Investors urged to think alternative, be innovative
Delegates at this year’s Investec global investment strategies conference — held yesterday at the National Convention Centre in Dublin — were told that Irish investors should be focusing more on innovative, alternative investment opportunities and emerging geographical economies.
“Sovereign assets, once deemed iron-clad investments, no longer provide a risk-free return. Risk has become a key factor for investors and clients are looking to understand the markets where they operate,” commented Aisling Dodgson, head of treasury at Investec Ireland.
Chris Tessler from Investec’s British business put forward some interesting alternative investment ideas at yesterday’s conference.
“There’s a compelling argument for being a little more experimental with a small proportion of your corporate portfolio.
“Why restrict yourself to the traditionally ‘safe’ investments when there are tangible products out there offering better returns and the guarantee that they will still be there in the future,” he said.
“Alternative investments simply mean non-traditional ones. They are tangible and there is a demand for them. For example, whisky maker Whyte & Mackay holds 13 million litres of whisky in its bonded warehouse. They wanted to obtain offshore financing and £30m was raised, secured by the whisky with a valuation of £44m. And because it is good stock, if it went wrong you could always sell the stock on,” Mr Tessler added.
Meanwhile, Peter Armitage — head of portfolio management at Investec Wealth & Investment (South Africa) — said that Irish investors should also be considering emerging markets such as South Africa and opportunities in areas like education, micro-lending and pharmaceuticals.
