Alternative Outlook

Investors in UK commercial forests have learnt this week that returns exceeded other major markets, such as commercial property, over the past year, explained Alternative Asset Analysis (AAA).

The alternative investment analysis organization said that the increased returns were great news for the international demand for alternatives – proving that ethical investments can also be lucrative ones.

The IPD UK Forestry Index shows that returns for 2010 reached 20 per cent, which is the highest rate since 2007. Strong demand was behin…

Commodities remain strong in European session as the euro advances and the US dollar weakens. Gold climbs for a second consecutive day and is currently trading at a 3-day high of 1510.5.

As of June 28, gold gained around +5% in 2Q11, significantly underperforming the +12% rally the same period last year. Recall that sovereign crisis in the European periphery sparked in the second quarter in 2010 and this drove investors to seek safe-haven investments.

Gold rallied as a result. Failure to repeat the history this time proba…

The 30th international wine and spirits fair in Bordeaux opened last week with participants hoping for higher orders than during the relative wash-out of two years ago in the midst of economic crisis.

While financial turmoil in Europe and other regions still depresses consumer sentiment, winemakers expect much from the rising demand of emerging market economies and in particular countries such as China as buyers and trade representatives walk the long halls of the Vinexpo trade fair, held every two years.

“If it goes like last ti…

The Global Harvest Initiative (GHI) today released its final policy issue brief which estimates a $90 billion annual agricultural investment gap and outlines the significant role of the private sector in closing this gap and addressing global food security.

The policy issue brief, “Enhancing Private Sector Involvement in Agriculture and Rural Infrastructure Development,” points to the private sector as one of the key influencers in creating economic growth, raising global incomes, and feeding a population anticipated to reach nine b…

Increasing timber prices drove forestry investment returns in 2010 to their highest levels since 2007, at 20.0%, according to the IPD UK Forestry Index.

For the fifth consecutive year forestry outperformed commercial property markets. As a strategic limited resource and with strong demand from all sectors, underlying investor sentiment has remained strong. As a result forestry was one of the few property assets classes to avoid negative returns in the downturn.

Over a three year period forestry outperformed other asset classes by a…

Now may be the time to head East – to Eastern Europe that is, for profits from farmland.

Of course the temptations and risks of exploiting the potential of vast acreages of rich and relatively undeveloped farmland in former Eastern bloc countries have been known for a while. A number of people who invested heavily got their fingers burnt in 2007-08.

Yet many believe – with the right approach – that there are great opportunities out there.

The expansion of the EU in the past decade has brought great tracts of …

BofA Merrill Lynch said an investment demand required to sustain gold prices in a range of $1,500-2,000 per ounce could be feasible in the next five years.

The brokerage believes investment has had a critical influence on the gold market and investor buying is the key to its long-run supply and demand balances.

“We look at supply and demand balances required to clear the gold market under three average price scenarios (i.e. $1,000/oz, $1,500/oz and $2,000/oz over the coming five years),” BoFA said in a note to clients.

The brokerage sa…

Pandas depend on it for nutrition, but bamboo also offers investors potentially mouth-watering returns.

As the fastest-growing land plant in the world – it can reach 41ft within a year – bamboo, which is a type of grass, creates up to 20 times more timber per hectare than trees.

With mounting environmental concerns about the lack of sustainable forests, demand for bamboo is soaring. Producers claim they can double investors’ money in as little as five years, or grow it fourfold within 15.

Is it a genuine opportunity, or simply ge…

It may be impossible to crown a “best vintage ever” in Bordeaux, but it is easy to name the priciest Bordeaux futures campaign ever, and we’re in it.

The futures, or en primeur, campaign for the 2010 vintage began weeks later than usual, with few classified growths and top labels releasing their prices until this week. And with their cards showing, it is clear they are playing a high-stakes game: Of 15 leading châteaus who have released their prices that Wine Spectator is tracking (see chart below), all have maintained or raise…

Many investment professionals, including the legendary Jim Rogers, believe agriculture commodities are only in the early-to-middle innings of a major “super cycle” of increasing prices.

The argument for this is fairly simple. The number of people in the world is increasing, and projected to reach nearly 9.1 billion by 2050 according to the United Nations. Meanwhile, the amount of arable farmland has been decreasing.

In addition, as with many major trends in the world today, a large reason behind the rapid run-up in food prices is Ch…