The current economic climate is undoubtedly fuelling risk aversion, but experts stress that the need to invest is as strong now as ever, especially since inflation is unlikely to increase the
For short-term investments, relatively safe opportunities right now include savings accounts and structured products. "A safe form of investment is those money market funds which worked out to 2.5-6.5 percent profit last year," wrote Ubezpieczeniaonline.pl’s Piotr Szostakiewicz in Investment Tribune.
A slowdown is a good time for investments with several-decade horizons, but long-term investments should be diversified and monitored, Szostakiewicz warned.
According to Bartłomiej Herodecki, a member of the management board of aviation investment firm AerFinance PLC, the aviation industry offers a safe return today. He said that the slowdown in the air industry and dropping asset values enabled a distressed asset strategy, allowing takeovers of the crisis-stricken companies.
"The crisis is hitting the sector in all its areas, both big airlines and small companies," he said. The advantages of investing in the branch include a five- to seven-year wait for a return on investment and the fact that planes generally have a service life of 15-25 years. A well-developed second-hand market is an additional advantage. According to Herodecki, a rebound in the market is expected no sooner than late 2010.
Alternative energy is another investment option in Poland, according to Tomasz Zacharz from Tebodin Consultants & Engineers. "It is not easy to say which area is the most profitable, although biomasses seem to be the first choice, thanks to institutional support for such investments," Zacharz said.
Konrad Kiedrzyński
