As a guide some generic risks that investors need to consider before investing are listed below.  The risks listed are generic to alternative investments and not specific to any one investment.  They are included for information purposes only. Specific investments may carry additional risks not identified here. In all cases it is recommended that professional advice is sought from a suitably qualified and authorised adviser.

• Investors may not receive back the full amount that they have invested. The value of an investment may fall and may even lose all of its value.
• Investments in alternative investments are not readily marketable and the timing of any disposal is uncertain. Certain of the investments do not even allow redemptions or transfers for a certain period of time or for the term of the investment.
• Past performance of investments is not an indication of the future performance.
• The investment return may be dependent on what events, investment conditions and/or economic conditions are needed to provide the expected investment return. Examples of these include, but are not restricted to, increases in land prices, proposed occupancy rates of hotel rooms, future commodity prices linked to the underlying investment (e.g. timber, gold or electricity).
• Alternative investments often rely on a certain legal structure and/or certain parties performing functions to a required standard. The legal structure may not be appropriate or operate as expected or the parties may not perform as expected.
• Many alternative investments are developed to exploit new and innovative opportunities that in many cases would not otherwise be available to ‘retail’ investors. This may mean that they may be unproven and to some extent still in ‘development phase’. Consequently there is a risk that they may simply not work as planned resulting in capital loss.
• Some alternative investments rely on other parties, whether this is for a guaranteed income to be paid, the promotion of a hotel room or obtaining planning permission on a piece of land. These parties may not perform or even go bust.
• Some alternative investments have high levels of borrowing. There is a risk that the value of the underlying asset may be less than the outstanding borrowing, resulting in negative equity.
• Tax laws may change or the investment may be challenged by HM Revenue & Customs. In addition where the investment is outside the UK it may be subject to overseas tax.
• Many alternative or specialist investments in particular may operate in unregulated markets or the investments themselves may be unregulated meaning there may be no investor protection in the event of things going wrong, when compared to a regulated investment.
• As with most investments, economic factors can clearly affect the performance of investments or the underlying assets.
• When looking at the parties involved in an investment, the question should be asked if there are any potential conflicts of interest. Such potential conflicts should be declared by the investment provider and steps taken to ensure all connected party dealings are carried out transparently and fairly.