Ao minuto: Primeiros navios já terão atravessado o estreito de Ormuz. EUA vai impôr tarifas a países que vendam armas ao Irão

[Pata-Hari]

http://wallstfolly.typepad.com/wallstfolly/

With fat returns harder and harder to come by in such mundane investments like stocks and bonds, some hedge funds are turning to far more creative / less traditional asset classes including wine, art, shipping, football players, and in one case, old violins:

A hedge fund investing in old violins has been pledged $11m (£5.5m) in the latest sign of investor willingness to put money into offbeat assets that were previously the exclusive domain of collectors and enthusiasts.

Florian Leonhard, a London-based violin dealer and restorer, is aiming to start investing the Fine Violins Fund once it has raised $50m, with a target of returning 8 per cent to 12 per cent a year.

The fund is perhaps the strangest in a series of new asset classes being created by investors trying to avoid stocks and bonds.

The fund will also have a philanthropic aim as the violins it buys will be lent to up-and-coming musicians, contributing to their value.

“It is much better than wine,” he said. “Wine can go off. And unlike art, violins are not subject to fashion.”