Alternative Outlook

English farmland values paused for breath in 2011, according to estate agents Knight Frank, but they continue to boast stronger returns than traditional asset classes over the last decade.

In the final quarter, UK farmland fell in value by 0.8%, pushing the rise for the year down to 4.0%. Andrew Shirley, Knight Frank’s head of research, said: “The annual growth might be considered slightly disappointing compared with recent performance, but it is still robust, given the economic situation.” Over the year, the FTSE World index dropped …

Wine prices are heading up again—only this time it’s Burgundy wines and not Bordeaux capturing all the headlines as recent Burgundy auctions have been setting records. According to a recent report from WineSpectator, “Move Over Bordeaux: Burgundy Steals the Show at Asia Auctions,” prices for the top Burgundy wines are rocketing higher.

“As a category, the 102 Burgundy listings tracked by the Wine Spectator Auction Index rose 16.42 percent from the third quarter of 2010 to the third quarter of 2011. Many wines fared even better,” sai…

Tony Hales, managing director of Stadia Trustees, puts forward the case for including farmland in your clients’ SIPPs.

Tony Hales, managing director of Stadia Trustees, puts forward the case for including farmland in your clients’ SIPPs.

Farmland is an ‘alternative’ investment that has become increasingly attractive of late. However, despite its recent strong performance, to many investors it is a poorly understood asset class.

There are many reasons why a form of farmland should feature in portfolios, most notably, the dramat…

More evidence that wine may be the new favourite among alternative investors has been unearthed, according to Alternative Asset Analysis (AAA).

The Alternative investment advocacy and research group claims that Investment guru Michael Spencer’s purchase of a minority stake in “the Goldman Sachs of the wine market”, the Bordeaux Index, further demonstrates the asset class’s popularity.

“The fact that many alternative asset classes have become extremely pricey in recent months has meant that the more alternative of alternative assets …

Buying trees in Latin America isn’t high on investors’ lists of enticing opportunities, but a combination of trends taking shape could make the forestry industry a focus.

First of all, forestry in Latin America means an entirely different thing than it does in the United States. In the U.S., many forestry companies are traded as real-estate investment trusts, or REITs, where their earnings are driven by activities such as paper and pulp production, lumber and the holdings of their timberlands.

In Latin America, companies tend to be de…

Alternative investment advocacy group, Alternative Asset Analysis (AAA) has spoken out in favor of investing in rare Scotch whiskey as an alternative to stocks and shares.

AAA’s statement comes after a Financial Times article highlighted the asset class as a viable and popular means of diversifying an investment portfolio. For the past 20 years, the article claims, investors have been increasingly interested in rare Scotch as an asset class, as some have seen their values rise hugely in a matter of months.

The FT claims that the top per…

The flow of dreadful macro-economic news since the crash of 2008 has shaken consumers’ faith in traditional stock market based investments and investors are now increasingly considering putting their wealth into directly held alternative investments – tangible assets that provide diversification away from property and the stock market and often promise high returns.

Definition

As there is no official definition of alternative investments, it’s a term that can be open to widely different interpretations that can encompass everything from…

There has been a marked increase in consumers choosing to purchase alternative investments with their SIPPs over the last three years. With an average SIPP size of £70 – £80,000 and over 800,000 SIPPs out there (and the number is growing at 20 – 30 percent per annum) this represents a significant new and enticing market for advisers.

The flow of dreadful macro-economic news since the crash of 2008 has shaken consumers’ faith in traditional stock market based investments and investors are now increasingly considering putting their weal…

Wealthy investors should increase their exposure to renewable energy to get uncorrelated inflation-beatings returns, a survey of investment advisers has shown.

The industry poll from Future Capital Partners showed that 67 per cent of advisers believe high-net worth investors should allocate a greater part of their portfolios to renewable energy for the long-term, while 56 per cent said they should do so for the short-term.

Looking at the individual types of renewable energy investment, IFAs were most familiar solar and wind energy, and le…

New research confirms gold’s unique role as a diversifier and foundation asset in the portfolios of euro-based investors, especially at a time of heightened currency and investment risk.

During a period of extraordinarily serious economic uncertainty in the Eurozone, continued concerns about economic growth in the US heading into an election year, and the possibility of an economic slowdown in China, The World Gold Council (WGC) wanted to examine the relevance of gold as a strategic asset for euro-based investors to protect their portfolios …