Monday 22 August 2016 1:47 pm

Classic cars, fine wine, coins and racehorses: One in six investors now has money in a “hobby” investment

Call them sentimental, but more and more investors are turning their pastimes into profits, according to a new study from Lloyds Private Banking.

One in six investors now cultivates a "hobby investment", spending on average £13,500 on a single item, though one in 10 is willing to splash out £50,000 on an individual item.

The most popular collectible asset is jewellery, though classic cars came out on top as the most expensive at an average of £34,500 per investment.

This was closely followed by antiques at £32,500 per average investment and whisky, £27,000, which oustripped fine wine at £20,300.

[infographic id="877"]

However, there are also plenty of spendthrift investors out there – 25 per cent of investors are willing to spend less than £1,000 on their side money projects.

According to Lloyds, the majority of hobby investments are driven by an investor’s personal interest for the asset class – this is especially the case for classic cars, where 68 per cent of owners link their investment to personal sentiment and only five per cent say they choose to invest for purely financial reasons.

Other high value asset classes predominately driven by personal interest are art (53 per cent), antiques (50 per cent), and whisky (44 per cent).

"In investment terms, work and play do not need to be mutually exclusive, and with the right investment approach it is possible to make your interests pay," said Markus Stadlmann, chief information officer at Lloyds Private Banking.

"Often tangible assets, such as a painting or a timepiece, retain their value and are not eroded by inflation. Over the long-term, these types of assets do not closely correlate with more traditional equity and bond markets, and therefore offer diversification opportunities. Investing in something you enjoy is a great way to make your portfolio unique to you."