Alternative investments are typically investments in asset classes other than traditional stocks, annuities, bonds and cash. The alternative investment market involves investment strategies that differ to traditional methods and follow their own path, as a result, it is notable that alternative asset classes are generally unregulated and carry a higher degree of risk. Having said that, they do offer the potential for a far greater ROI (return on investment).

These types of investments can help you to expand your portfolio by lowering the general volatility of the portfolio when common assets like bonds and stocks are underperforming.

There are numerous alternative investment products available in the present market. With this, it becomes much more challenging to recognise the types of investments that are alternative or conventional. Below is a more detailed explanation of prevalent alternative investment assets.

Examples of Alternative Investments

1) Precious Metals 

Including a small section of your investment portfolio with precious metals like gold and silver may significantly offset the performance of other assets in the categories, since valuable commodities like gold do not move in a cycle with standard investments.

Gold is commonly regarded as a hedge against currency fluctuations and inflations. As a result, when inflations affect the buying power of a particular currency – say the euro weakens against the dollar – the price of gold tends to rise. Therefore, it is common to find HNWI and sophisticated investors investing their money in gold during market and economic downturns.

Investing your money in gold can be attained in several ways, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, future funds, coins, and bars. However, the prices of precious metals usually change dramatically because the metals only form a small market sector. This kind of volatility can create chances for investors in the form of high returns, but it can also equally lead to dramatic losses.

2) Property and Real Estate

Investing in property and real estate (both residential and commercial) can be a good form of diversification, it is less affected by stock market fluctuations and can offer immediate cash returns by way of rental income and long-term capital growth via house price inflation.

Commercial real estate is a popular type of alternative investment. Until a few years ago, property investment in real estate was unreachable to general retail investors and was only enjoyed by HNWIs and sophisticated investors. Since the inauguration of REITs (real estate investment trusts), investing in the commercial real estate market has become readily available to a wide range of capitalists.

3) Hedge Funds

Hedge funds have been historically only available to institutions and HNWI. Hedge funds are typical investment pools that handle money for institutions like insurance companies, banks, as well as sophisticated and high net worth investors.

Hedge funds are usually planned as restricted partnerships where the capitalists are the limited partners and the fund managers are the general partners. Hedge fund investments tend to possess limited liquidity on an arranged basis. Due to this, these investments are subjected to particular regulatory requirements that are different from mutual funds.

Hedge fund offerings are invested into a wide variety of categories, it incorporates many asset classes and tactics with the sole purpose of lowering the overall fund risk via increased diversification. The hedge fund offerings are only available to stockholders that meet the accredited net worth standards. Notably, the fees involved in hedge funds are incredibly high due to the increased trading costs and type of portfolio management involved.

4) Commodities

Typical examples of commodities include grains, gold, beef, oil, and natural gas.

Commodities can be an important way for investors to diversify their portfolios. This is because the price of commodities tends to move in opposition to that of stocks, some investors also rely on commodities during periods of market volatility.

Supply and demand are the driving forces within the commodities market. The scarcity of supply can impact demand and lead to higher prices.

5) Art 

Art prices are not affected by the stock market, this means paintings can rise in value even when the market crashes, this makes art a good diversification for an investment portfolio.

It should be noted however that art does come with elements of risk. The art industry finds itself in troubling times due to recent cases of investors falling prey to art fraud. Therefore it is always advisable to use a professional art appraiser.

If you are known to have an expensive art collection hanging on your walls, this may make you a prime target for burglars. Art also needs to be stored carefully so as not to be affected by humidity and temperature levels, and to protect them from the sun or other damage.

In Summary

Historically, alternative investment asset classes have been restricted to sophisticated investors and HNWIs (High Net Worth Individuals), but the trend has changed and they are now available to general investors. Most individuals are fascinated by the alternative investment market because it can yield a higher ROI than traditional investments, but remember that a high ROI may also come with significantly high risks.

What is essential to note is that some alternative asset investments may not be easily converted into cash in comparison to their traditional counterparts and some may necessitate an investor to hold them for a prolonged period of time before finally being converted into cash. In addition, most alternative investments come with various tax consequences and particular fees.

Alternative investments are generally used to run alongside and complement traditional investment strategies such as fixed-income products.

Your investment portfolio should naturally contain conventional investments such as bonds and stocks both equally essential parts of a long-term, solid investment strategy. Other less-common alternative investments can complement your portfolio and offer you incredible chances to lower some of the typical impacts of market variations.

Investors seeking stable income will find some investment alternatives to be much better than others, the same could be denoted for those capitalists searching for long-term, continuous capital growth.

It is always advisable though to consult with a qualified independent financial consultant, one that can properly advise you on the opportunities and risks linked to the specific asset class that interests you. As seen above, alternative investments can possibly enhance your portfolio returns while assisting you to lower your overall portfolio volatility and market exposure.