Alternative Outlook

The current state of the economy and the changing landscape of the entertainment industry have artists, publishers, entertainment companies and record labels looking to create more liquidity not dependent on product sales, as well as investors looking for stable investment options not tied to the fluctuating stock market.

To address this need, 18 months ago The Royalty Exchange on-line royalty auction site launched and became the first alternative investment marketplace to sell percentages of movies, books, television shows, pate…

A coalition of the world’s largest investors called on governments on Tuesday to ramp up action on climate change and boost clean-energy investment or risk trillions of dollars in investments and disruption to economies.

In an open letter, the alliance of institutional investors, responsible for managing $22.5 trillion in assets, said rapidly growing greenhouse gas emissions and more extreme weather were increasing investment risks globally.

The group called for dialogue between investors and governments to overhaul climate and energy pol…

While it’s unlikely the we’ll find ourselves using the last drop of  the world’s oil anytime soon, we are nearly guaranteed to face a  shortage of cheap and accessible oil in the coming century.  Known oil  reserves are only prepared to meet today’s global demand for another 40  years.  And two indicators suggest that we have even less time than  that. One, anyone charting the rising middle classes in China and India  can tell you, global oil demand is growing.  Without new sources of  energy, today’s oil supplies will not m…

A report by the European Sustainable Investment Forum (Eurosif) has found that high net-worth individuals (HNWIs) in Europe have strengthened their commitment to sustainable investment, causing the sector to grow steadily.

The organisation’s third annual High Net-Worth Individuals and Sustainable Investment study found that over the past two years, sustainable investments made by HNWIs in Europe have increased by almost 60% – compared to just an 18% rise in the total wealth in this demographic.

The encouraging increase means tha…

Global food and agribusiness consultancy HighQuest Partners has recently launched the inaugural issue of Global AgInvesting Quarterly, a publication that seeks to be the best source of research, insights, and market observation available to all stakeholders interested in investing in agriculture related sectors.

As a natural extension of the company’s highly successful, industry leading Global AgInvesting (GAI) conference series, their GAI Research & Insight platform provides ongoing sector updates and actionable market intellige…

PricewaterhouseCoopers, the world’s largest professional services firm, is not known for scaremongering. So it is worth paying particular attention to its latest annual low carbon economy index.

Behind the understated language, it points to a catastrophic future unless radical action is taken now to combat climate change.

“Business leaders have been asking for clarity in political ambition on climate change,” says partner Leo Johnson. “Now one thing is clear: businesses, governments and communities across the world need to plan f…

Folk are so hard-up for returns, an increasing number are falling for the latest hustle – whisky sold as a hot “alternative investment.” Penta decided to investigate the growing secondary market for whisky when a public relations executive sent us a breathy and alarming pitch: “Investment Grade Scotch (IGS) is rapidly becoming a hot commodity in the alternative investment market, out-performing luxury goods such as gold and diamonds.”

We got a hangover just reading that sentence, so we took some Ibuprofen and poked around to…

Becoming an ethical investor is not straight forward and deciding where to invest can be very subjective. But if you can find the right product, ethical investors say it can offer peace of mind as well as financial returns.
Putting your money where your mouth is: that’s what charity worker Jennifer Morgan believes she’s doing. Her savings, current account and pension are all with companies whose principles she believes in.

“I believe my money reflects my values,” she says. “I chose to take my money out of a high street bank and put i…

The amount of money invested in a “sustainable and responsible” manner in the UK has swelled to an estimated £275bn, a report has found. The study from Eurosif, the Brussels-based European Sustainable Investment Forum, claims that an exciting new phase in the development of ethical investment is now taking place in the UK. To mark National Ethical Investment Week, which started on 14 October, Guardian Money looks at the latest themes on green finance and explains how you can join the ethical revolution.
Rail: The right track for gr…

The fifth annual Sustainable and Responsible Investment Study from the European Forum for Sustainable Investment (Eurosif) has outlined strong market growth, primarily driven by demand from institutional investors.

The study, which is written by Eurosif with support from Amundi, Axa Investment Managers, Nordea and Pictet, says that an increasing number of investors across Europe are adopting responsible and sustainable investment strategies – some of which are implemented side-by-side.

These include sustainability-themed (investm…