Alternative Investments 101
Fergus Hodgson, February 28, 2018 
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With price-to-earnings ratios so high and interest rates so low, there is a compelling case for entering alternative investments, but where does one start?
Donald Chambers literally designed the course for CAIA, the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association, and he will be releasing his next book at the upcoming CFA conference in Hong Kong. He holds a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and he is professor emeritus at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania.
In particular, he promotes diversification, with 10-30 percent of one’s holdings in alternative investments. He also recommends utilizing established markets to verify pricing, as opposed to many private-equity offerings, which are less liquid and less transparent.
A key form of alternative investment is real estate, seen here in Singapore. (Bernard Spragg)
Recommended Links
- Freedom First: Brief Readings on Liberty, Peace and Prosperity (228 pages, 2017) by Donald Chambers, reviewed here by Paz Gómez.
- Real-estate investment trusts (RIETs).
- Modern portfolio theory (published by AIER).
- Vanguard Real Estate.
- Master limited partnership (MLP).
- Exchange-traded note (ETN).
- Simon-Ehrlich wager.
Fergus Hodgson is Gold Newsletter’s roving editor. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.