If you haven't guessed what it is, read on!

Alternative Investments What Are They?

The term alternative investments typically refers to hedge funds, private equity investing, high return mutual funds and a variety of non-traditional asset investments such as land, timber, art, precious metals and a variety of other collectables.

Alternative Investments - Reduce Risk and Increase Long Term Performance!

The addition of alternative investments to a portfolio of traditional investments can not only enhance overall portfolio returns, but also help reduce downside swings and losses.

Portfolio Diversification

The concept of not putting all your eggs in one basket when investing, and spreading the risk is not a new concept - Harry Markowtiz reduced it to a mathematical formula in 1952.

Today, his work remains a major influence on both asset managers and investors when considering the overall make up of an investment portfolio.

Low Correlation

Markowitz worked on the assumption that all investors what to avoid risk if possible.

He considered how ALL the different investments in a portfolio can be expected to move relative to each other and how this affects the overall risk / return of the portfolio.

The definition of this is "correlation," and measures how much an investor can expect different investments or asset classes to change in price relative to each other.

Attractive Rates of Return

If you choose the right alternative investment, then it will not only help reduce the risk of your portfolio, but can help provide better overall returns because some investments are correlated and move together. A selection of shares for example, will probably all go down together in a bear market; however, other assets may actually rise.

An investor should therefore combine a number of non-correlated investments to balance the risk and reward of the portfolio.

What is the Best Alternative Investment?

UK land is an ideal alternative investment to add to your portfolio - the reason for this is:

Its historical performance, not only has shown good growth, but downside risk has been relatively low.

Land has also produced solid long term gains regardless of whether stocks, equities and mutual have been rising or falling.

Land Prices Rising Strongly Creates an Investment Opportunity UK land has on average risen in value by 920% over 20 years.

This represents the average, and investors who have been careful in their plot selection have made far greater gains.

The UK is one of the most densely populated countries in Europe and has a rising population, combined with a severe housing shortage.

There is a need for new homes to be built and land developed. You can make significant gains by buying land that could get planning permission in the future.

Alternative Investments are not Just for the Rich!

You don't need to be wealthy to consider land as one of your alternative investments and even the smallest investor can take advantage of this opportunity.

Many specialist companies will help you select land that has a high potential to rise in value. They will do the research and give you all the facts you need, to make an informed investment decision.