Investments

Collecting sporting memorabilia is also a fantastic alternative investment to more traditional items such as fine art, wine, property, shares etc

Between 1997 and 2007 the FTSE 100 fell 4% in value; the average autograph rose 139%!

Malcolm Forbes of Forbes Magazine comments as follows on autograph values

‘in my view they are the most undervalued of all areas of collecting, especially when you consider what people are paying for even second rate paintings’

We can advise collectors on potentially strong investment items and can help build an investment portfolio to suit. In the last couple of years we have witnessed a large increase in collectors buying for investment purposes and some pieces have made customers a lot of money.

Autographs, which benefit from being highly portable, are internationally traded in all currencies and the price obtained is largely constant wherever you sell them. Over 30 million collectors worldwide protect both the price and the liquidity.

"If you share my view that the stock market is likely to go sideways and the residential property market will be lucky not to go backwards over the next year or so, you might well be scratching your head about where to put your money."

Tom Stevenson, editor Hemscott.net

Diversification

There are still few investors or financial advisers who have identified the benefits of diversification into alternative tangible asset investments. That is why, time and time again throughout history, financial wealth is destroyed when there is a stock market or house price crash, as most investors are overexposed in these areas.

We are also seeing the emergence of new economies, with new wealth on a staggering scale, especially in Brazil, Russia, India and China. Rare signed sporting memorabilia is now collected globally and the stability of the market is therefore underpinned by thousands of collectors around the world. This stability is unseen in other traditional forms of investment.

Excellent returns are complemented by the wonderful feeling of pride from owning such an important piece of history. No other alternative investment can offer such an eclectic range of benefits and emotions

Many of our investors develop their portfolios into award winning collections: an achievement which gives added interest, provenance and value to their collection.

"None of my other investments give me the joy that autographs do, because they make me feel that I am holding a piece of history in my hands."

Malcolm Forbes of Forbes Magazine

Text provided by Adrian Roose of Stanley Gibbons