Alternative Outlook

On the back of a pretty uninteresting year for the gold market, financial institutions have been busy looking at what happened in the market and putting together their predictions for the year ahead. This article includes some interesting opinions from Thomson Reuters GFMS who are one of the main commentators on the gold market.
2012 Overview
2012 saw some volatile periods for the gold market but overall the price stayed in a bracket between $1,540 and $1,800 per ounce, finishing the year only marginally higher than it started. Gold did not a…

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…

IFAs and agents looking for a simple alternative investment to add to their menu of products could do a lot worse than gold. You don’t need a masters in economics to understand it and you don’t need to be regulated to sell it.

What are the Benefits of Gold for Agents?

There are two key benefits of gold that agents should bear in mind.

Firstly, it’s an opportunity to earn commissions that they wouldn’t earn otherwise. While large investments are not uncommon, gold is a low entry level, liquid alternative to cash and what many ag…

One of the hardest issues facing investors after the financial crisis, especially those for whom their investment is their primary source of income, is finding a safe yet high-yield destination for their money.

With interest rates in the doldrums and house prices still generally low across the UK, Europe and the US, the traditional conservative investments of high-interest savings accounts or property purchases would seem to be obsolete.

By the same token, since the 2008 crash all but the bravest investors have opted out of the stoc…

IFAs and agents looking to broaden their offering of investment products should consider farmland. It’s a product with a great back story that offers solid returns for investors and good commissions for agents. In this article Daniel Kiernan, chief investment analyst at Alternative Outlook outlines some of the benefits and key selling points.

What are the Benefits of Farmland for Agents?

As an investment product, farmland offers three key benefits to agents:

Great backstory to help sell it
Favourable commissions for agents
…