{"id":2518,"date":"2013-06-25T09:09:00","date_gmt":"2013-06-25T14:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.billlosey.com\/?p=2518"},"modified":"2013-06-25T09:09:00","modified_gmt":"2013-06-25T14:09:00","slug":"would-investing-in-alternative-assets-be-a-wise-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/would-investing-in-alternative-assets-be-a-wise-choice\/","title":{"rendered":"Would Investing in Alternative Assets Be a Wise Choice?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"style1\" style=\"font-size: 16px\">The answer to that question is really in the eye of the beholder \u2013 or investor. Before investing in alternative assets, you should have at least a basic understanding of what they are and the advantages and disadvantages associated with them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"style1\" style=\"font-size: 16px\"><strong><strong>What  Are Alternative Assets?<\/strong><\/strong><br \/>\nAlternative assets are those securities that are not typically found in a more  conventional portfolio. What you would typically find in a more conventional  portfolio are stocks, bonds, and cash. Alternative assets are things like  private equity funds, hedge funds, commodities, Real Estate Investment Trusts  (REITs), and venture capital.<\/p>\n<p class=\"style1\" style=\"font-size: 16px\"><strong><strong>Advantages  of Investing in Alternative Assets<\/strong><\/strong><br \/>\nInvesting in alternative assets offer the potential for large returns to  investors who are willing to accept higher risk. As is the case, in any  investment, the greater the risk, the greater the potential for gain. One of  the more attractive aspects of investing in alternative assets is they  sometimes bring extraordinary gains.<\/p>\n<p class=\"style1\" style=\"font-size: 16px\">Another  advantage to investing in alternative assets is portfolio diversification.  Maintaining a well-diversified portfolio of 25 to 30 securities across a broad  range of asset classes provides the most cost-effective level of risk  reduction. Because alternative assets are not closely correlated to securities  traded in the public markets they are an excellent way to diversify a portfolio  and reduce risk in a retirement portfolio.<\/p>\n<p class=\"style1\" style=\"font-size: 16px\">Because  alternative assets are sometimes illiquid, they&#8217;re typically less volatile.  This makes them a good hedge against inflation. And in some strategies,  illiquid assets enable managers to add value in inefficient sectors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"style1\" style=\"font-size: 16px\"><strong><strong>Disadvantages  of Investing in Alternative Assets<\/strong><\/strong><br \/>\nInvesting in alternative assets requires a higher level of knowledge and  expertise on the part of the investor. This can make them less appropriate for  the average investor. Also, many of these investments are illiquid which may  make it difficult to find a sufficient market for a particular security. This  also makes it hard to accurately determine the current value or a particular  security.<\/p>\n<p class=\"style1\" style=\"font-size: 16px\">It&#8217;s  important to also note that investing in alternative assets can subject the  investor to a higher risk of investment fraud than most conventional  investments would pose. However, this can be mitigated by a higher level of due  diligence by the investor \u2013 an important component of any wise investment plan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"style1\" style=\"font-size: 16px\">Finally,  many alternative investments may become more volatile in periods of financial  turmoil. They may also have a higher correlation to stocks and other  traditional investments during these times than they otherwise would.<\/p>\n<p class=\"style1\" style=\"font-size: 16px\"><strong><strong>Are  Alternative Assets Right for You?<\/strong><\/strong><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong>If you&#8217;re a fairly risk averse investor, alternative assets would  probably not be a good fit for you. But if you can afford to take on more risk  in your portfolio, and you have the disposition to do so, alternative assets  can be a very rewarding investment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"style1\" style=\"font-size: 16px\">The bottom-line: in a volatile market like we\u2019re experiencing now, a  properly diversified portfolio of traditional asset classes enhanced by  alternative investments could provide both downside protection and upside  potential.\u00a0 Talk with your advisor to see what makes sense for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The answer to that question is really in the eye of the beholder \u2013 or investor. Before investing in alternative assets, you should have at least a basic understanding of what they are and the advantages and disadvantages associated with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billlosey.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}