Too much regulation can cloud judgement

alternative investments

Regulators must make it easier to advise on hedge funds if investors are to be able to see through financial fashion trends and truly understand the merits and pitfalls of the asset class

According to one research report by marketresearch.com, high-net-worth individuals, at least in Europe, are classified as those with in excess of £200,000 in liquid assets. Using that definition, the report suggests the six key European economies - France, Germany, Italy, the Nordic Group, Spain and the UK - house some 648,000 high-net-worth individuals, as at the end of 2002, with appropriate amounts of wealth onshore. It found this number has, since 1997, been growing at a compound rate of 7.9% a year. Of course, this growth rate is an average - there is no doubt it was much higher in t...