Investing in stamps

The main reasons which have, over the last few years, brought the panorama of collectors (including philatelists) closer to the world of investments have been caused by large-scale economic phenomena such as the low interest rates on monetary and securities investments, the fear of inflation rising up again, and finally uncertainty and worries as to the trend of the currency, stock and raw materials markets.
All this leads investors to a greater diversification of portfolios with particular regard to the so-called “alternative investments”, including art, in order to pursue the two fundamental objectives of risk reduction and maximization of return.

Why stamps

Of the safe assets, stamps have a privileged position inasmuch as:

• they defend their value in any market condition (Sole 24 Ore of 07/02/05): to prove this, a investigation carried out at the time of the 75 th anniversary of the Wall Street crash of 1929 showed how the stamp market held up in that dark period (Sole 24 Ore of 15/11/04);
• they provide a very high rate of return (the SG100 INDEX which measures the trend of prices of the 100 most traded stamps in the world, grew by 15% in 2003 and by 71.2% over the last 5 years);
• of safe assets, they have the characteristic of being among the smallest ones, and therefore more easily transportable, and with lower trading, transportation, insurance and storage costs (Sole 24 Ore of 15/11/04);
• they provide multiple investment possibilities, even at accessible prices;
• they can count on a market of more than 30 million collectors/buyers throughout the world and, in fact, represent the third category of the most sold goods on Ebay.

According to a study carried out by the Salomon Brothers bank on commodities, currencies and securities from 1907 to 1990, rare stamps achieved an average annual rate of return of 10%, the fourth highest rate in absolute terms: it should be underlined that stock investments are not in the first four places.

What type of stamps

Only a small part of stamps issued throughout the world are worthy of being taken into consideration, and of these very few of them were issued in the last 40/50 years (Sole 24 Ore of 15/11/04).

The sector in which philatelic investments are particularly rewarding is that of rarities and the so-called “classic philately”, that is to say postal history stamps and documents from the period running from 1840 (birth of the stamp – 2nd May Cover) to the end of the XIX century, in which sector Investphila Sa is leader.

Another fundamental element to be taken into consideration when investing in stamps, naturally as well as checking the authenticity of the piece, is its quality, a parameter which in philately is not univocal, but variable on a case by case basis. This element means that investments in stamps must be made only with the support of reputable organizations and professionals in the sector, which Investphila Sa and Guido Craveri are proud to say have been part of for more than twenty-five years.

Liquidity of investments in stamps

First of all, investments in stamps should almost always be considered as long-term investments, if one wishes to achieve certain rates of return, and furthermore the absence of a continuous trading platform means that investments in stamps do not have the liquidity characteristics which are typical of financial instruments.

Investphila Sa however proposes to anyone who wishes to approach the philatelic market as a pure investor, a solution which, even though in the medium-term, makes the possibility of liquidating the investment certain.

This solution is structured in studying together with the client the optimal combination of stamps to be bought, which will depend also on the lower or higher propensity to risk selected by the client, and in establishing the minimum period the investment will be kept in place.

What is the next step

If this brief introduction has encouraged you to take a greater interest in the matter, please do not hesitate to contact us by telephone or e-mail info@investphila.com.

We would be very pleased to provide you with all the information you require without any commitment on your part.