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They say a few months in sports can feel like a lifetime. In March 2023, just before golf’s first men’s major of the year, the Masters tournament, we explained in The Conversation how men’s professional golf had been shaken up by Saudi Arabia’s billion-dollar drive for legitimacy. This was via the introduction of LIV Golf in 2022, created by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF). Presented as an individual and team event, that is “golf but louder”, LIV tempted... Read More >

Recent Articles:


Challenging the opinion that only the wealthiest can buy Banksy art This article was originally published in August 2019. Banksy’s art hit the headlines in October 2018 when a piece of artwork self-destructed in the midst of an auction. Read More >

Pricing vintage comics isn’t just about scarcity and quality – the characters are the key to value. This article was originally published in November 2019. “Comic books to me are fairy tales for grown-ups.” So said renowned Read More >

Back in May 2022 I penned an article about the challenges of promotion to the National League. Despite the pleasure and satisfaction of winning the National League South title in style, I wrote, reality was about to hit home in the form of the Read More >

Originally published November 2021. In recent years, Chinese companies have been substantially increasing their investments in the European Union. From the vineyards of Bordeaux to robot manufacturers in Germany Read More >

Originally published in November 2020. While a good title is no guarantee of a good book, it can act as a guide. Choosing a title is challenging. It is hard to find a memorable word or phrase that not only sums up a work of fiction but Read More >

Originally published October 2022. Part 1: an introduction for investors. We’ve all heard the old axiom: if it floats or flies, rent don’t buy.  So, how does one treat a marina with its innumerable floating Read More >

This article was first published in May 2018. Investing is usually a matter of judgment as well as calculation. What will do well, and what will do best over the period you envisage?  Investing in books -- or art of any kind -- includes Read More >

Originally published October 2021. Fine wine markets remain a source of stability in an uncertain world. The Liv-ex 1000, the broadest measure of the fine wine market, delivered a 2.41% quarterly return to start 2021, continuing its steady Read More >

Originally published November 2021. The art market has historically been subject to generational shifts. Old Master paintings dominated the market until the 1980s, at which point a diminishing supply of great works saw Impressionist and Read More >

Originally published spring 2019. Collectors may be driven by obsession – but are toys also a viable investment asset? There is a big difference between an investor and a collector. The former gives up capital today in the expectation Read More >

“If you remember the 60s, you weren’t really there”. This famous quip says much about our rose-tinted nostalgia for the decade. The fun-loving hedonism of Woodstock and Beatlemania may be etched into cultural memory, but Andy Read More >

Originally published March 2021. The collapse of Greensill involved a predicable cast of unwise enablers, but it should serve as a warning to the growing number of alternative asset buyers on the dangers of complex deals which promise much Read More >

How a childhood memory sparked half a century of collecting Lalique glassware. Collections start in all sorts of ways and, in this article, a long-standing Aston Lark client tells Private Clients Director Julie Webb how his 300-piece Read More >

Originally published August 2017. David Hill begins his series on the status of the horseracing industry. This is the first in a series of four articles on the history of British racecourses providing a context for the existing economic Read More >

Originally published May 2018. Sport. The very fine margins. The difference between winning and losing. The moments that define a career. The moments that define a life. There has been an awful lot of talk recently about FOBT's. About levels of Read More >

Originally published August 2017. How going online has restored the value of second-hand books. As a book dealer, I would like to respond to an article published on the BBC website on 28 December 2018, ‘The booming trade in second-hand Read More >

Originally published August 2017. This is the first in a series of four articles on the history of British racecourses providing a context for the existing economic status of the industry. The recent legislation that all betting Read More >

Originally published in April 2018. Welcome to my sport column – An occasional look at various commercial sides of the sports industry which ultimately deliver the live events we enjoy. The Premier League is the single most valuable cog in Read More >

This article was originally published in March 2018. One of the first questions we are always asked by new bidders at an auction is, ‘will it make me money?’ Our answer? The infuriatingly mercurial, ‘perhaps.’ Choosing a classic or Read More >

This article was first published in April 2018. The answer is none of them... or for that matter, any of the other big names that have been filling the front pages of The Art Newspaper, The Telegraph or the New York Times for the last generation Read More >

Continuing our series on horse race syndicates, how sometimes tearing up the best-laid plans can lead to the greatest of luck. The previous four articles on getting an edge in the world of horse race syndication concluded with suggestions on Read More >

Whatever the coronavirus has done to the global economy, the effects are likely to be fairly short-term – aside from in aviation. At the start of 2020 we were convinced it would be a year of financial correction – a realisation of just Read More >

A racehorse trainer wanders through empty stands and paddocks amid the ghosts of past revelry – mostly just glad to be there at all. She was not there. Where we meet every year, there was nothing but a muddy corner of a deserted car park. Read More >

This article was originally published in November 2019. From blue-chips like Damien Hirst to rising stars like Sterling Ruby, these are the names whose values are on the rise. The global art market reached $67.4bn in 2018 and has grown Read More >

This article was originally published in July 2018.  Since the rotating of shadows around rudimentary sticks planted in the ground, man has had an affinity for plotting the course of time. Different mechanisms, from sundials to pendulums and Read More >

ARTICLE ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED APRIL 2018 Dawn no more than a sliver of grey light on the distant horizon. Darkness not going down without a fight. Shadows flickering hither and thither across the stable yard. Feeding done. Water buckets to fill. Read More >

ARTICLE ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 2017 This is the last in a series of four articles on the history of British racecourses and their struggle for economic prosperity. It focuses on Towcester - an independent, and a prime example of the Read More >

Echoes of the past The suspension of the Premier League and English Football League seasons and debates on the sport’s responsibilities around Covid-19 have escalated in recent weeks. Initially, football authorities and government faced Read More >

Crumbling glories and graffiti contrast with sandy bays, tidal pools and wide esplanades in this thought-provoking walk The essential elements of a great walk include accessibility by train, good coffee stops, outstanding picnic places, Read More >

This is the last of four articles on how to develop an edge in the world of racehorse syndication. Previous articles covered the trials, triumphs and tribulations of racehorse syndicates, finding a system to beat the market, and choosing your Read More >

This is the third article in our series on how to develop an edge in the world of racehorse syndication. The first two articles reviewed the trials, triumphs and tribulations of racehorse syndicates, then finding a system to beat the market. The Read More >

This is the second article in our series on how to develop an edge in the world of racehorse syndication. The first article reviewed the trials, triumphs and tribulations of racehorse syndicates. Future articles cover choosing your trainer and Read More >

The Covid-19 crisis is a tough time for everybody: family, friends, business, we’re all suffering in different ways. In England people are only just having to get used to living in lockdown and it is likely to last a few more weeks yet. The Read More >

This is the first of four articles on how to develop an edge in the world of racehorse syndication. The three future articles cover finding a system to beat the market, choosing your trainer and bloodstock agent, and structuring and managing a Read More >

It’s time for another revitalising stroll, enjoying the stunning views and butterflies of this southern English isle It’s not every day that you head to the station and buy a single ticket to Lymington Pier. This is the point where a Read More >

Continuing this series on his life in property, Oliver Ash tells us about settling into his new life in Paris, and the peculiarities of some of his colleagues. So I got the job at Hampton’s in Paris. The golf connection seemed to have Read More >

As ecological fears drive big changes in motor cars, now could be your best – and perhaps last – chance to invest in an unethical fire-breather I don’t suppose for one moment that luxury and sports cars will become extinct, but for how Read More >

So after death throes worthy of a B movie murder scene and with a Parliamentary Committee picking over the bones and extracting embarrassing platitudes from EFL and FA executives, it looks like Bury FC are finally gone – kicked into hell by a Read More >

Suddenly the alternative assets world has become much more difficult. Three fund management companies, GAM, Woodford and H20, have scared the little cotton socks off investment committees, prompting an outbreak of extreme caution. These three Read More >

A good walk is a tonic, but it must meet certain criteria – and here’s one that ticks all the boxes There’s plenty of evidence linking walking with wellbeing. It’s partly about giving the lungs a good workout and unleashing those Read More >

Never in my life. Will I again witness such moments of utterly magical sporting drama. If a scriptwriter had penned the conclusion to the 2019 Cricket World Cup, they would have been laughed out of court. And told to pull themselves together. Read More >

When I stepped out of the lift and onto the trading floor at Hoare Govett in Heron House 35 years ago, I am certain that employee wellbeing was not at the top of the senior partner’s agenda.  Whilst the stresses and strains of the Read More >

During 2018, classic car values as a whole rose by 5.9% (source Classic Cars). However, within the 1500 models used as an index there were losers as well as winners. Broadly speaking the affordable embryonic classics showed significant gains in Read More >

Shortly after 1.30pm next Tuesday afternoon, "The Roar" will signal the start of four days of compelling sport. 60,000 voices greeting the start of the Cheltenham Festival as the runners are sent on their way for the meeting's opening contest, Read More >

In our last article we looked at how Ship Owners were attracting financial investments through innovating their product offering and slowly catching up with the digital age. This commentary will now focus on the softer skills required in dealing Read More >

I had spotted them earlier, walking the sales ground at the Hippodrome de Bequet, La Teste-de-Buch. Two elegantly dressed men – swept back white hair, jerseys knotted around their necks and hanging off the shoulders. One pink, one yellow. They Read More >

There is no guaranteed profit in investing in classic cars and there can be substantial medium-term losses if the purchase takes place at the particular model’s apex of desirability, as we have seen at the classic car auctions over the last Read More >

Today, one cannot mention an engagement without a clamour of requests to see “the ring”. A purchase many grooms-to-be find formidable and confusing.  There’s the cut, colour, clarity and carats to consider: the famous 4 C’s. The Read More >

There is a natural interest in the maritime industry. As children we enjoyed the adventures of walking the plank, playing battle ships and imagining the gold to be found from sunken treasure. This childhood passion of risk and reward still holds Read More >

Rolling and rushing and careering and smiling and pushing and shoving a little. The helter skelter tumble off the top of the stands to greet a winner. To secure that spot beside the Winner's Enclosure. To raise a hat or doff a cap. To applaud and Read More >

Towards the end of the eighteenth century, some wise folk wandered to the top of a Surrey hill and surveyed a helter skelter landscape of downland turf. There are quite a lot of flat bits across this gilded island of ours, but the wise and worthy Read More >

In today’s fluctuating markets, investors scour for low risk, high return opportunities. These are few and far between, the most reliable being natural resources and bricks and mortar, which themselves can be subject to uncertainty. For the Read More >

The second Saturday of May. Percy Warner Park. First race due off at 1.00pm. By which time a huge crowd will have assembled. The infield strewn with vast pick up trucks, parties of young men and Southern Belles dressed to impress, seersucker Read More >

I have never done it before. I doubt I will ever do it again. I hope I might. But I have seen many 2000 Guineas fields stream towards me up the Rowley Mile, and this was the only time. So far. The only time that I have found myself applauding the Read More >

Grand National morning. Christmas, Easter, the first day of the summer holidays. All rolled into one for me. Butterflies. Many a time have I been at Aintree shortly after dawn on National morning. Dew on the ground. Horses pulling out for a Read More >

This is the third in a series of four articles on the history of British racecourses and their struggle for economic prosperity. It focuses on Newmarket – the headquarters of British racing – and the growth of commercial joint ventures in Read More >

This is the second in a series of articles on the history of British racecourses and their struggle for modern economic prosperity. It focuses on one of Arena Leisure’s premier dual surface courses. Lingfield Park, a 450 acre estate set in a Read More >

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Investor's Notebook

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Alternative assets

Investing in tangible assets

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