It used to be that your options were limited unless you had a certain amount of wealth or connections when seeking lucrative investment opportunities. Today much of that has changed. As the internet progressed, what was once too big and too inefficient for individuals to acquire, quickly became readily available in abundance. Whether it be Amazon filling and shipping a single book order to your home or sending $500 to your friend across the globe at cost of .50 cents via Bitcoin on your smartphone-to describe this as an efficient and effective democratization of our economic landscape would be a gross understatement!
Though some may argue, this has provoked unintended consequences, some good , some bad and some in between (leave this for another day). But as it applies to investing, these consequences have at the very least, given us options and the freedom to make choices that would have otherwise been impossible not long ago. From angel investing in startups to self-directed brokerage accounts trading ETF’s & commodities, a plethora of opportunity at your fingertips awaits. The options are becoming vast.
Though difficult to navigate at times, it’s never been better to be an investor looking to easily acquire alternatives to diversify their portfolio. To think you can now buy a micro-ounce of gold online, secure it and spend its worth as if it were cash is remarkable. A diverse selection for an array of risk preferences equally possible for investors alike.
Yet, one of the most profound impacts in this space has come from the ability of the individual to leverage some of the greatest minds know how and quantify their readily available information almost immediately. At the very least, this has brought us valuable insight into what was once only available behind the scenes, intended for the fortunate few. One can certainly prepare and inform themselves like never before-empower both knowledge and actionable ideas.
By allowing such a transformation to take place, we’ve created an environment where not only can one put their capital to work in ways that were unimaginable, but potentially also displacing the limited, traditional alternatives capital would have gone to otherwise. And as the mode of communication and technology continue to evolve, as do investors appetite for alternatives and so only time will tell what’s in store for the traditional and redundant means.
Here in lies the inflection point.
