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Since he was a teenager, Riky Ash has been fascinated by Lamborghinis. Now 56, he has amassed a collection of five cars.
The luxury vehicles, all purchased separately but for a total of about £900,000 about a decade ago, are now worth about £2.5m and will act as Mr Ash’s pension pot.
“I know the Lamborghini market very well, better than the dealerships do,” he told i. “That to me is a better pension pot because the cars that I’ve been purchasing have each been appreciating at around about £20,000 a year.”
Mr Ash, a stuntman who lives in Nottingham, is among Britons turning their back on traditional pensions in favour of higher-risk investments.
For him it is private pensions that feel “far too risky” and offer returns that are too low.
“I’m anti-pensions,” he said. “My whole philosophy with pensions is I believe they’re antiquated now.”
Mr Ash bought the cars secondhand via dealerships and private collectors. Particularly with older models, Lamborghini limited the number of cars produced, which he said helps them retain their value.
He owns a Jalpa from the 1980s, a Miura from the 1970s, a Diablo from the 90s, a Gallardo from the 2000s and an Aventador from the 2010s.
The cheapest car cost him £150,000 and has doubled in value over the last decade.
He paid £400,000 for his Miura which is now worth about £1.5m.
Mr Ash, who has worked on TV and film productions such as Sleepy Hollow and Peaky Blinders, said the key to investing in similar assets is to choose something that you’re passionate about.
He did not set out to buy the cars as investments initially but he has developed such a keen interest in the market that he feels confident in his purchasing decisions.
“I really do enjoy just having them parked up and looking at them,” he said. “It’s fabulous.”
‘I’ve invested my entire pension in oil stocks – it’s doubled in value’
John Pedder, 85, said his private pension provider went bust around five or six years ago, so he decided to cash his money out completely and invest it all in Shell stocks.
At the time, oil prices had dropped and he saw a good opportunity to invest relatively cheaply.
His initial investment of £27,000 has more than doubled to £81,000.
“Oil will always be needed,” he said. “Oil is a beautiful chemical. If people stopped burning it to provide energy for cars and power stations, oil will still be needed because you produce pharmaceuticals from oil, you produce petrochemicals from oil.”
However, Mr Pedder, who was previously a mechanical engineer at Shell, said his investments have not always gone well.
He has shares in hydrogen companies which have lost 90 per cent of their value but believes they will eventually recover over the long run.
Most investments involve some level of risk and the income from them can go down as well as up and is not guaranteed at any time. This is something everyone should consider before opting to make or change their investments.
‘Taking too little risk could lead to low returns’
Jason Hollands, managing director of BestInvest, which offers free coaching on investing in equities, a course that Mr Ash took, said people who have many years until they retire should not be afraid of buying shares but getting advice is important.
“The level of risk an investor should be prepared to take will, in large part, be driven by their likely time horizon,” he said.
“It is unwise to take significant risk with money you may need to use in the near term, which is why everyone should keep some rainy-day cash aside for emergencies and short-term needs.
“But for those with a long-term goal, such as building a future retirement pot, a higher degree of risk might be very appropriate because there are many years over which short-term gyrations in the value of their investments will be smoothed out by the passage of time. Taking too little risk, could leave you unable to achieve your goals.”
He said savers who intend to gradually withdraw money from their pension pots over the course of their retirement – as opposed to buying an annuity with a lump sum – could find it easier to keep growing their money if they keep some of their funds invested in riskier stocks.
However, it is always advised to take advice before doing so. Investments can go up and down and you could end up losing money.
Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at broker AJ Bell, warned that investing in a handful of stocks is a “high-risk strategy” which requires in-depth research into companies and is therefore not suitable for most investors.
“Picking winners is very hard and even professional investors don’t always get it right,” he said.
“For most people, having a diversified portfolio is preferrable as it allows them to spread their risks across multiple investments.
“If one investment goes wrong, hopefully the others will act as a cushion and minimise the pain.”
