Investors’ Academy: In Search of Alternatives

The fourth conference in the Investors' Academy 2009 series was held on June 25 and titled "Real estate reload. Is Vietnam still better than Ostozhenka Street?"

Vietnamese trade attache to Russia Vu Van Kuang served as the special guest speaker at the conference. Other speakers included chief executives of the Blackwood company and Jones Lang LaSalle for Russia and the CIS, as well as representatives from TriGranit Development Corporation, the Novoye Kachestvo (New Quality) company, the Hermes group of companies, IntermarkSavills, as well as the Capital PIF Management Company.

Ostozhenka Street is no longer a Mecca for investors. The main investment strategy during the crisis is to preserve and not multiply - there are too many risks connected with any investment right now. Hermes board of directors' chairman Alexander Furmanov said that, of course, Vietnam differs too much to be considered an alternative to Ostozhenka, but that even in today's complex circumstances Vietnam guarantees certain possibilities. Andrei Ryabov, general director of Calisto Corporation Ltd. listed Vietnamese properties that are suitable for direct investment: operational beachfront hotels (Vietnam has year-round summers); land along the shoreline designated for the construction of hotels or luxury villas; privately owned villas (townhouses).

Igor Indriksons of IntermarkSavills recommended potential investors in foreign real estate to analyze not only the "virtual rise in price" - that has recently shown to be insufficient for adequately understanding the market - but also the liquidity of the real estate being offered for investment.

Three more conferences in the Investors' Academy series will be held by the end of the year:

Gold. The eternal value of commodities in investment portfolios.
Hedge funds on the global financial markets - investments not for the faint-hearted.
Macroeconomic forecast for 2010: The seven best investment strategies.