Alternative Investments for HNWIs

February 2008
New Investment Paradigm for the Celtic Tiger. Private equity, hedge funds, commodities, and other alternative investments are increasingly being seen by wealth managers, high net worth investors, and indeeed the National Treasury Management Agency as a means of diversifying Ireland's wealth beyond property and equities.

Alternative Investment strategies for the Celtic Tiger The start of a global equities bear market, and the decline in property values both globally and in Ireland has again underlined the value of proper diversification and private wealth risk management. We examine the role of alternative investment strategies for Irish resident investors in a properly diversified portfolio, and their potential in the investment climate of 2008. Hedge Funds - funds of funds a safer but pricier option   Exchange Traded Funds - low cost and diversified access to a huge range of alternatives   Private Equity - off the boil for now Private equity - offering high net worth investors the opportunity to avail of special situation investment opportunities - opportunities not available to the general public, and thus inherently attractive to those subscribing to the theory of assymetric market opportunity, has gone off the boil since the spring of 2007. Its time will come again though. Other ‘Alternatives’   Absolute return portfolios, and the role of hedge funds Pat McCormack describes the approach one leading wealth manager - Barclays - adopts in designing absolute return portfolios NTMA targets diversification into alternatives for National Pension Reserve Fund for 2009