Gertjan Verdickt: Auckland University finance lecturer unpacks research revealing whisky, Lego and handbags might be safer investments

New research shows investors looking for the best returns might be better off putting money into whisky or Lego, as opposed to the share market. 

University of Auckland finance lecturer Gertjan Verdickt has released new research into alternative investments, including Lego, instruments, classic cars, wine, whisky and baseball cards.

Verdickt says there's value in adding an additional component to a traditional investment portfolio.

"Having something real, something tangible, is worth something. And it can produce additional returns on top of your normal portfolio." 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
New research shows that you might be better off investing
your money into whiskey and Lego rather than the share market.
Whiskey came out on top with an average annual return
of seventeen point five two percent over ten years, while
more traditional investing into the S and P five hundred,
for example, return just twelve percent a year over a
long period. Gertjian Verdict is the University of Auckland finance

(00:22):
lecturer who's been looking into this. He is with me now,
good evening, Thank you for having me. How realistic is
it making lots of money off Lego?

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Well, it's not really that realistic in terms of percentage
is amazing, but we're talking about actual small amounts of money.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
How much have you found people are investing in stuff
like Lego or whiskey.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
More than than you would think. So Lego is slowly
building up, but the drinkable so one and whiskey, especially
since the pandemic has increased significantly.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
Give us the numbers. What what is you know? You're
the top three earners.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
So in terms of actual percentage, like whiskey is by
far number one. Then we have baseball cards which also
has as a very nice return then we are at wine.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
And lego, so baseball cards. Let's peck them out. So
between nineteen eighty seven and twenty twenty three, they posted
an average annual return of thirteen percent a year, which
is incorrect, more than the S and P five hundred
return per year over twenty years. That's correct, yes, And
I mean, what is this research telling us we should

(01:33):
go and pile our money there?

Speaker 2 (01:35):
No, definitely not. What this research shows is that there
is value in adding an additional component to your traditional
portfolio of stocks and bonds, because having something real, something tangible,
is worth something and it can produce a very nice
additional return on top of your normal portfolio.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
Do you have any little X or alternative investments yourself.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
So, I'm myself a wine expert. I do research on
wine as well, so I have a small proportion of
my portfolio dedicated to wine, and I'm also consulted for
wine investment funds, which I do not disclose in the book.
So all the examples in the book are not something
I'm affiliated with.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
Ah, so are the funds that will manage your money
for you and invest in alternative assets like this, Because
I mean, for your average punter, learning about baseball cards
or lego or whatever it might be. You know, quite
a time consuming thing to do.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
So that's something we actually show in the book. So
you have a direct investment where you can actually go
and buy your lego set, but we also offer a
lot of indirect options as well. So art, for instance,
is there's growing platforms online where it can buy a
small piece of art. But also wine, as I mentioned
the wine investment funds with Key, similar issue, similar thing.

(03:02):
You have Whiskey investment funds as well. So there are
indirect options which we clearly show what the benefits are
also what the disadvantages are within the book.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
Dan give us you a hot tip on wine. What
should we be buying?

Speaker 2 (03:16):
So Australian wine is actually pretty pretty good at the moment,
So think about your pen falls for instance. That is
something that there's growing interest across the world. People are
moving away from your traditional Bordeaux French style wine and
moving more into this Californian, Australia and Argentinian wines.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
Hard thing about that, and you mentioned pin Folds is
actually keeping it and not drinking it exactly.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
There's a small I'm doing consumption and investment.

Speaker 1 (03:47):
Sydney is get you and thank you for your time.
Getzion Verdict, Who's the University of All con Finance Lecture?
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