Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa Real Estate Investor Magazine - Dec/Jan 2018 | Page 63

INVESTMENT VEHICLES
track down and conclude the purchase of any potential
investment-grade slice of true motoring exotica that their
customers could think of requesting. In 2015, SA entre-
preneur Tommy Roes expanded this business into our local
investment industry with the launch of TCF South Africa,
offering a broad spectrum of auto-investment opportunities
specifically tailored to the passionate SA investor.
“By the end of 2015, the HAGI Index was showing nearly
500% gains over the ten years tracked. It was a bit of a boom,
and it’s cooled from that now, but there’s still a lot of poten-
tial for investors with the right approach,” opens Roes. “This
year we brought Dietrich Hatlapa out to Sun City for the
first Value in the Classic Car Market (VCCM) Conference
ever held in the southern hemisphere, as it’s a very different
market here to the one which the Index represents.”
“I knew we’d hit upon something once we’d put the event
on. Although there’s not a lot of correlation with the HAGI
Index and the actual dynamics of the South African collect-
ible cars market in terms of prices, w hat was amazing to me
was just to see the huge amount of enthusiasm generated
around this concept of stunning examples of iconic engi-
neering as an investment-grade asset. A tangible asset, that
the owners can be passionate about, but still realise a stellar
return from with the proper management.”
According to another influential marker, the Knight
Frank Luxury Investment Index, classic cars have appreci-
ated more aggressively than watches, wine, stamps, jewellery,
or even art over the last 10 years. Some self-correction has
resulted in the asset class lagging somewhat in 6th place
over the last year tracked, but that just makes a careful, con-
sidered strategy all the more valuable to new investors look-
ing to get involved.
Which is precisely where an organisation like TCF de-
livers a range of attractive options. “For those who do want
actual ownership of a specific vehicle, we find the right car,
will broker an off-market deal, ship the asset to any region
the buyer would prefer it to be stored in, then take care of
all the additional concerns like storage, maintenance and
insurance to ensure that it remains a blue chip investment
over the years.”
“We also offer alternative structures, including fractional
ownership, portfolio syndication, private managed portfolios
and, shortly, a new private equity fund we’ve been designing
specifically for our South African clients – a US-based fund
underpinned by cars that are just about to hit the vertical
growth phase.”
Of course, you can always choose to go it alone as well.
If you happen to be sitting on any of the cars listed in the
HAGI Index as having strong growth potential, like an E46
BMW M3, a rarer example of the 993-generation 911, or
even an A80 Toyota Supra, you’re likely going to want to
keep it as fit as a fiddle for a few years while fending off
buying offers from speculators. Or you can go hunting for a
future classic to buy into now before it starts to appreciate
wildly, with some help from our REIM series on classic and
investment cars over the course of the year ahead.
Back to Mr Roes for some sage wisdom in closing; “Al-
though future classics are a bit of a crystal ball exercise
whereas we tend to be involved more with the established
performers, I can say that it’s important to understand your
intentions up front. An enthusiast buys a car to a different
set of principles to an investor. And either way, buy what you
like. Because then at least if you’re wrong and you don’t see
the gains you were looking for, you’ll still have an asset that
you can love and enjoy in its own way down the line.”
SA Real Estate Investor Magazine DECEMBER 2017/JANUARY 2018
61