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…

If the earth could speak to us what would it say?

“Help me to help you?” “Enough is enough!” There are just too many people on planet earth now – with not enough food, not enough fuel and not enough shelter to go round. Our resource constrained world needs our support on every level, and what we put in right now, we might just reap the rewards from, in more ways than one. But how can the individual investor play a part? Intelligent Partnership have produced an infographic (below) to help explain just how much help the earth need…

Daniel Kiernan, director of Intelligent Partnership, explains the case for including some directly held tangible assets in your clients’ portfolios.

Many IFAs are concerned about using directly held esoteric or alternative investments in their clients’ portfolios. They are regarded as unconventional and the investment structures are often not regulated and their promotion may be outside the scope of the FSA.

However, a case can be made for recommending esoteric investments if we look closer at two of the key assumptions con…

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…

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.  Dan Kiernan of Intelligent Partnership examines the phenomenon and takes a look at some of the reasons behind the growth of alternatives within SIPPs.

The flow of dreadful macro-economic news since the crash…