Alternative Outlook

US Federal Reserve:

£25bn ($40bn) per month stimulus to US Economy
Interest rates stay below 0.25%
Previous QE totalling £1.4tn ($2.3tn)

Bank of Japan:

£78bn (10 trillion Yen) bond buying to devalue Yen to increase exports
Interest rates stay between 0% & 0.1%
Previous QE totalling £546bn (70tn Yen)

Bank of England:

Further QE could be on the horizon for late 2012 predicted at £50bn
Interest rates stay at 0.5%
Previous QE totalling £375bn

The US Federal Reserve (FED) announced last week that they w…

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…

Financial authorities worldwide hinted last week that ever more desperate measures would be needed to stimulate growth and contain the debt crisis gripping economies in the West.

These measures would be likely to include further ‘quantitative easing’, or money-printing, it is widely thought – even though leaders in Europe and elsewhere failed to outline any specific strategies.

The result has been an increased focus on gold and other non-cash investments – and fresh anxiety for millions of private savers, much of who…

It seems that the hottest topic for the media at the moment when it comes to fine wine is the issue of whether regulation is required. As we start a new financial year, many investors are being warned off wine following the recent revelation that over 50 wine investment companies have collapsed in the last four years as featured in the Sunday Times and BBC Radio 4 in recent days.

Our industry has had its reputation tarnished by a number of reckless companies who have muddied the process and not provided enough security or transparency…

Simon Greenspan, former futures trader and Gold and Silver Specialist at City commodities broker, Tullett Brown, explains why gold is still a good investment option in 2012.

Gold has been plunged back in to the headlines recently as it reached its highest price since November on February 28th before plummeting on the same day.

Equally, China this week said it is targeting slower growth for 2012, which sent tremors through the market creating fears that the rise of gold bubble, which has been steadily inflating over the last few years,…

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…

A good number of agents and IFAs are beginning to get involved in Alternative Investments as buyers seek lower risk, more secure, lower entry level investments and sales partners can earn good and quick commissions with emotion free product.

What are alternative investments?
Basically, alternative investments are assets that are not equity, cash, property or fixed income products.  Alternatives are largely uncorrelated with these more commonly held investments, so they can be used to provide diversification
This can include hedge funds, v…