Alternative investments

Hurricane Maria was somewhat less of a weather monster than the two big storms that preceded it. Harvey dumped record amounts of rain over parts of Texas, and Irma’s tropical-storm force winds covered an area wider than the Florida peninsula.

Hurricane Maria could cost Puerto Rico $45 billion to $95 billion in damage, a devastating blow to the island’s already ailing economy. The high end of the range, released Thursday by Moody’s Analytics, represents almost an entire year’s economic output for Puerto Rico.
The estimate underscores "why officials are now suggesting that its economy may be set back decades," Adam Kamins, a senior economist at the firm, wrote in an analysis.

The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) was introduced in 2013. The aim of the Directive is to regulate the provision of fund management services by fund managers to alternative investment funds. As such, it also introduces rules on the marketing of AIFs in the European Union. Malta, being a member of the EU, has fully transposed and implemented the AIFMD which has formed part of Maltese law for over three years.

Switzerland could become the latest country to ban facial coverings worn by some Muslim women after activists collected more than the 100,000 signatures required to put the proposal to a national vote.

A committee handed in the signatures to the Federal Chancellery in Bern for a people’s initiative on the issue. The federal authorities and parliament must now decide upon it, the Swiss News Agency reported.

The UBS banking team has released its annual survey on factual inaccuracies in Australian mortgage applications, and the results aren’t pretty.

The latest detailed survey of more than 900 people who took out a home loan in 2017 has found that only 67 per cent responded that their mortgage was "completely factual and accurate", down from 72 per cent of 2016 borrowers.

A new tool to provide a complete information to get into the market of diamonds and gold.

If you’re going on a certain kind of holiday, the price of a drink might take precedence over certain other factors, but even if you’re not planning on wearing a bright pink polo with a lurid slogan printed on the back, knowing the price of a pint is always useful.

The study, carried out by UK based FX comparison site Travelex, who produced an International Beer Index for 2017, looked at the average price of half a litre of beer in 32 countries which are popular holiday destinations for British holidaymakers.

Switzerland, Germany and Austria have the highest proportion of people renting a home rather than buying, accounting for over 45% of their populations, a new report shows.

At the other end of the spectrum, in Croatia, Macedonia and Romania less than 10% of the population rent, according to the research from real estate firm Savills.

Switzerland is the only country where more people rent than buy, with almost 60% doing so, while in Germany it is almost 50% and in Austria it is just over 45% while in Turkey and Denmark it is just under 40%.

As all car lovers know, purchasing a classic car is about much more than getting around in style. It’s owning a piece of motoring history – and getting to hear the sound of a vintage engine rumbling into life.

As well as being a piece of art, buying a vintage car can be a good investment. That’s why MoneySuperMarket have put together a list of some of the most valuable car sales yet.