AssetTribe, the alternative investment platform connecting investors to a broad and diverse range of alternative assets, has published its latest research showing that demand for alternative investments is set to grow by up to 46 per cent over the next 12-months.
Working with market research firm Survation, AssetTribe engaged with over 580 sophisticated investors across the UK and Europe to discuss their attitudes towards investments in alternative assets.
The results of this survey showed a positive outlook for alternative assets over the next 12 months with 53 per cent stating that their appetite for alternative assets will increase over the next 12 months whilst only 6.4 per cent said they would decrease (46 per cent net growth). The research went on to identify three key reasons for this growth; firstly, due to the current rate of inflation (62 per cent, secondly due to an increasing need to diversify existing portfolios (62 per cent) and finally because of the attractive higher potential returns (53 per cent).
AssetTribe’s founder and CEO, Jeremy Davies, commented: “This is one of the largest surveys into attitudes of investors towards alternative assets across the UK and continental Europe. Alternatives has been a rapidly growing asset class for institutions for the last 20 years and it is clear that high net worth investors want in on the act. What was more eye-opening and pleasing to see, were investors considering an increasingly diverse range of alternatives, from real estate to wine and net zero funds.”
The survey went on to explore the types of alternative assets that investors were most likely to invest in with real estate being the most popular at 75 per cent. However, other alternatives were also seen to be very popular including long-term asset funds (62 per cent), carbon net zero funds (51 per cent), forestry (49 per cent), fine art (40 per cent) and wine (38 per cent).
Although primarily focused on high-net-worth investors, the survey found dramatic differences in the behaviours of the wealthiest participants who invested far more in alternatives than those with smaller portfolios (76 per cent).
In addition, investors seem to have become far more comfortable with the use of technology, and are twice as likely to use platforms to make investments (52 per cent vs 26 per cent overall) as well as being more open to concepts such as tokenisation (74 per cent vs 44 per cent overall). However, surprisingly, UK investors participation in alternatives (35 per cent) significantly lags behind that of their European counterparts where 79 per cent of those surveyed currently invest in the sector.
Davies continued, “over the last decade or so, alternative assets have come with a perceived higher risk profile with many obstacles that push them beyond the means of high-net-worth investors, making them solely the domain of institutional investors. At AssetTribe we have a sole purpose to simplify and democratise the alternatives market. Our investment platform connects investors to multiple investment opportunities across a diverse range of real-world assets and funds that are easier to understand and engage with.”
