The lure and risks of “alternative investments.”
The financial world has been deluged marketing offers from investment firms offering “alternative investments.” “Alts” are non-traditional investments. They include non-traded REITs, hedge funds and private equity.
The lure of “alts” is summarized in a quote from Financial IQ:
“The 2008 financial crisis scarred investors enough that they’re still seeking new ways to diversify out of stocks and bonds. Meanwhile, investors also are hungry for yield amid persistently low interest rates.”
The problem with “alts” is that they are not well understood.
Many are not liquid – in other words they cannot be sold at a moment’s notice.
In addition, most are not transparent – you can’t always tell what you own because the “alts” managers are secretive, unwilling to reveal their strategy in detail.
Third, the fees charged by “alts” managers are often much higher than those charged by traditional managers.
Many of the “alts” use derivatives which are difficult to understand and can lead to risks that are not obvious. An example are the “guaranteed” structured notes created prior to 2008. When Lehman Brothers collapsed it was revealed that the “guaranteed” notes issued by Lehman were backed by the claims paying ability of a bankrupt company. People lost millions and learned a painful lesson.
Our philosophy is to invest our money in securities we understand. We always want to know: what’s the worst thing that can happen? If we don’t understand the risk, we don’t invest. It’s a lesson learned over the years as we keep in mind the first rule of making money: don’t lose it.