Business Bytes

With investments yielding low returns at the moment and volatile market conditons, some investors are looking for alternative ways to invest. These investments are often something that will yield a decent return, but invariably in an area that gives the investor genuine pleasure.

This kind of wealth management approach has its drawbacks though and is a subject of contention among financial advisors. What are known as passion investments are susceptible to fads and fashions, difficult to incorporate into a portfolio and hard to classify. It is extremely difficult to predict how much a master painting, vintage car or Bordeaux wine is going to be worth in the future.

Nevertheless, The Capgemini and Merrill Lynch World Wealth Report 2010 found that high net worth individuals are returning to passion investments, seeking out items with tangible long term value.

Fine art auctions gained almost as much during the first half of this year as they did for the whole of last year, and the Liv-ex index was up 27.2% from the beginning of the year through to August. They are not the only sector to gain, yacht brokerages closed almost 30% more sales in the first quarter of the year than they did 12 months ago, with a 70% increase in valuation, according to a survey by UK broker Yachtworld.com.

Following the predictions by NASA about solar storm occurring in 2013 when the sun reaches its most active phase, UK Defence Secretary Liam Fox is highlighting the vulnerability of the infrastructure to events such as solar storms.

The last large solar flare that disrupted telegraph communication systems in the mid-nineteenth century, scientists believe that we are overdue for another one and that the consequences could be far more wide reaching. Its possible that the magnetic energy generated by a large flare could cause intense radiation storms which could bring modern life to a standstill for weeks, even months, including power blackouts around the globe and disabling computers, telephones, water and food supplies.

The Defence Secretary is expected to point out at a Westminster conference, hosted by the Electric Infrastructure Security Council and the Henry Jackson think-tank, that the reliance of modern society on technology increases their vulnerability to extreme events such as this. "As the nature of our technology becomes more complex, so the threat becomes more widespread".

The damage caused by a solar storm has been likened to the damage inflicted by a nuclear weapon detonation in space.

As to whether or not they will actually pose a threat, it seems the potential is there and, like the impacts of climate change, it seems sensible to me that we take precautions to try and minimise the effect they could have. It is part of the Strategic and Security Review to identify weaknesses in Britain's defences to this kind of threat, but its possible it may fall foul of the spending cuts.

Did you realise that you can reach every major city in the world from Manchester airport? Neither did I. In order to set the record straight, a new initiative has been launched  nationally to inform customers of its long haul capabilities.

The 'So far, yet so near' campaign is designed to win back the 1.5m customers that drive to places such as London to take their flights when they live in Manchester airport's catchment area. A new outdoor advertising campaign promotes destinations in America, the Far East and India are easily accessible from the north west.

Andrew Harrison, Manchester airport's new managing director, said: 'Just last year I said that 50% of travellers from the north wanting to fly to Dubai were driving to London rather than taking flights from Manchester. With two daily services and one of them being an A380, there's no need to do that anymore.'

He added: 'We want to continue to grow our long-haul offering at Manchester and we will achieve this by increasing the awareness and gaining the support of our passengers.'

It will be interesting to see the figures a year from now and an evaluation of how successful the campaign was.