Commodity prices are volatile and difficult to predict, however we have built up an understanding of how commodity prices react to changes in the economic environment. This knowledge still doesn’t give us a perfect crystal ball – as the economy is just as difficult to forcast! My guide on ‘How to Invest in Commodities‘ as part of the Advanced Investing …
Commodities Trading
This article about commodities trading is applicable worldwide unless stated otherwise. Investing in commodities is a risky and speculative activity, which may cause you to lose more capital than you originally invested due to the ‘leverage’ inherent in commodities trading methods. For high risk investments of this nature; you should only risk what you can afford to lose without affecting your current …
The 3 Levels of Protection of Structured Products
As we explain in our guide to structured products, there are three different categories of investment, as defined by how much protection they claim to offer the investor. 100% protection Partial protection No protection Let’s explore these three layers of protection in this separate article. 100% principal protection The investor receives the return on the underlying index (provided it has …
How to Become a Financial Adviser (UK)
Being a financial adviser is a very rewarding experience. A financial planning career can provide you with the rich and varied experience that you would expect from a highly professionalised role. The reputation and recognition of advisors is also improving all the time. The route to becoming a financial advisor changed dramatically since the financial crisis of 2009. The financial …
Structured Products Checklist: What you Need to Know
As we explain in our guide to investing in structured products, these interesting investments can be complex beasts. This article serves as a checklist of all the information you need to have before you invest in a structured product. Each of the points below, will either drive your returns, define your risk or explain how the product will behave over …
Guide to Investing in Gold Bullion Coins
For the people out there who want to hold a small sum of gold, but don’t want to break the bank, investing in gold bullion coins could be a solution. Gold coins are remarkably beautiful and great to look at. They also make great collections to wow friends and family. If a specific design of a coin is especially rare …
What is a Hedge Fund?
Hedge funds are pooled investments, whereby a number of investors entrust their money to a fund manager, who invests in various traded securities. Hedge fund managers will use active fund management strategies as they seek to provide positive absolute returns, regardless of overall market movements. Typical hedge fund trading strategies could include: Using debt to leverage (gear up) investments made …
What is a Sophisticated Investor?
If you have recently chosen a stockbroker or signed up for peer to peer lending platforms, you may have been asked to certify whether you are a ‘Sophisticated Investor.’ This phrase isn’t just a new way to boost the ego of valuable customers. ‘Sophisticated Investor’, is an official definition used by the Financial Conduct Authority, and it could have a …
Is Gold Overpriced & Overvalued?
The price of a troy ounce of gold has moved between $1,000 and $2,000 over the 2010 decade. Is that a fair price for this precious metal, or an unjustifiable premium? ‘Is gold is overpriced / overvalued?’ is a natural question for new investors to ask. Before investing in commodities, it makes sense to understand whether the market is trading …
Which are the UK’s largest land owners?
I’m expanding my popular How to invest in land guide with a series of short articles. Let’s explore some curious questions about investing in land which I couldn’t squeeze into the original article! Question 3: Who owns the most land in the UK? Whether our motivation comes from envy or curiosity, many of us are interested in who owns the …