Frequently asked questions

An alternative investment is any asset that sits outside mainstream, publicly listed stocks, bonds and cash, for example private equity, private real estate lending, property bonds, fine art, whisky casks and private credit. Our beginner's guide to alternative investments covers the main categories and how they behave differently to a stocks and shares ISA or a pension fund.

Our comparison tool currently covers property bonds, private equity, private credit, commercial and residential real estate, green energy, and fine art, matched to the investment level and experience you provide. See the full alternative investments UK options guide for a breakdown of each category.

Alternative investments typically target higher returns than cash savings or government gilts, in exchange for taking on more risk: less liquidity, less regulation, and no guarantee of return. Our fixed income investments UK guide compares typical yields across cash, gilts, bonds and private credit so you can see where the extra return is coming from.

It depends on your time horizon, appetite for illiquidity, and whether you want exposure to operating businesses or physical property and land. Our private equity vs real estate comparison sets out how each behaves in different market conditions.

Yes. Whisky cask investment involves buying maturing casks of Scotch whisky in bond, with the intention of selling as the spirit ages and its value changes. It is illiquid and unregulated, with returns depending on cask condition, distillery reputation and market demand. Read our whisky investment UK guide and whisky cask returns and risks guide before considering it.

You can read every guide on this site and use the free return calculator without self-certifying. Self-certification is only required at the point you ask to see specific, currently available opportunities, because UK law restricts who those can be shown to.

It is a legal requirement, not a step we have added ourselves. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 restricts who certain high-risk investment promotions can be communicated to. Self-certifying confirms which of the recognised categories you fall into before we show you anything.

Under Article 48 of the Financial Promotion Order, a Certified High Net Worth Investor is someone who declares an annual income of at least £100,000, or net assets of at least £250,000 excluding their main home, pension and certain insurance policies. Our High Net Worth Investor guide explains the declaration in full and what counts toward each threshold.

A Sophisticated Investor is assessed as having enough investment knowledge and experience to understand the risks of unregulated investments, typically confirmed either by an authorised firm (Article 50) or through self-certification against fixed criteria (Article 50A). Our Sophisticated Investor UK guide sets out both routes.

A Self-Certified Sophisticated Investor statement, made under Article 50A, is signed by you rather than assessed by an authorised firm, and is valid for as long as at least one of four conditions still applies to you, for example having made two or more unlisted company investments in the last two years. See what is a Self-Certified Sophisticated Investor and how to become a Sophisticated Investor in the UK for the exact wording of each condition.

No. "Accredited investor" is a US securities term with its own income and net worth tests. The UK uses a different framework built around Certified High Net Worth, Sophisticated, and Self-Certified Sophisticated Investor categories under the Financial Promotion Order. Our accredited investor UK guide explains how the terms map across.

The comparison tool will not show you specific opportunities, because we are legally required to restrict them to eligible investors. You can still read every guide on the site and use the return calculator, and revisit the comparison tool if your circumstances change.

No. Self-certification is your own declaration that you meet a legal category, not an assessment or endorsement by us. We do not give financial advice and nothing on this site is a personal recommendation. If you are unsure which category applies to you, or whether an investment is suitable, speak to an FCA-authorised financial adviser.

You tell us your investment level, your experience with alternative investments, and which categories interest you, then confirm your investor status. We match those answers against the opportunities currently on our panel. Our guide to comparing alternative investment providers explains what to look at beyond the headline rate.

No. We are an information and introduction service. We do not manage money, hold client funds, or give personal recommendations, and neither this website nor the introducers featured on it are authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Full detail is on our risk and regulation page.

Yes, comparing is free for investors. Introducing partners may pay a fee for a successful introduction; this has no effect on the amount you invest or any return you might receive.

Your enquiry, including the details you provide, is passed to the relevant introducing partner, who will normally contact you directly by phone or email to discuss the opportunity further. Any decision to invest, and any due diligence on the specific opportunity, is entirely yours.

So that an introducing partner, or our team, can reach you promptly if you have asked to be introduced or started a conversation with us. We ask for it once, alongside your name and email, before showing comparison results, creating an account, or starting a live chat conversation.

We are onboarding real introducing partners gradually. While that is in progress, some listings on the comparison tool use placeholder figures to illustrate how a category typically works, and are always clearly labelled "DEMO DATA." A demo listing is not a real, live investment opportunity and should not be treated as an offer.

Yes. Creating a free account lets you save comparisons and revisit your results without starting again, and your details are prefilled if you later request an introduction.

A property bond is a fixed-term loan you make to a property company, usually secured against a specific development or portfolio, in exchange for a fixed rate of return. You are lending money, not buying property directly. Start with what are property bonds and how do they work, or visit our property bonds comparison page to see current opportunities.

They can suit investors who understand the illiquidity and issuer risk involved and are comfortable locking capital away for a fixed term in exchange for a set rate. They are not a good fit for money you might need at short notice, or for investors who have not checked the security behind the bond. Our honest breakdown is in are property bonds a good investment.

Rates typically reflect the term length, the loan-to-value against the underlying security, the track record of the issuer, and how the loan is structured, for example whether it carries a fixed or floating charge. A much higher advertised rate than the rest of the market is a signal to look harder, not an automatic bonus. See property bond rates UK: what determines the return.

A property bond gives you a fixed, pre-agreed return as a lender with no direct exposure to rental income or capital growth. Buying commercial property directly, whether outright or through a fund, exposes you to rental yield and property value movements, along with the management responsibilities that come with it. Compare the two in is commercial property a good investment in the UK, or visit our commercial property comparison page.

Routes range from direct ownership of a single unit, to pooled funds and REITs, to secured lending structures like property bonds. Each carries a different balance of liquidity, minimum investment and management involvement. Our how to invest in commercial property in the UK guide walks through each option.

At minimum: what the loan is secured against, the loan-to-value ratio, the issuer's track record and accounts, how interest is paid, and what happens if the underlying project runs late or over budget. Our best property bonds UK: what to compare guide lists the full checklist.

No investment is risk-free, and alternative investments carry more risk than mainstream, regulated options: your capital is not guaranteed, you may not be able to sell before the end of a fixed term, and you could lose some or all of the money you invest. Our are alternative investments safe guide explains what "risk" actually means for each category.

Generally, no. Most of the opportunities compared on this site fall outside FSCS protection, and you are unlikely to have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service if something goes wrong. This is set out in full on our risk and regulation page.

Neither this website nor the introducing partners and opportunities featured on it are authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Where a partner discloses its own regulatory position on its own website, we link to it directly rather than restating it, so you can verify it at the source.

It means you cannot easily sell or exit the investment before an agreed date, sometimes for several years, and there is often no secondary market to sell into early even if you need the money sooner. Only invest money you are confident you will not need for the full term.

Return and risk move together. A rate significantly above the rest of the market for a similar term usually means the issuer is taking on more risk to fund it, has weaker security behind the loan, or is struggling to raise capital through cheaper routes. Read it as a prompt to check the detail more closely, covered in property bond rates UK.

Every page carries a summary risk banner, and the complete risk, regulation and no-advice statement is on our About Us page. Please read it before using the comparison tool.

No. The details you submit through the comparison tool, contact form, live chat or account registration are used to respond to your enquiry and, where relevant, to pass it to the specific introducing partner you asked to hear from. We do not sell your data to unrelated third parties for marketing. See our Privacy Policy for full detail.

Yes. Contact us at info@comparealternativeinvestments.com and we will action deletion or access requests in line with the UK GDPR, as set out in our Privacy Policy.

The same eligibility and contact rules apply to account creation as to the comparison tool: we ask for a name, email and phone number so that we, or a relevant introducing partner, can follow up if you request an introduction later.

First check you're using the same email address you registered with, and that your password meets the minimum length. If you're still stuck, contact us with your registered email and we'll look into it directly.

Live chat gives you a real-time conversation during the hours our team is online, while the contact form and comparison tool are answered as enquiries come in, normally within one working day. Both use the same name, email and phone details so we can follow up either way.