Topic: How To Invest

What is Pat’s commentary for the week of September 9, 2020

Article Excerpt

There’s nothing inherently wrong with investing in most “alternative investments.” The term includes real estate, commodity trading, private equity (shares of private companies that are not publicly traded), venture capital (private equity of startup companies), hedge funds, art, collectibles, interests in proceeds of lawsuits that are still before the courts, antique sports cars—the list gets longer every year. However, the marketing of alternative investments can lead investors to overlook a key risk in these investments. Marketers of alternative investments use “uncorrelated to the stock market” as a key selling feature. They present this lack of correlation as a positive. They suggest this means that alternative investments are more stable than publicly traded securities. In fact, investments that are uncorrelated to the stock market expose you to greater risk than you get with conventional stocks, bonds and investment funds. The difference is that alternative-investment risk is hidden. You learn about it when it’s too late to protect yourself. The way these alternative investments are…