Abstract:
The idea of allocating funds in alternative assets is recently gaining popularity between scientists and investors, that is why a topic describing applying art, gold and wine in order to diversify a portfolio seems to be interesting and worth examining. The paper is divided into four chapters. The first chapter presents the theoretical aspects of risk. Its definition, classification, its most important types from the point of view of portfolio management and an outline of risk management. The second one discusses in details the Markowitz Portfolio Theory, the Capital Market Theory and describes the background of portfolio performance measurement. The third chapter gives a brief overview of art, gold and wine markets. It illustrates the main characteristics of the market, describes the forces of demand and supply, and depicts main drawbacks of an investment in each of the assets. The fourth chapter is a presentation of the results of constructing portfolios of the alternative assets and market indices in comparison to portfolios of treasury bills and the benchmarks. The last chapter also illustrates the ratio analysis conducted on monthly rates of returns from the indices of art, gold and wine along with returns generated by WIG, S&P 500, Polish and American treasury bills.