The Ultimate Investments

With the global economic recovery from the pandemic underway, many analysts are suggesting now is the time to invest – but will whisky, soybeans or bitcoin find a way into your portfolio?

- Lisa Smyth

Famed investor Benjamin Graham once said, “Successful investing is about managing risk, not avoiding it.” Given that in the past 18 months the entire world has teetered on a knife edge of risk, it’s understandable that until now, many investors decided to sit tight and not look too far beyond their existing portfolios.

However, with the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all wrapping up the first half of 2021 at record highs, and some economies turning the corner to recovery, many analysts believe now is the time to raise that risk tolerance.

“We are going to see the fastest growth in decades. Investors won’t want to miss out on the major economic growth spurt and should continue to top up their portfolios,” says Nigel Green, CEO and Founder of deVere Group, one of the world’s largest independent advisers of financial solutions, with 70 offices and 80,000 clients around the world.

“Last year demonstrated – on an unprecedented scale – the risks investors can put themselves in if their portfolios are not properly diversified and not futureproofed,” Green explains. “But it’s essential that investors remember not to be complacent when confidence once again grips the markets, and to avoid the ‘buy everything’ mindset and invest judiciously.”

So where should you be putting your money in 2021?

REAL ESTATE

While commercial real estate has been hit hard by the pandemic, residential real estate has never been better. In 2020, according to Morgan Stanley, 90 per cent of the world’s central banks dropped short-term rates to record lows and house prices rose in nearly every developed country.