Alternative Outlook

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…

For investors looking at a grim decade of money printing and financial repression, it might be time to get some SWAG in your portfolio.

SWAG, as in Silver, Wine, Art and Gold, are real assets that might just outperform if official policy causes the money supply to surge.

This is the idea of Joe Roseman, who says SWAG will do very well over what could be a very troubled next decade.

“These assets effectively act as a money supply index tracker,” said Roseman, who for 16 years was a money manager and economist at Moore Capital, run…

Uncertainty over the viability of the European Monetary Union and volatility of the euro may incite investors to seek refuge in wine, suggest financial experts including John Authers, FT columnist and author of The Fearful Rise of Markets.

While his is a cautionary tale, Authers notes that the scenario offers short-term opportunity for bold and disciplined investors who can spot a potential bubble and sell before it bursts.

‘There are many people who will talk very caustically and matter-of-factly about “can I find the next bubbl…

April has finally arrived, and a new tax year has begun. People across the country are beginning to think about their investments and their personal finances and are considering their options. The average investor is probably looking at the books and wondering what they have to show for their investments.

The chances are the majority of people will have a 3% return on their equity investments (if they were lucky!) or their cash ISA may even have managed to beat inflation! Overall, however, people are looking for a way to make returns…

In a year when the S&P 500 made headlines by moving just .04 points in 365 days and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained only 5.5 percent despite mountains of volatility, the art market has shown an impressive 35 percent gain over the last 12 months based on evening sale totals at Christie’s and Sotheby’s. Welcome to the SWAG economy (more on that later).

A recent report from ArtTactic and Deloitte Luxembourg began to chip away at why the art market is so robust — and it doesn’t seem to be because people just like art more t…