P2P tops UK’s fastest-growing alternative investments table
Peer-to-peer lending has seen a 243 per cent surge in search interest over the past year, sending it to the top of Whiskey & Wealth Club’s table of the fastest-growing alternative investments in the UK.
Whiskey & Wealth Club is an alternative asset platform specialising in premium whiskey investment. It analysed search trends over the past year to identify the top-performing alternative investment sectors based on their growth in popularity from the previous 12 months’ worth of data.
P2P enables investment directly in loans, offering annual returns of between four and eight per cent and has grown in appeal as a result of rising interest rates and fintech innovations.
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Music royalties ranked second, experiencing a 202 per cent increase in popularity. This asset class offers investors the opportunity to earn income from licensing and streaming, yielding returns of around 10 per cent.
Cryptocurrencies, though notoriously volatile, continued to attract the attention of investors, with a 49 per cent rise in interest over the year. Offering the highest potential return-on-investment (ROI) at 200 per cent, digital assets remained a speculative yet popular option for risk-tolerant investors.
Whiskey cask investment placed fourth, with search volume increasing by 33 per cent in 2024 from the previous 12 months. Known as a tangible, appreciating asset, whiskey is a unique alternative investment opportunity.
Another tangible asset in luxury watches followed, having a 14 per cent increase in online searches year on year. The average annual ROI can be anything from five to 20 per cent according to the latest data, which mainly varies depending on the brand.
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“The surge in interest across alternative investments highlights a growing appetite among UK investors to diversify their portfolios and seek out opportunities beyond traditional markets,” said Whiskey & Wealth Club global sales manager Joshua King.
“Among the tangible assets whiskey cask investment, in particular, continues to gain traction thanks to its strong returns and timeless appeal. This data shows that whiskey is not just a passion for enthusiasts but an increasingly smart choice for savvy investors looking for long-term alternative assets to invest in.”
The bottom five investment opportunities in the top 10 table were farmland (13 per cent), coins (10 per cent), sports memorabilia (eight per cent), real estate crowdfunding (seven per cent) and comics (four per cent).
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