WOODSIDE, Calif., Dec. 15 /PRNewswire/ — Fisher Investments announces the release of its latest Stock Market Outlook, a quarterly research report published by the Fisher Investments research team under the direction of CEO Ken Fisher and the firm’s portfolio management team. The Stock Market Outlook research report includes Fisher Investments’ latest market outlook, capital markets research and portfolio insights. The Stock Market Outlook provides individual investors an opportunity to gain valuable research and information on the current state of the global stock market.

To access the Stock Market Outlook, simply go to www.google.com and search for “Fisher Investments Stock Market Outlook” and then click on the link for the “Fisher Investments Research Report.”

The Fisher Investments Stock Market Outlook provides insight into the firm’s market and portfolio research with views on:

> Why the new bull market has additional upside potential ahead

> Which sectors and countries may rebound the most

> Why stocks are still undervalued by historical standards

> Signs that global economic recovery is already underway

> And much more investors can put to use in their own portfolios

Fisher Investments conducts internal research to support the portfolio management process for large institutional clients and thousands of private clients. This involves developing capital markets technologies to interpret market events in unique ways and studying the impact of economic, political and sentiment drivers on global stock markets. Some of these research findings can be found in Fisher Investments’ latest Stock Market Outlook.

To get your copy of the latest Stock Market Outlook with insights into Fisher Investments’ market and portfolio research, go to www.google.com and search for “Fisher Investments Stock Market Outlook” and then click on the link for the “Fisher Investments Research Report.”

About Fisher Investments

Fisher Asset Management, LLC, doing business as Fisher Investments, is a portfolio management company founded in 1979 serving the needs of institutional and individual investors globally. Fisher Investments’ clients include large corporate and public pension plans, foundations and endowments, as well as thousands of high net worth individuals. Fisher Investments is registered as an investment adviser with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Its portfolio management team is headquartered in Woodside, CA. Ken Fisher, founder, CEO and Chief Investment Officer, is the author of six books including three bestsellers, many academic studies, and has written Forbes magazine’s “Portfolio Strategy” column since 1984. Visit Fisher Investments corporate website at http://www.fisherinvestments.com

About Fisher Investments Research

Fisher Investments has a 50+ person research department, including more than 25 research analysts. The research department’s structure optimally supports the Investment Policy Committee (IPC) as they make strategic portfolio management and implementation decisions. Research teams focus on generating economic, capital markets, and securities research and communicating their findings to the IPC on a daily basis and as changes arise. Fisher Investments Stock Market Outlook can be found at: http://www.fisherinvestments.com/more-about-fisher-investments/fisher-investments-stock-market-outlook

Fisher Investments Stock Market Outlook is copyrighted research material. Past forecasts and performance are not a guide to future forecasts or performance. The value of investments and the income from them will fluctuate with world stock markets and international currency exchange rates and involves the risk of loss.

SOURCE Fisher Investments

Disclaimer: This article reflects personal viewpoints of the author and is not a description of advisory services by its author’s employer or performance of its clients. Such viewpoints may change at any time without notice. Nothing herein constitutes investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security or that any security, portfolio, transaction or strategy is suitable for any specific person. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

The stock market should present you with a wide variety of NEW hot stocks in 2009. Many of them are going to be new technology stocks that come from the nanotech, biotech, financial, energy, healthcare & communications sectors.

Most of them might seem promising, but the truth is that a good number of these trading & investing opportunities could be extremely risky, while others are simply not as good as they look. That’s why it’s very important to know how to choose among the best especially if you want to day trade them.

When you know how to pick and approach the best hot stock trading opportunities, you are able to generate a consistent and respectable amount of money in a very short period of time.

Experienced day traders recognize that trading hot stocks on momentum can be the fastest way to make money in the stock market, especially on uncertain times like these.

You don’t necessarily have to trade momentum hot stocks all the time. But you can learn how to take advantage of them when you encounter the best opportunities for going long or for shorting them to make money when they are poised to fall down.

If You decide to day trade stocks just keep always in mind that for a trader to survive and be consistently profitable, its necessary to keep things as simple as possible. To much confusion and technical indicators will most of the time make you slow in your decisions and froze you up when a good opportunity is right in front of your screen.

In the end, stock market day trading is all about picking the best daily stock opportunities and following your buy and sell signals with ease and simplicity. Once you learn to master your trading decisions, you can aspire to produce consistent profitable results.

Romania – famous for its beautiful palaces and castles, wonderful liquors and food, Dracula, dazzling women is a beautiful country located in central-eastern Europe. It is the 12th largest country in the Europe. The economy of Romania has shown potential growth in the past few years. Since 2000, Romania has shown a rhythmic growth of 4.5% raised by 8.3% in 2004.

The current economy statement in Romania is steadily increasing the levels of GDP and significantly high levels of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The economy investment grade has recently been upgraded by Fitch and P&S. Romania benefits from the rising FDI flows due to the privatization process, and the advantages of its big internal market

Romania is also having a great geographical location at the intersection of some great trade routes joining the Far East with the Western Europe. With population of more than 20 million people, Romania has a large domestic market. After having such great property investment opportunities, Romania is continuously attracting more and more foreign investors to invest in Romania. Stable and encouraging government of Romania is the other reason which is creating great investment opportunities in Romania. The Real estate market in Romania is growing at a rocket speed. Following are some best reasons for investing in Romania.

Reasons to Invest in Romanian Real Estate Property:

1. With strategic and visionary efforts by Romanian government, the economy is becoming stronger and stronger over the years. Romania is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe.

2. Falling inflation and increasing employment are two other boosters of rapidly growing economy. Inflation has dropped to 7.5% low in 2005 from 22% high in 2002. Unemployment rate also fell to 6.2% in 2006 with less than 3% in capital Bucharest which is far lower than the many other developed European economies. With under control inflation and falling unemployment rate Romania is confidently creating the strong property buying opportunities over the country.

3. Foreign investment in Romania is increasing drastically. From 2001 to 2005, foreign direct investment in Romania has reached over 5000 million euros and more 8000 million euros added in 2006. With 55% of FDI in capital city Bucharest, major companies from all over the world are coming to invest in Romania.

4. Along with capital city of Bucharest, other cities in Romania like Brasov, Transylvania, Craiova, Constanta and Iasi are also attracting investors. Transylvania is the Romania’s biggest tourist asset and the expected to attract more investment with immense number of investment opportunities. One more golden opportunity where investors want to invest is in Brasov, the most visited city of Romania. Having facility of international airport, Brasov is also linked with new motorway for fast transportation.

5. Report given by investment experts says that house prices in Romania are expected to increase by 4 times higher over the next 10 years. In past few years, property prices are already raised by 25%. Even such a great rise, property price in Romania are still 20-30% lower than the other eastern European countries.

6. After accession to the EU in 2007, the real estate market in Romania has been influenced dramatically. EU funding to Romania has been invested into the infrastructure development in road, hospitals, schools, bridges etc. EU funds will help to create more jobs and therefore potential customers seeking to buy/rent properties.

7. Low tax rates are the other main reason to invest in Romania. Romanian government has set up a flat rate of only 16% for corporation and income tax. Such low and fixed rate of tax is powering Romania to draw more foreign investors seeking for new business places.

Some other secondary factors are also responsible for great investment opportunities in Romania. Romania has great network of international airports with two in capital Bucharest. Developed and fully facilitate ports in Romania is also boosting its economy drastically. Romania has huge network of telecommunication systems equipped with modern telecommunication equipments. Also there are nearly 48 industrial parks.

As far as it looks, the boom is yet to come! Buying property in Romania will be great ROI in near future. So what are you waiting for? Invest now in Romania for your better future.

During the current economic climate, there are factors that entrepreneurs look at more closely when it comes to starting up a business.  The “where” and “how much” factors become a bigger part of the decision, as one looks to trim any unnecessary cost factors.  Gone are the days where if you were technology based, you’d set up in Silicon Valley or if you needed to network with business contacts – set up shop in New York.  Ironically, thanks to modern day technology, you can set up in a much wider range of locations.

Entrepreneurs look at factors like the ease of recruitment, and as a result – have looked into the central states of the US, such as Colorado, where the workforce is well educated, quality of life is good, and cost of living is a big step lower than on the coasts.

With hopes up about stabilisation of the economy, this is a great opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs and small business start ups alike to take things to the next level.  Over the last few years, several angel groups and individual investors have started to set up shop in cities like St. Louis (such as the Arch Angel Investor Network), again bucking the general trends.

On the Central Investment Network – entrepreneurs in the Central states of the US get another chance to connect with angel investors.  Members can get their business ideas and plans out to hundreds of local investors – and since Central Investment Network is part of the Angel Investment Network, members can connect with thousands of other investors from around the world.  In fact the network grows continuously, with branches in over 40 countries and investments occurring both on a local and international basis.

Of course, the plans have to be well thought out and organised, as while entrepreneurs may have less competition, the investors are also more choosy.  Still, there are signs that more successful angel investment strategies such as venture capital investments are occurring within the central states.  While some venture capital backed companies have gone bankrupt this year in the U.S, almost all of them are California based, and none of them are in the states that the Central Investment Network covers – which includes Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Utah & Wyoming.

During the current economic climate, there are factors that entrepreneurs look at more closely when it comes to starting up a business. The “where” and “how much” factors become a bigger part of the decision, as one looks to trim any unnecessary cost factors. Gone are the days where if you were technology based, you’d set up in Silicon Valley or if you needed to network with business contacts – set up shop in New York. Ironically, thanks to modern day technology, you can set up in a much wider range of locations.

Entrepreneurs look at factors like the ease of recruitment, and as a result – have looked into the central states of the US, such as Colorado, where the workforce is well educated, quality of life is good, and cost of living is a big step lower than on the coasts.

With hopes up about stabilisation of the economy, this is a great opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs and small business start ups alike to take things to the next level. Over the last few years, several angel groups and individual investors have started to set up shop in cities like St. Louis (such as the Arch Angel Investor Network), again bucking the general trends.

On the Central Investment Network – entrepreneurs in the Central states of the US get another chance to connect with angel investors. Members can get their business ideas and plans out to hundreds of local investors – and since Central Investment Network is part of the Angel Investment Network, members can connect with thousands of other investors from around the world. In fact the network grows continuously, with branches in over 40 countries and investments occurring both on a local and international basis.

Of course, the plans have to be well thought out and organised, as while entrepreneurs may have less competition, the investors are also more choosy. Still, there are signs that more successful angel investment strategies such as venture capital investments are occurring within the central states. While some venture capital backed companies have gone bankrupt this year in the U.S, almost all of them are California based, and none of them are in the states that the Central Investment Network covers – which includes Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Utah & Wyoming.

Read the papers today, and you’ll feel like start-ups are a rare breed in 2009. Many sources say less people are starting up companies, albeit successfully too – citing the lack of investors available as one of the top reasons. But perhaps they are not looking in the right places.

A paper in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Inquirer & Daily News) recently did a story in which a start-up CEO almost seemed to feel like securing angel investment was easier in this market than before. And it makes sense, since less competition combined with more places to look for funding make this a good time for companies to secure investment.

It is true that angel investors are becoming more cautious, and one will need a strong, convincing business plan (or some already existing activity) in order to secure such funding, but this has always been the case. However, sites such as the Mid-Atlantic Investment Network help potential entrepreneurs and existing start-ups alike find more channels in which to reach these investors.

Many companies will look to raise “Seed Capital” from a wide variety of courses, including friends and family. But the Mid-Atlantic Investment Network allows members to look beyond that, with the ability to broadcast your plans to other potential investors online.

While technology remains one of the top niches in angel investment (such as the recent development by an entrepreneur in Maryland to develop software that uses facial recognition technology to determine who can see the content on-screen), other fields are also attracting entrepreneurs and angel investors these days. Our network has active investors and entrepreneurs in fields such as Real Estate, Retail, Business Services, Transportation, Health Care, Entertainment, Agriculture and more.

A wide range of investors are members, including various angel investors from within Mid-Atlantic regions such as Delaware, Maryland (including Baltimore), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, etc), Virginia, West Virginia and Washington D.C, but also features investors located across the country and internationally.

Join the Mid-Atlantic branch of the Angel Investment Network today and find someone to help get your business off of the ground.

Finance, Credit, Investments – Economical Categories. Modern Interpretation

Scientific works in the theories of finances and credit, according to the specification of the research object, are characterized to be many-sided and many-leveled.

The definition of totality of the economical relations formed in the process of formation, distribution and usage of finances, as money sources is widely spread. For example, in “the general theory of finances” there are two definitions of finances:

1) “…Finances reflect economical relations, formation of the funds of money sources, in the process of distribution and redistribution of national receipts according to the distribution and usage”. This definition is given relatively to the conditions of Capitalism, when cash-commodity relations gain universal character;

2) “Finances represent the formation of centralized ad decentralized money sources, economical relations relatively with the distribution and usage, which serve for fulfillment of the state functions and obligations and also provision of the conditions of the widened further production”. This definition is brought without showing the environment of its action. We share partly such explanation of finances and think expedient to make some specification.

First, finances overcome the bounds of distribution and redistribution service of the national income, though it is a basic foundation of finances. Also, formation and usage of the depreciation fund which is the part of financial domain, belongs not to the distribution and redistribution of the national income (of newly formed value during a year), but to the distribution of already developed value.

This latest first appears to be a part of value of main industrial funds, later it is moved to the cost price of a ready product (that is to the value too) and after its realization, and it is set the depression fund. Its source is taken into account before hand as a depression kind in the consistence of the ready products cost price.

Second, main goal of finances is much wider then “fulfillment of the state functions and obligations and provision of conditions for the widened further production”. Finances exist on the state level and also on the manufactures and branches’ level too, and in such conditions, when the most part of the manufactures are not state.

V. M. Rodionova has a different position about this subject: “real formation of the financial resources begins on the stage of distribution, when the value is realized and concrete economical forms of the realized value are separated from the consistence of the profit”. V. M. Rodionova makes an accent of finances, as distributing relations, when D. S. Moliakov underlines industrial foundation of finances. Though both of them give quite substantiate discussion of finances, as a system of formation, distribution and usage of the funds of money sources, that comes out of the following definition of the finances: “financial cash relations, which forms in the process of distribution and redistribution of the partial value of the national wealth and total social product, is related with the subjects of the economy and formation and usage of the state cash incomes and savings in the widened further production, in the material stimulation of the workers for satisfaction of the society social and other requests”.

In the manuals of the political economy we meet with the following definitions of finances:

“Finances of the socialistic state represent economical (cash) relations, with the help of which, in the way of planned distribution of the incomes and savings the funds of money sources of the state and socialistic manufactures are formed for guaranteeing the growth of the production, rising the material and cultural level of the people and for satisfying other general society requests”.

“The system of creation and usage of necessary funds of cash resources for guarantying socialistic widened further production represent exactly the finances of the socialistic society. And the totality of economical relations arisen between state, manufactures and organizations, branches, regions and separate citizen according to the movement of cash funds make financial relations”.

As we’ve seen, definitions of finances made by financiers and political economists do not differ greatly.

In every discussed position there are:

1) expression of essence and phenomenon in the definition of finances;

2) the definition of finances, as the system of the creation and usage of funds of cash sources on the level of phenomenon.

3) Distribution of finances as social product and the value of national income, definition of the distributions planned character, main goals of the economy and economical relations, for servicing of which it is used.

If refuse the preposition “socialistic” in the definition of finances, we may say, that it still keeps actuality. We meet with such traditional definitions of finances, without an adjective “socialistic”, in the modern economical literature. We may give such an elucidation: “finances represent cash resources of production and usage, also cash relations appeared in the process of distributing values of formed economical product and national wealth for formation and further production of the cash incomes and savings of the economical subjects and state, rewarding of the workers and satisfaction of the social requests”. in this elucidation of finances like D. S. Moliakov and V. M. Rodionov’s definitions, following the traditional inheritance, we meet with the widening of the financial foundation. They concern “distribution and redistribution of the value of created economical product, also the partial distribution of the value of national wealth”. This latest is very actual, relatively to the process of privatization and the transition to privacy and is periodically used in practice in different countries, for example, Great Britain and France.

“Finances – are cash sources, financial resources, their creation and movement, distribution and redistribution, usage, also economical relations, which are conditioned by intercalculations between the economical subjects, movement of cash sources, money circulation and usage”.

“Finances are the system of economical relations, which are connected with firm creation, distribution and usage of financial resources”.We meet with absolutely innovational definitions of finances in Z. Body and R. Merton’s basis manuals. “Finance – it is the science about how the people lead spending `the deficit cash resources and incomes in the definite period of time. The financial decisions are characterized by the expenses and incomes which are 1) separated in time, and 2) as a rule, it is impossible to take them into account beforehand neither by those who get decisions nor any other person”. “Financial theory consists of numbers of the conceptions… which learns systematically the subjects of distribution of the cash resources relatively to the time factor; it also considers quantitative models, with the help of which the estimation, putting into practice and realization of the alternative variants of every financial decisions take place”.

These basic conceptions and quantitative models are used at every level of getting financial decisions, but in the latest definition of finances, we meet with the following doctrine of the financial foundation: main function of the finances is in the satisfaction of the people’s requests; the subjects of economical activities of any kind (firms, also state organs of every level) are directed towards fulfilling this basic function.

For the goals of our monograph, it is important to compare well-known definitions about finances, credit and investment, to decide how and how much it is possible to integrate the finances, investments and credit into the one total part.

Some researcher thing that credit is the consisting part of finances, if it is discussed from the position of essence and category. The other, more numerous group proves, that an economical category of credit exists parallel to the economical category of finances, by which it underlines impossibility of the credit’s existence in the consistence of finances.

N. K. Kuchukova underlined the independence of the category of credit and notes that it is only its “characteristic feature the turned movement of the value, which is not related with transmission of the loan opportunities together with the owners’ rights”.

N. D. Barkovski replies that functioning of money created an economical basis for apportioning finances and credit as an independent category and gave rise to the credit and financial relations. He noticed the Gnoseological roots of science in money and credit, as the science about finances has business with the research of such economical relations, which lean upon cash flow and credit.

Let’s discuss the most spread definitions of credit. in the modern publications credit appeared to be “luckier”, then finances. For example, we meet with the following definition of credit in the finance-economical dictionary: “credit is the loan in the form of cash and commodity with the conditions of returning, usually, by paying percent. Credit represents a form of movement of the loan capital and expresses economical relations between the creditor and borrower”.

This is the traditional definition of credit. In the earlier dictionary of the economy we read: “credit is the system of economical relations, which is formed while the transmission of cash and material means into the temporal usage, as a rule under the conditions of returning and paying percent”.

In the manual of the political economy published under reduction of V. A. Medvedev the following definition is given: “credit, as an economical category, expresses the created relations between the society, labour collective and workers during formation and usage of the loan funds, under the terms of paying present and returning, during transmission of sources for the temporal usage and accumulation”.Credit is discussed in the following way in the earlier education-methodological manuals of political economy: “credit is the system of money relations, which is created in the process of using and mobilization of temporarily free cash means of the state budget, unions, manufactures, organizations and population. Credit has an objective character. It is used for providing widened further production of the state and other needs. Credit differs from finances by the returning character, while financing of manufactures and organizations by the state is fulfilled without this condition”.

We meet with the following definition if “the course of economy”: “credit is an economical category, which represents relations, while the separate industrial organizations or persons transmit money means to each-other for temporal usage under the conditions of returning. Creation of credit is conditioned by a historical process of fulfilling the economical and money relations, the form of which is the money relation”.

Following scientists give slightly different definitions of credit:

“Credit – is a loan in the form of money or commodity, which is given to the borrower by a creditor under the conditions of returning and paying the percentage rate by the borrower”.

Credit is giving the temporally free money sources or commodity as a debt for the defined terms by the price of fixed percentage. Thus, a credit is the loan in the form of money or commodity. In the process of this loan’s movement, a definite relations are formed between a creditor (the loan is given by a juridical of physical person, who gives certain cash as a debt) and the debtor.

Combining every definition named above, we come to an idea, that credit is giving money capital of commodity as a debt, for certain terms and material provision under the price of firm percentage rate. It expresses definite economical relations between the participants of the process of capital formation. Necessity of the credit relations is conditioned, from one side, by gathering solid quantity of temporarily free money sources, and from the second side, existence of requests of them.

Though, at the same time we must distinguish two resembling concepts: loan and credit. Loan is characterized by:

· Here, the discussion may touch upon transmission of money and also things form one side (loaner) to another (borrower): a)under the owning of the borrower and, at the same time, b) under the conditions of returning same amount or same quantity and quality of the things;

· The loaning of money may bear no interest;

· Any person may take part in it.

With the difference with loan, credit, which is somehow a private occasion of the loan, represents:

· One side (loaner) gives to the second one (borrower) only money, and _ for temporal usage;

· It may not bear no interest (if the assignment doesn’t foresee something);

· In it creditor is not any person, but a credit organization (at the first place, banks).

So, a credit is the bank credit. To our mind, it is not correct to use “credit” and “loan” as the synonyms.

Banking crediting is the union of relations between bank (as a creditor) and its borrower. These relations touch upon:

a) Giving a certain amount of money to the borrower for definite purpose (though, we meet with the so-called free credits, aims and objects of crediting are not appointed in the assignment);

b) Its opportune returning;

c) Getting percentage rate from the borrower for using the sources under his/her disposal.

The essential foundation of the credit essence and its important element is existence of trust between the two sides (in Latin “credo”, from which comes the word “credit”, means “trust”).

From the position of circulation of money forms (in the abstraction, historical process of formation economical relations and social budget and banking systems expressed by them) comparing different definitions of finances and credit, the paradox conclusion appears: credit is the private occasion of finances. And truly, from the position of movement of the money forms, finances represent the process of formation and usage of the funds of cash means. Very often such movements are fulfilled without returning, but sometimes, it is possible to give loans from the budget for the investment projects of other needs. Also, when a manufacture or corporations use their cash funds and we mean the finances of industrial subject, such usage may be realized as inside the manufacture or corporation (there is no subject about returning or not returning of the usage), so gratis under conditions of returning. This latest is called commercial form because of transmitting the sources to others, but even in this occasion, it is the element of financial system of the manufacture and corporation.

From the point of cash means movement, main character of credit is the process of formation and usage of the funds of cash means under the conditions of returning and, as a rule, taking the value-percentage. If gating the credit value doesn’t take place (even in the exceptional occasions), according to the movement form, credit becomes a private occasion of finances, as from the net financial funds (consequently from the state budget) the loans which bear no interests may be used. If gating credit value takes place, by the appearance form, credit is discussed to be financial modification.

From the historical point of view, finances (especially in the sort of the state budget) and credit (beginning with usury, later commercial and banking) were developing differently for considering credit to be the part of finances. Though, from the genetic-historical point of view, previous loaners, before giving loan, needed gathering the permanent capital not returning, that is the net financial foundation. The banks analogously needed concentration of the important own capital for influxing the consumers’ means and for getting higher percentage rate under the conditions of returning. Herewith, exactly on the financial basis, in the sort of financial fund (which later partially becomes loan fund) part of the bank capital appears to be the reservation (insurance) part of the fund, which by nature is financial and not loan. So notwithstanding the essential distinctions between finances and credit form the genetic-historical point of view, credit appears to be formed from finances and represent their modification.

From the essential position of expressing economical relations of finances and credit, we meet with cardinal distinctions between these two categories. Which mostly expressed by the distinction of the movement forms notwithstanding they are returnable or not. Finances express relations in the aspects of distribution and redistribution of social product and part of the national wealth. Credit expresses distribution of the appropriate value only in the section of percentage given for loan, while according to the loan itself, a only a temporal distribution of money sources takes place.

Herewith, there is a lot of common between the finances and credit as from the essential point of view, so according to the form of movement. At the same time, there is a significant distinction between finances and credit as in the essence, so in the form too. According to this, there must be a kind of generally economical category, which will consider finances and credit as a total unity, and in the bounds of this category itself, the separation of the specific essence of the finances and credit would take place.

Funding of the cash means is common to the researched economical categories. It takes place in any separate system of finances and credit, which have been touched upon during the analyses of defining finances and credit. Word combination “funding of the cash sources (fund formation)” reflects and defines exactly essence and form of economical category of more general character, those of finances and credit categories. Though in the in economical texts and practice, it is very uncomfortable to use a termini, which consists of three words. Also, “unloading” with an information hardens greatly its influxing into the circulation even in the conditions of its strict substantiation and thoroughness.

In the discussing context we consider:

1) wide and narrow understanding of economical category of the finances;

2) discussing finances in narrow understanding under general traditional meaning;

3) discussing finances, as funding of the cash means, in wide understanding, which concerns finances – in narrow meaning and credit – in complete meaning.

Termini “funding” and its equivalent “fund formation” are used by us as the purposeful structuring of cash means, which is based on two poles – accumulation of money sources (gathering) and its usage for definite purpose in the way of financing and crediting.

We have established a new termini – “finance-investment sphere” (FIS). Analyses about interrelation of finances and credit made by us give us an opportunity of proving, that in the given termini, the word “financial” is used with the meaning of funding cash sources, its purposeful structuring. In this process we consider at the same time financial, credit and investments’ economical categories.

Let’s sum up middle results of discussing new concept – “finance-investment sphere” and discuss its investment consisting parts.

The concept “investments” was brought into the native economical science from the West. In the Soviet economical science they for a long time used in the place “investments” the termini “capital placement”, which expressed the usage of the industrial factors in the sphere of real industrial activities during realization of capital projects. From one glance, this termini in its concept is identical to the “investments”, consequently it is possible to use them as synonyms. Though the termini “investments” and “investing” have the advantage towards the termini “capital placement” from linguistic and philological points of view, because they are expressed with one word. This is not only economical and comfortable in the process of working with the termini “investment” itself, but also it gives an opportunity of termini formation. More concretely: “investment process”, “investment domain”, “finance-investment sphere” – all these termini are much more acceptable.

Changing native economical termini with foreign ones is purposeful, if it really matters (by keeping parallel usage of the native termini for the inheritance). Though we must not change native economical termini into foreign ones all together, when by ordinal traditional language easy to explain private and narrow concrete processes and elements get their own termini. The “movement” of these termini is approved in the narrow professional bounds, but their “spitting out” into the economical science may turn economical language into the tangled slang.

Let’s discuss termini – “investment” and “capital placement’s” usage in the economical literature.

Investments are placement of funds into the main and circulation capital for the purpose of getting profit. “Investments in material assets – are the placements of funds into the mobile and real estate (land, buildings, furniture and so on). Investments in financial assets are the placements of funds into the securities bank accounts and other financial instruments”.

We don’t meet with the termini “investments” in the earlier economical dictionary, but we meet the combined termini “investment policy” – the union of the industrial decisions, which guarantee main directions of the capital investments, the activities of their concentration in the determinant suburbs, on which the reaching of planned rates of development of the society production is depended, balancing and effectiveness, getting more and more production and profit of the national income for every lost Ruble”. For today, in the most actual definitions, the capital investments are bounded only by financial means, when not only financial, but also the investment of natural, material-technical and informational resources takes place. Labour resources take an actual place in the investment process. They themselves fulfill this or that investment process.

A positive side of the discussed definitions is that they connect investment policy and capital placements (investments):

- economical development according to the key directions to the concentration;

- providing high rates of economical growth;

- raising an economical effectiveness, which is expressed:

a) by growing the throw off of the production and national income for every lost Ruble;

b) by fulfilling the branch structure of the investments;

c) by improving their technological structure;

d) by optimization of their further production structure.

Compared with such definition of the investments (capital placement) the definition of investments in the dictionary attaching the “Economics” seems to be unimproved: “investments – the expenses of gathering production and industrial means and increasing material reserve”. In this definition current expenses (production expenses) are mixed with the investment (capital) expense. Also, not the investment expenses but (though the investments are followed by the appropriate expenses) exactly advancing. It differs from the expenses by that the means (means) are put by returning the advanced values, also, under the conditions of growth, to which the concept-advanced capital is corresponding. the advancing may be realized in the money, natural-material and informational forms.

Except the termini “investments”, there are two more termini related with the investment. They are shown below.

“Human capital investment” – any activity provided for rising the workers labour productivity (in the way of growing their qualification and developing their abilities); at the expenses of improving the workers’ education, health and raising the mobility of the working forces”. It is very useful to use the mentioned termini, though it needs one correction: the human capital investments do not concern only workers, but also the servants, representatives of every kind of labour.

“Investment commodity, capital goods – a capital.”

In the official manuals of political economy of the reformation time the capital investments are discussed as “expenses for creating new main funds and widening, reconstruction and renewing the active ones”. In this definition the investments (capital placements) during separation of the forms (types) of further production of the main funds are bounded only by main funds (without increases of the circulation funds and insurance reserves): a) creating new ones; b) widening; c) reconstruction; d) renewing. Also, the concept of the industrial gathering appears, at the expenses of widening of basic, circulation funds and also insurance reserves takes place”.

You’ll meet below the definitions of investments from “the course of economy”: the investments are called “placements of fund into the basic capital (basic means of production), reserves, also other economical objects and processes, which request long-termed influxing of material and cash means. “According to the division of capital into physical and money forms, the investments too must be divided into material and cash investments”.

They apportion investment commodity, to which belong industrial and nonindustrial building objects, vehicles purposed for changing or widened technical park and the furniture, increasing reserves and others.

“They call the total investments of production an investment product, which is directed towards keeping and increasing the basic capital (basic means) and reserve. Total investments consist of two parts. One of them is called the depreciation; it represents important investment resources for compensation of renewal till the level of before industrial usage, wearing out and repairing of the basic means. Second consisting part of the total investments is represented by net investments – capital investments for the purpose of increasing basic means”. Depreciation is not a compensation resource of wearing the basic funds out, but it is the purposeful financial source of such resources.

Human capital investment is “a specific kind of investments, mostly in education and health protection”.

“Real investments are the investments in the economical branches and also, they are kinds of economical activities, which provide influxing the increases of real capital, that is increasing material values of the industrial means”. We can agree with such definition with one specification that material and nonmaterial values too belong to the real capital (wealth), consequently science-researching experimental-construction results, various information, education of he workers and others. Such service as organization of the excitable games, also the service of redistribution social wealth from one private person to another (except charity).

“Financial investments represent placement of funds into the shares, obligations, promissory notes, other securities and instruments. Such investments, of course, do not give increases of the real material capital, but they help getting profit, consequently at the expenses of changing the course of the securities in the time of speculation, or distinguishing the course in different places of sell and purchasing”. We share wholly such definition, hence it follows that financial investments (if it is not followed by real investments as a result) do not increase real material wealth and real nonmaterial wealth. According to this context, the expression below is very important: “we must distinguish financial investments, which represent placement of the funds in the ways of selling and purchasing the securities for the purpose of getting profit and financial investments, which become cash and real, moved to real physical capital.”

In the “economical course” quoted before long and short-termed investments are separated. Recognizing the existence of the bounds between them, the authors ascribe short-termed investments to “one month or more” investments. If we get such conditioned criteria, that we can call the investments which overcome the terms of some months, long-termed ones, which is very doubtful and we don’t agree with it. A long-termed character of the fund placement is a significant feature of the investments (short-term doesn’t combine with the concept of investments). Principally, it would be better to point out quick compensative, middle termed compensative and long-termed compensative investments:

- less then 6 months – quick compensative;

- from 6 months up to the year and a half – middle termed compensative;

- more then the year and a half – long termed compensative.

We stopped at the definition of the investments in the capital work “economical course” for the special purpose, as, in it the author tried to discuss the concept of investments systemically and quite completely, herewith the book is published just now.

We’ll return to the discussion the definition economical category of “investments” in different publications in the following chapter. The definitions given here are quite enough for having a notion of the level of lighting up the given category in the economical literature.

What conclusions may be made according the definition of the mentioned economical category in the published works, except the made notions and specifications?

There is quite deeply, concretely and thoroughly defined the concept of “investments”, different definitions in the economical literature; but mostly in every works about the investments discussed by us until now, there is not opened the essence of investments as an economical category. In every monograph, even if it has a title investment, as an economical category, there is given only the definition, concept of investments. But, as the Academician Vasil Chantladze explains, “a concept is a discussion, which proves something about the distinguishing feature of the researched object. A concept out of much essential characteristic features represents only one, and essential in it is only – definition”.

But the categories are much wider; it is “a key, the most fundamental concept of every science”. Economical categories theoretically represent real, objectively existed productive relations. A category is the defining of occasions of existed characters, connections, relations of the objective world. Generally, any educational process is fulfilled by the categories, which give opportunities for dividing the processes and occasions semantically, for expressing the definitions of a subject and realize their specific peculiarities and economical relations of a material world.

Our goal is exactly to substantiate investments – as an economical category and also, as a financial category in the narrow understanding.

Here we apply for another manual thesis made by the academician Vasil Chantladze: “every financial relation is an economical one and every financial category is and economical one, but not every economical relation and economical category is financial relation and financial category”.

In the process of defining the investments, it is important to take in mind the sides of resources, expenses and incomes, because investment, from one side, is the result of the manufacture’s activity, and, from another one, – a part of income, which, in this case, is not used for usage.

Another occasion: it is advisable to discuss investments in two aspects: as a category of reserve and flow, which will reflect exactly the connection between “placement of funds” and “investments”.

As we’ve mentioned above, not long ago, in the well-known Soviet literature the concepts of “the placement of funds” and “investments” were accepted to be the synonyms and concerned to be investment of sources for further production of the main funds and formation of the turnover funds. We meet with such understanding of the concept of “investment” (here, they separate three types of the investment expenses: investments in the basic capital of investments, investments in the house building and investments in the reserves) in the modern economical publications and it is mostly used on the macro level during a statistical analyze of economical processes. In this concrete occasion investment is the category of reserve.

According to the aspect of flow the investments may be discussed in the process of analyzing industrial activity, when it is necessary to learn the variety of the economical relations related with the investments’ further production and formation, sources, objects and subjects, that is on the micro level.

Main distinguishing criteria of different methods of approach towards the concept of “investment” the aspect of prolonging of measuring this showing. Is it possible or not to measure the investment showing separate from the term factor (the norm of gathering, the volume of capital property, the reserves of production and so on). If it is possible, then it is the category of reserve, and if it is not, then it is measured in the section of time and belongs to the category of flow.

Thus, investment, as an economical category, is quite consuming concept. It concerns the elements defining the regularities of function and regulation of the investment domain, privately:

First, resources and values put into the industrial activity. Here, investments may be realized in the following ways:

1. mobile and real estates (buildings, constructions, furniture and other material values);

2. cash sources, purposeful bank accounts, credits, shares and other long-termed securities;

3. owners rights according to the author’s rights, licenses, Now-How, experience and other intellectual values;

4. the rights for using land and other natural resources, also other owners rights.

Notwithstanding any forms, investments are results of capital gathering. Leading investments – regularity of gathering defines its volume and dynamics and, generally, whole investment activity.

Second, the incomes ruling volume and dynamics of the resource investment. Herewith, we must underline the circumstance, that the process of getting profit, the regularity of its creation, isn’t a constant of the concept “investment”. The factors of production (also the conditions of exploitation of capital values) and selling (market conjuncture), also the process of capital gathering is the leading and important condition only for the investment formation. Though, we underline again, that the process of getting and distributing the income is a significant component of the investment activity.

The transformation of investments makes the basis for the investment activity, which concern the following circles: resources – investment (expense) – capital property – income. The practice of realization such circles of the investments transformation is exactly the investment activity (investing). The investment activity, except the investments itself, concern motivation and stimulation of the capital gathering, relations of capital gathering and ruling, also, totality of the defined level of profitability on the capital and the goals of capital growth.

According to the mentioned above, in the definitions of the investment as economical category sometimes the needed exactness and clearness is not felt, some categories of the wealth are represented tightly enough. For example, real prosperity is bounded only by material estimation. This leads us to the unvalued investment resources in the era of transformation industrial society into the investment one; also to the recognition of yet uninvolved valuable scientific researches in the production, securities turned into speculation objects, and unreal property in the consistence of one and the same parts; to there equalization. On the basis of the made analyses, we can cite a wide definition of the investments together with the leading categories.

Investment resources – are values, invested into this or that project in this or that kind for the purpose of getting profit beginning with material ones, finished with cash.

Kinds of the prosperity are equal to the kinds of the investment resources and is divided into real and cash, consequently into financial resources.

Real investment resources concern all kinds:

- natural resources;

- labour resources;

- material resources, the usage of which is possible in the economical development (buildings, constructions, vehicles and furniture, transport and communication means and so on;

- investment resources (in the widest understanding, that is from scientific-research and experimental-construction works, till the education potential of the society and till all kinds of gathering useful information, written about every possible, that is typing and electronic bearer).

Cash, consequently financial resources concern every cash means for usage in this way in definite conditions or directed in the sort of investments.

Cash means (resources) turn into the financial resources in the case of structuring of funds of purposeful destination foreseen for investments of this or that kind.

After defining investment resources we can make wide definition of the investments as economical category.

Investments – are the placements of real, financial and intellectual resources into the projects, the fulfillment of which leads us to getting the increases from real wealth, in the material and informational forms. It is followed by a cash (financial) prosperity or its increases (at the expenses of the distribution of the cash means).

As an economical category, investments express economical relations, which are created in the ways of using and formation of the investment resources between the participants of the investment process for the purpose of improving and widening of the enterprise.

INTRODUCTION

Addressing to the Indian Economic Summit’s session, on Tuesday, the 18th of Nov. 2008, the State Minister of Industry, Mr. Ashwini Kumar declared that Rs 500 billion would be invested by the Central Government with public-private partnership in infrastructure pertaining projects. According to him this investment would lure demand to boost economic growth. In the prevailing time when Indian economy is under threat of the entrance of world depression 2008, such type of a big dose of investment in infrastructure is desirable to barricade against the entering depression. But, the private partnership may hamper the way of receiving the desired results.

INDUCED INVESTMENT

When talking about investment, it is categorized as the induced investment and the autonomous investment. Induced investment is that investment which is induced by profit motive in a free enterprise capitalist economy. It produces commodities and thereby it can be termed as ‘directly productive investment’. Establishment of a productive unit which produces consumption or capital goods comes under the category of the directly productive investment. It changes with a change in (national) income that is why it is also called income elastic investment. Induced investment is incurred especially to produce larger output.

AUTONOMOUS INVESTMENT

On the other hand, the autonomous investment is the investment which is not induced by profit motive. It is not sensitive to changes in income. It is also known as public investment and is incurred in direct response to inventions and much of the long range investment which is only expected to pay for itself over a long period. Autonomous investment is generally associated with such factors as introduction of new production techniques, new products, development of new resources or growth of population. Autonomous investment generates favorable environment for production. An autonomous investment is never profit motivated and that is why it is always suggested to be undertaken by government instead of private investors. Autonomous investment does not directly produce goods. It creates external economies whereby the cost of production sustained by the producing firms is lowered. Thus, their profit is increased whereby the firms are induced to produce more. In this way the autonomous investment indirectly helps to increase production. Moreover, autonomous investment generates general utility services to the general public which they can’t afford to purchase.

DUAL INVESTMENT

Autonomous investment is autonomous only to the extent it is free of profit. If this investment is made by private investors they can’t help earning profit. Therefore, the producers will have to pay for the external economies and the general public will have either to go without the generated general utility services or will be exploited for they will have to pay high to avail the services. Thus, in a developing economy where cost of production is high, general mass is poor and markets are undeveloped the autonomous investment will lose its importance if given in private hands. In this way, autonomous investment is made of two different portions. One is that which can never be given in private hands irrespective of the fact whether the economy is developed or developing. Therefore, this portion of autonomous investment is a true autonomous investment. The investment incurred in the projects pertaining to national security, law and order maintenance, international relations, world peace, general governance, epidemics eradication, general health, poverty alleviation, public welfare etc. comes under this type of autonomous investment. The remaining portion of autonomous investment is that which can be (and is generally) given in private hands in a developed economy. In a developed economy sufficiently a high level of income is achieved, the distribution of income is almost equal, market is extended and developed, general poverty stands alleviated and cost of production is quite low on account of capital based modern technology. Hence, the producers can easily pay for external economies and people can pay for many of the general utility services. Therefore, in a developed economy, the portion of autonomous investment to be incurred in the projects like road transport, construction of highways, construction of bridges, power and electricity, civil aviation, sea transport, education etc. can be (and generally is) given in private hands. This portion of autonomous investment, being however similar to the previous one (above said true autonomous investment) in a developing economy, but thus becomes profit motivated and is converted into induced investment in a developed economy. In other words, this portion behaves as autonomous investment in a developing economy but is converted to and starts behaving as induced investment in a developed economy. Therefore, this portion of autonomous investment can be regarded as the convertible investment or the dual investment.

CONCLUSI ON

The above  concludes that investment can be categorized as the autonomous investment, the dual investment and the induced investment. The autonomous investment should be exclusively incurred by the government in both the developed and the developing economies and, similarly, the induced investment should be incurred by private investors in both the economies. As regards to the dual investment, it should be incurred by government in a developing economy and by private investors in a developed economy. However, a partnership of government and private investors may be desirable in case of the dual investment if the economy has entered into the stage nearest to the full development. It is similar to the case of the partnership of government and private investors in induced investment in early stages of development in a developing economy. The Indian economy seems to have travelled though a long on the development path but it has not so far achieved such a high stage of development which may allow private hands to participate in the dual investment. General poverty still persists there, income distribution is highly unequal, technology is not fully capital based, cost of production is high, and much more. Therefore, the dual investment in Indian economy still needs to be incurred exclusively by the government. Therefore, the partnership of government and private investors in case of the declared investment worth Rs 500 billion, referred to in the beginning hereof, is not desirable. The loss to the producers and the poor general mass on account of so far brought about privatization of the past is not a latent fact. All the same, if the government somehow feels itself helpless to desist from accepting the partnership, it must not at all allow it beyond the dual investment. In more clear words, the Government of India must keep the (true) autonomous investment fully intact from the private partnership and may allow the partnership in the dual investment but only to a limited extent if the partnership can not be fully abandoned.

In order to invest wisely, you need to have a suitable investment plan that will ensure the appropriate amount of growth for you. Your investments will also need to be safe and easy to manage.

Developing an Investment Plan:

The first step in developing an investment plan is to identify what type of an investor you are. Investor types are often determined by their stages in life. Here is a guide:

- Single person under 40 years old. Focus: Long-term investments, medium to high risk. Emphasis: capital gain, compound growth.

- Two-income married couple, no children, aged 20 to 40 years. Focus: Long-term investments, medium to high risk. Emphasis: capital gain, compound growth.

- One-income family, young children, aged 20 to 40 years. Focus: Long-term investments, low to medium risk. Emphasis: compound growth.

- Single person, aged 40 to 60 years. Focus: Medium-term investments, medium risk. Emphasis: capital gain, compound growth.

- Married couple with adolescent or independent children, aged 40 to 60 years. Focus: Medium-term investments, medium risk. Emphasis: capital gain, compound growth.

- All investors, aged 60 and over. Focus: Short to medium-term investments, low risk. Emphasis: Income.

The following are examples of investment portfolio mixes for the various types of investors.

Low Risk Investments:

Low risk investments are predominately cash, fixed interest and superannuation. This has the lowest risk of all investments but has also the lowest return – in today’s market, approximately 3% to 6% per annum. Fixed interest includes cash, cash management trusts and bonds. They return approximately 5% to 10% per annum, sometimes as high as 15% if you invest in global bonds in good markets.

Superannuation returns and risk profiles vary from institution to institution, however the best and safest usually return on average 10% per annum.

Medium Risk Investments:

Medium risk investments include property and non-speculative shares. Diversified funds, which invest in a range of asset groups, are also considered to have medium risk profiles. Average returns from these types of investments will range from 8% to 15% per annum.

I also like to include the broad spectrum of mutual funds, to be discussed later, in the range of medium risk investments. Some can return up to 25% and more depending on the fund type and managers.

High Risk Investments:

High risk investments include all speculative shares, futures and any other type of investment that is purely speculative by nature. Because with these types of investments we are betting on whether the price will go up, or sometimes down, I often classify this as a form of gambling. Accordingly, the returns are unlimited but so is the ability to lose the total money invested.

The basic rule for investing in highly speculative stock is to build in ’sell-out’ thresholds, three up and three down. For example, if you buy a stock at $20.00 per share, your sell-out thresholds might be:

Sell out threshold 3 $30.00

Sell out threshold 2 $25.00

Sell out threshold 1 $22.50

Buy $20.00

Sell out threshold 1 $17.50

Sell-out threshold 2 $15.00

Sell-out threshold 3 $10.00

Each time your stock reaches one of the threshold levels, you sell a third of your stock.

If the stock starts to rise, you sell a third at $22.50 and then another third at $25.00 and so forth. If the stock starts to fall, you also sell a third at $17.50, then another third at $15.00 and the final third at $10.00. In this way, you will never lose all your money, however you have also put a cap on the total profit you will make on the investment. This I have found to be the best and safest method for investing in speculative shares. In 1987, my husband and I were saved from the severe losses of the Wall Street crash because we were well and truly out of the market by taking our profits beforehand. Like all systems, this strategy will only work as long as you obey the rules and do not get too greedy.

Mutual Funds:

Mutual Funds are a selection of investments that are professionally managed by a financial institution or organization. These institutions have a wide range of specialists, researchers and advisor’s who devote their time to ensuring that the fund invests in the best companies and assets.

As well as the advantage of having experts manage your investments, managed funds also give you the ability to invest in a wide range of shares, property or fixed interest markets, either locally or internationally, for as small an outlay as $1,000. In the latter case, they also require a savings plan where you agree to deposit additional capital of a minimum $100.00 per month.

Because managed funds cover the whole spectrum of investment risk profiles, you can easily cover your preferred investment portfolio, as described above, by investing in several different funds.

Putting Together Your Investment Program:

After you have identified your investment type, you need to either seek a good financial advisor or devote your own time in researching investment options.

Shares have traditionally outperformed other asset groups over time. However, share markets can widely fluctuate in the short term, so any entry into the market should always be done with a long-term view of up to 10 years. Even the best managed share funds can fall if the stock market crashes or enters a severe downward cycle. As long as you ensure that you are with a reputable fund with good managers and are willing to ride the waves, your investment will do well in the long-term. If you are in the short-term, low risk category then your investments should be in the safer, more stable areas with lower returns.

Rules for Investing:

Investing may seem daunting for a lot of people. Maybe you have tried it once and failed, or maybe you are simply frightened of losing your money.

To avoid losing any capital, you simply need to be aware of the main pitfalls and always avoid them. The simple, reliable rules for investing are:

1. Have a plan. Always ensure that you or your financial advisor draws up an appropriate investment strategy for you that incorporates your risk profile, timeframes and financial goals. As foolish as it seems, many people plunge headfirst into investing without thoroughly working through these fundamental issues.

2. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Obvious advice, but many people fail to follow it. Many people think that they are on the right financial track by paying off the mortgage on their family home and then buying another property for investment purposes. Think about it! You have put all of your financial eggs in one asset basket – property. What happens if the property market collapses? Despite common thinking that this is a safe way to invest, the outcome is very risky. You have invested all of your well-earned money into only one area.

3. Build in appropriate timeframes. There is an old saying, “When the tea lady starts to invest in the stock market, it’s time to get out.” What this means is, when the share market is so high that everyone starts to clamber on board, it has probably reached its peak. There are two ways of successful investment timing. The first is to always pick the low-end of the market to buy and the high-end of the market to sell. This is extremely hard to do. Even the best-informed experts have trouble. The second way is to choose good investments and stay with them over the long-term (say 10 years or more) and ride the waves of the market. For safe, easy investing, choose the second method. Do not buy into the top-end of the market and sell once it starts to fall. You will definitely lose money this way.

4. Avoid high-risk investments. These include risky business ventures, highly speculative stock, tax avoidance schemes or too-good-to-be-true propositions that promise unusually high returns.

5. Avoid borrowing for your investments. Although some financial advisors advocate ‘gearing your investments’, this can be fraught with danger. Gearing means to borrow. If borrowing for investments takes you over your 40% fixed costs margin, you will be cutting it too fine, particularly if you lose your current income level.

6. Stay with the traditional and known. The best and surest investments are fixed interest, property and shares. Although all asset classes will fluctuate over time.

Work out the optimum mix for your investment profile, have a safe plan to work with and you can’t go wrong.

Mark Twain’s oft heard adage – ‘buy land, they’re not making it anymore’ has been indirectly taken to heart by investors in the UK scouring the markets for the best investment. That is to say that in relation to the boom in the buy-to-let property market it is not the bricks and mortar which rises in value, but the underlying UK land on which the development sits. Indeed, the value of bricks and mortar deteriorates over time, so in some senses a UK property market investment is actually a UK land investment more than anything else.

In this article we will look not at the relative merits of a land investment vis-à-vis a property market investment but at whether the two (ie direct land investment versus indirect land investment) complement each other in an investment portfolio. The former subject is too extensive to discuss here and, at any rate, since many people already have property market assets the pertinent question for them is this: ‘does investment land complement property market holdings or is each investment opportunity best pursued in isolation?’.

Of course much depends on what type of investment land is being considered. For instance, self-build land investment is a natural bed-fellow of buy-to-let property market investment since it is common for investors to develop small plots of UK land and then retain ownership in order to earn rent from the resulting property. However, if your idea of the best investment is not one which involves buying land with planning permission or buying land without planning permission and then developing it out, there are land investment alternatives.

One such is buying land on a professional property and development project. This is sometimes known as Site Assembly land investment and often appeals to the investor for whom self-build land investment is not suitable. The growing market for investment land is being in large part serviced by Site Assembly investment land because, relatively speaking, the number of people investing in land is growing but only a small proportion have the necessary skills and/or appetite for self-build land investment.

With this in mind, we can refine the original question thus: ‘does Site Assembly land investment complement buy-to-let property market investment or is each investment opportunity best pursued in isolation?’ (since Site Assembly land investment is becoming more common).

The key considerations in land investment, and in fact any investment, are threefold:

-Risk (what is the chance of gaining/losing)

-Term (how long is the investment for?)

-Liquidity (how easy is it to exit the investment?)

These criteria will help elucidate whether buy-to-let property market investments and investment land on a Site Assembly project are complementary. In investment terms (ie land investment and otherwise), ‘complementary assets’ are those that provide diversity, so the Risk, Term and Liquidity should be different in each case.

Let’s see:

Buy-to-let property market investment

-Risk: Low

-Term: Long

-Liquidity: High

Site Assembly land investment

-Risk: Medium

-Term: Medium

-Liquidity Low

Although these are generalisations, the above broadly reflect the true nature of buy-to-let property market investment and Site Assembly land investment. Naturally, some buy-to-let property market investments can be medium term just as some Site Assembly land investment projects offer moderate or even high liquidity but generally speaking the information above holds true.

It is therefore reasonable to conclude, working from the premise that complementary investment assets display different profiles (Risk, Term and Liquidity), that Site Assembly land investment and buy-to-let property market investment do complement one another in a portfolio.

This article has not attempted to assess the extent to which investment land is superior to property market investments (or vice-versa). What it has attempted is to consider the growing popularity of investing in land (especially on an existing development projects) and whether such a venture is compatible with a buy-to-let property market investment portfolio.

Rational analysis, as set-out above, suggests that Site Assembly land investment and buy-to-let property market investment are complementary.