Spoiler Alert: Stock markets are unpredictable by nature. So, how do you structure a long-term investment strategy that doesn’t rely exclusively on traditional listed assets? Particularly if you’re approaching retirement and wondering where your pension’s inflation-beating returns are supposed to come from when markets are all over the place.

Regardless of whether you’re a baby boomer eyeing that rocking chair, or a millennial who can’t even begin to imagine hanging up your designer sneakers, it’s never too early (or late) to structure your investments so your retirement lump sum stretches further.  

It’s a question of how you, and the asset managers looking after your retirement funds, play your cards.  

Convention says equities are the way to go until retirement looms, when investors become more jittery about risk. Then it’s time to pivot more to money markets and cash. 

Hmmm. That’s not the way we look at it...  

Why? Because the closer retirement gets, the greater the need to maximise your life savings.  No investor can afford to miss out on the opportunity for competitive returns.  Especially when time matters.

The stock market is way too volatile and equities alone just can’t provide the stability retirees need once they become reliant on their pension pay out.

For us, there’s more value to be unlocked by spreading investments across multiple asset classes.  Not only to provide a more balanced, diversified portfolio but also because fixed investments, and other alternatives, give investors some much-needed certainty about the returns they can expect.  

Regardless of your age or risk profile, if you aren’t allocating some of your savings to alternative investments, you could be missing a trick.  
 

Still not sold on alternatives? For more reasons to consider including them in your investment portfolio, read this article about de-linking your portfolio from the stock market and share it with a friend. They can thank you later.