The start of 2023 has seen cask investment under the spotlight as BBC Radio 4 and now The Telegraph have covered the liquid alternative asset.
The February 2023 Telegraph article is titled “Avoid being caught over a barrel, whisky investors told” follows on from the BBC Radio 4 Food Programme’s “The Wild West of Whisky: From Cask Investments to Dram Scams” that aired in January 2023.
The titles of these articles speak for themselves, as finally the general public are being urged to take caution and question the wild claims made by some investment companies.
Avoid being caught over a barrel, whisky investors told. Credit: The Telegraph 2023
It is not just the media either, as the Telegraph reports that the Advertising Standards Authority has taken note of claims of high annual returns.
“[The Advertising Standards Authority] has identified adverts about whisky investment as “an area of interest” and was currently examining a string of ads to assess whether they “make clear the nature and risks of investments”.” Reported by The Telegraph February 2023.
Misleading data presentation, unrealistic returns, annual returns and using the Knight Frank bottle index for cask marketing have been points we have been urging caution over since 2019, so it is great to see more platforms providing consumer information.
Casks can be a good investment, but like all investments they come with risks. If those risks are not properly explained, or the company selling them provides misleading information to make those risks seems smaller or insignificant then that is misleading and potentially damaging for the future of the industry. That is why we spend so much time providing balanced information for consumers.
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