AS Fine Wine – I'll pass on this one, too!

AS fine Wine: wine consistently outperforms other investments

 

The Fine Wine Index has increased by 21.1% in the last 12 months 

No capital gains to pay on this tangible asset

Three incorrect claims on home page of AS fine Wine website

-->'AS Fine Wine' is another new entrant into the wine investment. It is the trading name of AS Incorporated Ltd, which was set up on 27th July 2011 (see above). Its website gives no information about who runs the company and the contact address – Third Floor, 207 Regent Street, London W1B 3HH – provides 'virtual office services, mail forwarding, telephone call answering, office space in the UK'. On this basis alone not a company I would buy from and there is further confirmation below. 

  

Table taken from Liv-ex's March 2012 newsletter.

Liv-ex's stats show that whatever of their four indices that you use fine wine has not gone up by 21.1% in the past year as AS Fine Wine claim. Indeed over the past year all the Liv-ex wine indices have fallen and performed less well than the FTSE 100 and S&P 500. It is a different picture over the past five years with wine performing well against the FTSE 100 and S&P 500. Gold, however, has clearly outperformed both wine and share indices over last year and as well as over the last five years. 

Some pertinent quotes from the AS Fine Wine website: 

'At AS Fine Wine we pride ourselves in our large client base, developed from years of close relationships'. Impressively quick work for a company founded on 27th July 2011 – well less than a year ago!  

 Extensive market contacts – developed in eight months?

Now for an excellent piece of advice:  'Always deal with a wine investment company that has a good track record. See how they have performed in the past.' Exactly look for a company whose track record is longer than eight months.

More good advice – a warning about scam operators and 'When investing; be sure to invest with an established, reputable merchant to ensure the best investment and greatest potential growth.' Eight months does not make AS Fine Wine an 'established' merchant. 

Conclusion:

I'll follow AS Fine Wine's sage advice and definitely give them a miss.