5 Alternative Investments to Consider in 2021

May 17, 2021


When it comes to investing, not everyone is interested in following the crowd. You may be interested in making your portfolio more diverse, which is a time-honored approach against uncertainty. Here are 5 alternative investments for you to consider, illustrating the variety of innovative options people have to put their money to work for them.

1. Lending Peer-to-Peer

Back in the early days of online music, before streaming was in vogue, people would “share” songs, albums and entire catalogs of their favorite artists using peer-to-peer networks. P2P systems are distributed, decentralized networks that are quite resilient. 

Enter the notion of peer-to-peer lending. “There is no bank involved in P2P lending. Your money is typically pooled with other investors’ money, and together you make a loan to the individual asking for funds, noted Investopedia. Investors get payments every month, including interest. “Often, the returns you get from P2P lending can be higher than those you'd get from standard savings vehicles.”


2. Making Restored Wilderness Part of Your Financial Future

If you love the great outdoors and want to do something to help protect the planet’s natural wonders, wilderness may be the investment opportunity you’ve been hoping for. Investors seek to bring the land back to its wild state, known as “rewilding.” 

As Bloomberg put it, “Climate change has made biodiversity a vital issue, and investors can reap carbon and tax benefits, and ecotourism business from rewilded properties.”

3. Buying Music Rights

Music fans who want to put their money where their interests lie can join forces with other like-minded investors to purchase the rights to popular music. For example, you can invest in the Hipgnosis Songs Fund, launched by Merck Mercuriadis in July 2018 on the London Stock Exchange. 

The New York Times reports that “Hipgnosis has spent about $1.7 billion scooping up the rights to more than 57,000 songs from an enviable list of writers.” Its holdings are written by writers from bands ranging from Blondie to the Wu-Tang Clan.

4. Adding Farmland to Your Portfolio

Agriculture is a pillar of the economy, since every person on the planet relies on its products to survive. That alone makes it a tempting investment opportunity. You don’t need to buy an entire farm by yourself to get involved, though.

“Farmland is gaining more mainstream acceptance as an institutional asset class, potentially providing attractive long-term annualized returns that are uncorrelated to traditional financial products such as fixed income and global equities, and low correlation to other real assets,” according to the Financial Times

The FT declared that farmland returns are notably consistent and resilient despite fluctuations in the economy. FarmFundr makes it possible to take fractional ownership in a sustainable and high profit potential farm. Investors have the potential opportunity to receive profits from the crops the property produces in addition to the sell of the property after a hold period. an

5. Investing in Whiskey

People looking for an investment that will raise their spirits, so to speak, will want to consider investing in full casks of whiskey. The older the whisky, the more nuanced its taste, making it more valuable with age when properly maintained. Fans of the distilled beverage are now working with whisky brokers to buy casks, hoping to cash in as aging spirits go on auction. 

Bloomberg stated that “Spurred by rising demand from Asian investors, the value of rare whisky has soared 564% in the last decade, and the asset has outperformed not only fine wine but every other luxury asset,” citing the Knight Frank 2020 Wealth Report, which indicates that rare whisky continues to increase in value amid market volatility.

Expanding Your Financial Holdings by Investing in Farmland

Individuals who find agriculture an appealing sector for investment may not have much time or knowledge to research farmland opportunities. One method for newcomers involves fractional investments in farmland that you make in concert with other investors. To learn more about adding farmland to your portfolio, create a complimentary account at FarmFundr today.