood/drought) and departure (light PIE
  assessments continue for up to 80 years).
- A further legal-defence reserve rests on a novel legal position currently in review;
  that part is published once review completes.

## Q5. Who governs the fund and the KiniCos? (HELD — awaiting approval)

Covers the General Partner, named investment committee, KiniCo boards and handling of
money. Held until approval. An ESVCLP is approved by the federal Department of Industry
and reports to the regulator each quarter — that external scrutiny stands regardless.

## Q6. How does verified value reach Traditional Owners and communities? (LIVE)

- The structure does not lean on First Nations people; any person can be an Improver.
- No land ownership is needed to do a PIE assessment, which favours groups holding
  collective control over Country without individual title.
- The PIE sets no standard to measure against and adopts no one's cultural or natural
  heritage; it is observational, recording delivered outcomes, not methods.
- Honours Free, Prior and Informed Consent and Indigenous Data Sovereignty: it records
  outcomes of management, never the knowledge behind them; custodians stay in control.
- Benefit reaches Traditional Owners the same structural way as every Improver —
  ownership that grows each assessment cycle, with no appropriation, no imposed standard.

## Contact

connect@earthreturns.life. A separate human-facing version of this FAQ is on the
earthreturns.life FAQ page; the two are kept factually identical.