Exceptional diamonds

Like diamond, gold has been fascinating mankind for centuries. This is not only because of its value, but also because of the many misunderstandings and fables around it.

As we mentioned in the previous blog, the biggest rough diamond from the last 100 years, the Lesedi la Rona, was finally sold after a year of negotiation. So now, investors are looking forward to the auction of the Raj Pink. On November 15 2017, the world’s biggest diamond will be auctioned.

We all want give our children or grandchildren a push start in life, a nice cash reserve they can use when they are adults. When you are saving for your children, “Long term” is the key word.

Exactly 59.60 carat (11.92 grams) is the weight of the Pink Star, which speaks to the imagination and is also known as the Steinmetz Pink. In 1999, the rough diamond was discovered in South Africa and weighed 132.5 carats.

Which private investor is willing to be part of the ability to invest with a negative return? You would be kind of crazy. Nevertheless that is exactly what institutional investors, such as pension funds and insurers, do. Billions of euros are being invested in such funds, of which you already know that the return will be negative. Why do they do this?

The renowned consulting firm McKinsey recently surveyed all Belgian players in the private banking sector. For this study both the specialized invest banks as well as the specialized departments of large banks were questioned. In Belgium, these institutions combined manage 240 billion euro, which is roughly similar to the Belgian saving accounts. Compared with the crisis of a few years ago, this represents an increase of 100 billion euro.