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In a year when many investors, analysts and market commentators are beginning to have serious worries about how the financial markets will perform, alternative assets continue to provide a true diversification option for investors across all levels. The even better news is that the option of alternative investment possibilities continues to grow, offering some protection, should the stock markets hit a lengthy rough patch.
While there are numerous well-known and successful investors around the world, the way in which they manage and select their investments varies widely. George Soros chooses to diversify his investments through hedge funds and industrial products.
Ken Chenault, the chairman of General Catalyst, according to Recode Media, plans to revolute the Silicon Valley investing playbook with launching a credit fund that would lend money to startups.
Meanwhile, serial investor and FinTech expert Oleg Boyko is a keen supporter of the new digital banking and financial technology businesses. “There are no other commercial sectors that have so little competition,” Boyko told the Forbes. For Oleg Boyko, finance and banking tech businesses are the main focus of his Finstar Financial $150 million investment strategy to finance direct investment in startups, contributions to SMEs, and research and development of cutting-edge Fintech technologies.
As you can see, there’s no one magic formula to ensure any investment strategy will prove a success and regularly deliver impressive returns.
However, one thing along with many others are clear on, is that selecting investments that you understand in sectors you have experience, is a sensible way to protect your money and make much of investment.
Diversification more possible than ever before
In years gone by, investing in alternative assets, which can broadly be described as those not directly related to stock markets or bond markets, wasn’t an easy thing to access. If you wished to invest in a student property, a private eco-friendly hotel brand or even an aircraft leasing business, you were hard pressed to find a way to put a proportion of your investment into them.
Now, however, alternative asset investment funds offer a simple and curated way to gain some of the returns from the alternatives. But there are other options too.
Crowd Funding is one relatively easy way to put your money into a venture you truly believe in, that isn’t available through stock markets or investment managers. In addition to that, the boom in alternative financial and banking provision has ensured there are plenty of options to grab the attention of most everyone with an interest in investing and diversifying their portfolio.
Meanwhile, a report on MSN Money suggests that George Soros is considering investing in the crypto-currency market, has set his sights on the jewelry market and he also weighed in on the software market during 2018.
While Sir John Templeton is no longer with us, his appetite for diversification and alternative investment options lives on through his Franklin Templeton Fund Management firm. The group is currently seeking to rebalance towards the financial and healthcare sectors as the global economic and equities outlook falters.
Weak 2019 outlook for equities
The global equity markets have experienced a positive run for some years now and many investors and analysts are warning that this isn’t something that will likely continue.
According to chief global equity strategist at Goldman Sachs, Peter Oppenheimer, its possible that for many equity market investors, they’ve made the majority of their gains for the year already.
The well-known strategist told CNBC that the recent rally in European stock markets is unlikely to continue. That’s because fundamentals aren’t strong enough and the outlook for the economy is weakening.
Indeed, the European Commission has cut its 2019 and 2020 forecast for GDP growth across the Euro Zone to 1.1% and 1.3%, respectively. The EC had previously expected GDP to expand by 1.8% in 2019 and 1.9% in 2020.
Against that backdrop, alternative assets and new tech-based finance and banking businesses could be the perfect diversification option for many investors looking for ways to boost their 2019 investment returns.
