Alternative Outlook

Opportunities are increasing to gain solid returns from renewable and clean energy through funds that target wind, solar and water power projects.

In the past few weeks new funds have been launched aiming to give a pension income from owning solar panels, and profits from wind energy investment. The Government has set a target for 20 per cent of the UK’s energy to be produced from renewable sources by 2020, giving an extra push to the sector. Other nations are also keen to boost their green energy.

‘People are motivated to invest in t…

Diverse, region-specific legislation has made it difficult for the wine industry to capitalise on the promise of e-Commerce, but could that be set to change?

“The wine industry is tremendously fragmented and insular,” suggests digital wine marketer, Paul Mabray, to Think Wine Marketing. “It also suffers from one of the most antiquated, regulated and complicated distribution paradigms. It is an extremely long tail product with approximately 250,000 individual SKUs entering the market annually, with many remaining in the market from …

It is known as “gold with a coupon”. English farmland has trebled in value over the past decade and now averages more than £6,000 an acre. While farmers still make up at least half of all buyers, estate agents have seen an influx of City bankers as well as buyers from overseas – crisis-stricken Greece and Italy, along with India and China. In the next five years it is expected to rise in value by more than two-thirds.

The appeal of farmland is that it is a safe-haven asset, like gold, but also gives annual returns of 2-3%. On t…

We should sell our shares and bonds and fill up with Swag instead. “Swag” assets – silver, wine, art and gold – have outperformed their more conventional rivals by miles over the past few years. And they are being tipped to preserve investors’ capital if governments ignite inflation by printing more money.

It may sound like the latest contrived investment fad but the figures tell a different story. All four assets have outperformed shares and bonds over five, seven and 10 years. All except wine were also ahead over three years. Only over…

Demand for esoteric investments is rising, but which type of client are they suitable for? Daniel Kiernan, director of Intelligent Partnership, explains.

The case for including some esoteric alternative investments in client portfolios is compelling: they can provide above-market returns that are not correlated to conventional investments and they allow a portion of wealth to be held in tangible assets that help mitigate the impact of inflation. However, as with all investments, there are some issues around recommending esoteric inves…

High net worth individuals are opting to buy fine wine as part of an alternative investment portfolio because of a passion for Bordeaux rather than simply due to the potential financial gains.

That is according to a new reported commissioned by Barclays, in which 2,000 people worth at least £1 million each were quizzed on their alternative assets.

Entitled ‘Profit or Pleasure? Exploring the Motivations Behind Treasure Trends’, the report examined the appeal of these so-called treasure assets such as art, classic cars and fin…

Currently, gold is at the top of this $1,550 (£987) to $1,620 an ounce range, but market watchers are split on what will happen next, with the gold price bulls and bears both having plenty of fodder to support their case.

A Bloomberg poll of gold analysts released on Friday showed that they are the most bullish on pricing prospects for six weeks. With gold at the top of its trading range, does this signal a breakout? Out of 26 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, 14 expected prices to rise this week, with six expecting a…

Alternative investments expert Graham Rowan of Wealth Invest Limited gives his top three tips on his favourite ‘green’ investment: timber.

With negative interest rates and cash in the bank losing value every day, more and more of us are looking for alternative investments to grow our wealth. I spoke to speaker, author and alternative investments expert Graham Rowan of Wealth Invest Limited to get his top three tips on his favourite ‘green’ investment, the little known alternative investment – timber.
Insight 1: Money really does g…

Global gold demand in Q2 2012 was 990.0 tonnes (t), down 7% from the 1,065.8t in Q2 2011 according to the World Gold Council’s Gold Demand Trends report. This dip in demand was partly due to the comparison with exceptional demand last year, and also reflects the challenging global economic climate. In this context, gold performed as expected, acting as both a store of value and a source of liquidity.

In value terms gold demand remained relatively stable year on year at US$51.2 billion, compared to US$51.6 billion in Q2 2011. During t…

Pension funds hunting for higher returns are buying direct equity stakes in wind power projects that are being shunned as too risky by banks and other investors.

It is a major change for the funds, which favored government bonds for years until the debt crisis gripping Europe turned this once low-risk strategy on its head and drove down interest rates elsewhere, leaving few alternatives. Green power needs heavy investment if the European Union is to reach targets for boosting its share of total energy supply to 20 percent by 2020 and…