Here is how how a father’s shrewd investment in cask whisky resulted in a 4,600% return and £225,000 windfall to pay off his mortgage and look at early retirement.
Roger Parfitt, a 59-year-old bank manager and father-of-two from Coventry, has earned himself the chance of early retirement as a result of a shrewd decision to invest in whisky back in 1994.
Following an investment of £4,700 twenty-seven years ago (£3,200 and £1,500 for a Macallan and Tobermory cask, respectively), Roger signed a sale agreement for a whopping £225,000 – a massive 4,600% return on his initial investment.
After more than 40 years in banking, Roger has made a career helping businesses and individuals make and manage money – it’s safe to say he understands the importance of good personal money management, however the traditional investment practices he deals with at work are poles apart from more unconventional investment like whisky casks.
By his own admittance, Roger has never been an expert in whisky, but when the opportunity to invest in cask whisky came up in 1994, he believed it to be a relatively low-risk option: “I remember thinking, if it doesn’t appreciate in value, the worst that could happen is that you would have to get it out of the warehouse, bottle it and drink it. It always had that fallback for me – you could drown your sorrows if it didn’t work out financially,” he laughs.
Alistair Moncrieff, Managing Partner at Whisky Investment Partners who purchased the cask from Roger, said: “It has been incredible to help someone achieve early retirement and pay off their mortgage based on an investment they made some 27-years ago! There aren’t many investments in today’s world that you make thinking, worst case scenario we will throw one hell of a party! With interest rates historically low, we’ve seen a massive up turn this year in people buying casks. As Roger’s story highlights, we believe whisky should be treated as a serious contender against other commodities.
“As whisky casks are classified as a wasting asset, due to the natural evaporation that occurs during their lifespan, all gains are free from tax, meaning investors like Roger can profit completely tax free! The process is straightforward too; investors can simply select a cask from our stock, receive confirmation of sale, and sit back. We hope our new clients can achieve success like Roger’s in the years to come.”
According to the Knight Frank Wealth Report 2020, Rare Whisky was named the best performing asset-class of the past decade, achieving a staggering 564% growth increase. That’s an average annual rate of return of 56.4% on your initial investment.
Now £225,000 wealthier, Roger is able to pay off his mortgage and foreshorten his retirement by three years. The funds have also given him the opportunity for some much-deserved leisure time. He plans to take his wife, Helen, to visit family in Florida, as well as a long list of fishing and golfing trips with his good friends.
Roger added: “For me personally, when it comes to investing, it has to be a sensible strategy. I believe that if you just do what everyone else is doing, you’re never going to get a result like this. The fact that it’s tax-free; you can prove the indexes, and Scotch Whisky isn’t going out of fashion – I think it’s a good, alternative strategy. That’s why I have invested in a cask for each of my children, the cask of mum and dad if you like, as I hope in 10 years time they will receive a windfall to support buying a house or car.”
Whisky Investment Partners is a specialist whisky cask stockist based throughout the UK. It exists for just one purpose – to make whisky cask investment easier for investors