EXCLUSIVE: PRESS RELEASE

Peter Lunzer launches new alternative investment manager for institutions and HNWIs £10m of fine wine investments managed from day 1

London, 03 November 2008: Peter Lunzer, one of the wine industry’s best known and respected fund managers, returns to the City today with a new fine wine investment manager – as confidence in other equity and alternative investments flags – Lunzer Wine Investments Ltd (“LWI”).

Already managing wine investment portfolios, for clients, valued in excess of £10 million, LWI will initially offer to manage wholly owned, dedicated portfolios for institutions, private offices and very high net worth individuals. It is currently working on the launch of its first fund, which is planned for early 2009.

Stock market volatility brought on by the current economic climate means that many investors’ confidence in the financial markets is at an all time low. As a result, investors are looking at smarter ways to invest – perhaps through commodity based investments such as fine wine – either as a direct investor or within the boundaries of a fund. Fine wines are now a proven, tax efficient asset class (wine is typically treated as a wasting asset and is therefore exempt from capital gains tax) that has outperformed the FTSE in the last 25 years and dramatically in the past 10 months.

KEY POINTS

• Boutique wine focused alternative investment manager launched to offer proven portfolio diversification to traditional investment categories
• Focused on institutions, private offices and very high net worth individuals – with all the required transparency and reporting
• LWI sees the return of Peter Lunzer, one of the world’s leading portfolio wine experts with a track record of 21% annual investment growth over 6 years via proprietary investing model – the Wine-Price Ratio model
• LWI will deliver multi-investor funds, bespoke funds and fund management services
• Fine wine is tax free and has outperformed all other recognised traditional investments in last 15 years
• Minimum investment of £500,000 for institutions (£100,000 for private offices) with a recommended 5 year investment period

Peter Lunzer, Chief Executive and Chief Investment Officer , a 30 year veteran with both a wine commerce and proven wine investment track record, heads the London based investment manager.

Commenting, Peter Lunzer said: “The advantage, in terms of picking wines, is to understand not just the nature of a wine as it matures, but to understand the way that its value evolves as well. As an example, some wines or even whole vintages pass through adolescent stages of maturity, which makes their flavours more challenging. Similarly, as vintages are consumed, they become more scarce. It is the understanding of how they may emerge from these stages and the effect that this has on market values that will be most valuable in picking future winners. Our wine picking model, the Wine-Price Ratio factors in a number of criteria that influence the rate at which investment grade wine prices alter over time”

Peter’s first formal 5 year track record was achieved whilst acting as CIO for The Wine Investment Fund, which he co-founded. From 2003 to 2008 the fund returned an increase of 108% net of all fees.

With an average return of around 15% per annum for the last 25 years, investing in fine wines has proven to be a profitable strategy. Fine wine investment has outperformed all other forms of recognised investment. Generally less affected by stock market fluctuations, interest rate shifts and even recession, fine wine carries clear tangible benefits to investors in what are challenging economic times.

Commenting on the launch, Neil Rafferty, Executive Director, said: “With decreasing availability, comes increasing rarity. In a nutshell, the trouble in the major investment markets makes it an opportune time for investors seeking to diversify their portfolios, to invest in this highly specialist, tried and tested alternative format. The product of wine has extra appeal as an asset class, as wine is classed as a wasting asset and is therefore not liable for capital gains tax. We are already managing a number of funds, based on Peter’s proven track record, while talking to others about the fund we anticipate launching in the new year.”

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Press Enquiries:

Madano Partnership

Adam Wurf/Dominic Barretto/Graham Moonie
020 7593 4000

About our market

Fine Wine is an established form of alternative investment that can offer impressive returns. The wine market is based upon simple supply and demand economics. Bordeaux has the most stable financial market of all wine producing regions, while in each decade only 3-4 vintages out of every 10 have wines of a high enough quality for investment purposes. A chateau can only produce a unique and finite amount of wine each year. As this is happening the wine is maturing and becoming more desirable, which leads to an increase in demand.