Farmland has traditionally been the preserve of wealthy families. Recently more institutional investors started accessing farmland for unique diversification. The fundamentals of supply and demand are shifting and the number of retail investment opportunities in this sector has dramatically increased in recent years.
One of the biggest obstacles to investment in the EIS sector is the lack of independent, accurate performance information. Without this information advisers and investors are putting their money in a blind pool and trusting that the manager will be able to produce the kind of performance they are promising, but with no verifiable track record to assess the veracity of their claims.
Following the release of the FCA Policy Paper PS14/04 on the 7th March, Daniel Kiernan summarises and analyses the main thrust of the regulations for interested parties such as platforms, providers considering raising money in this way or advisers who already have clients who invest in crowdfunding.
Precious Metals have long been viewed as safe haven assets, providing balance to investment portfolios. Obviously gold is already established as a common retail investment, but silver is now in focus. With its many industrial uses, silver can outperform when economies return to growth as well as providing essential hedging in downturns.
In July 2013, the FCA issued proceedings against Capital Alternatives and 14 other parties alleging that two investment schemes, African Land and Reforestation Projects (known as Capital Carbon Credits), were operating illegally as collective investment schemes (CIS). Operating a CIS in the UK without authorisation is a criminal offence. Capital Alternatives argued that the schemes were direct purchases of property and therefore not collectives.
The Achilles heel of alternative investments has always been the lack of liquidity. Yes, they offer un-correlated returns, additional yield, higher returns and more excitement – but they often are risky and the lack of liquidity compounds that risk because it makes exiting the investment difficult. The benefits of liquidity are pretty obvious: you can buy and sell more easily, more frequently and more cheaply.
Forestry has long been viewed as a store of wealth for the super-rich, but is it something that is ever suitable for ordinary investors? Intelligent Partnership’s Luke Jackson discusses the different types of forestry investment available, who they might be suitable for, and what role they play in a portfolio.
High-profile failures have resulted in intense scrutiny and tighter controls, but there is now a large amount of optimism as to what the future may hold. A good awareness of how to assess the risks can help investors and their advisers seek opportunities which have the potential to diversify a portfolio and provide uncorrelated returns.
The UK Crowdfunding market was worth approximately £350m at the end of 2012, driven by consumers looking for alternative investment opportunities and startup firms looking for alternative sources of capital. But Crowdfunding itself is a very broad church, encompassing many different types of investments and asset classes, each with their own unique benefits and risks.
Following Intelligent Partnership’s previous paper “A Review of the Advantages of EIS Investing, with a Focus on Using a Portfolio Approach”, this article examines the possibility of re-investing the gains from EIS investments in other EIS offers.
This content is locked; in order to access it you must first log in.