Money | guardian.co.uk: The art of alternative investment

Money | guardian.co.uk Articles published by guardian.co.uk Money

The art of alternative investment Jun 1st 2013, 06:02 With art schools across the country holding their degree shows now is the time to spot new talent Media files: Tame-the-Beast-by-Yasmin--001.jpg (image/jpeg) Self-by-Morag-Cullens-002.jpg (image/jpeg) Self-and-Other-by-Lisa-Sc-003.jpg (image/jpeg) Abstract-Painting-RGW-II--004.jpg (image/jpeg) Tesla-Enlightment-by-Bart-005.jpg (image/jpeg) Cherry-Nude-by-Rebecca-Fo-006.jpg (image/jpeg)

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Money | guardian.co.uk: Nationwide helps first-time buyers with a record low 2.54% rate

Money | guardian.co.uk Articles published by guardian.co.uk Money

Nationwide helps first-time buyers with a record low 2.54% rate Jun 1st 2013, 06:01 But the mortgage is part of the government's Help to Buy scheme which is new-build only, sparking fears it will fuel another housing market bubble Nationwide building society has launched the lowest-ever mortgage rate for first-time buyers, offering a rate of just 2.54% fixed for two years, available to borrowers with a deposit of just 5%. But the deal is part of the government's Help to Buy scheme, only available against new-build properties, which, critics have warned, could stoke another round of house price inflation. The Nationwide deal comes with relatively low arrangement fees totalling £499 (many mortgage fees are now set at £999). You don't even have to be a first-time buyer to apply. The offer is open to home movers as well, although they pay a fee of £900, and if they already have a loan with Nationwide, the rate drops to just 2.44%. Buyers can use the mortgage to purchase any property from a developer registered with the Homes and Communities Agency, which is running the Help to Buy scheme. The way it works is that the borrower puts down a deposit of 5%, then the government issues an equity loan equal to up to 20% of the value of the property. Nationwide then lends the remaining 75%, which is how it manages to cut the rate. Critics warn that Help to Buy will spark another housing market bubble, and figures from Nationwide this week suggest that the market is gathering momentum yet again, with prices up 0.4% in May. Even Nationwide's chief executive, Graham Beale, when asked recently about the launch of Help to Buy, suggested it could lead to higher house price inflation. However, at the launch of the society's Help to Buy loans, its head of mortgages, Tracie Pearce, said the lender was "keen to support the government's efforts in helping the mortgage market to move forward". The 2.54% two-year fix is just one of three Help to Buy deals on offer from Nationwide. The others are a low-fee deal, where the charges are just £99 rather than £499, but the rate is set at 2.94% (2.84% for existing borrowers) and a three-year fixed rate at 2.64%, or 2.54% for existing borrowers. The three-year deal has a fee of £900 for movers or £400 for first-time buyers, plus a £99 booking fee. The 2.54% rate beats any other available to borrowers with a 5% deposit, according to financial information firm Moneyfacts, and is less than half that charged on conventional 95% loans. On Nationwide's existing Save to Buy deal, where borrowers can get a 95% loan if they save into an account for at least six months, the rate is 5.34%. What does it mean in terms of monthly repayments? If a Help to Buy borrower takes out the Nationwide 2.54% deal and borrows £120,000 over 25 years, he or she will have to pay just £541 a month, compared to £725 using the society's Save to Buy scheme. The cheap rate means that many first-time buyers will find it makes sense to buy a new-build rather than rent, although it's hard to see how the equation stacks up in London's super-heated property market. For example, Miller Homes has a development – Unity Quarter in Salford – where prices start at £120,000 and qualify for Help to Buy. But in London, affordability is beyond the vast majority of first-time buyers. Taylor Wimpey, for example, allows Help to Buy across all its developments, but prices at its West Hampstead development start at £1.4m while in Camden the starting price is £879,000, both above the maximum £600,000 government limit for Help to Buy, and way beyond the income multiples lenders will allow. But further out in Barking, in London's East End, Taylor Wimpey has Help to Buy one-bed flats starting at £139,000. The equity loan from the government must be between 10% and 20% of the property's value, and is only repaid when the property is sold. After five years, the loan starts to attract interest. Will the Nationwide deal be available for long before all the money is snapped up? Nationwide would not reveal how many loans it would make available at these rates, but a spokeswoman says: "As with all new-build sales, we have limits on the amount of homes we will mortgage; this is assessed on a site-by-site basis and Help to Buy products will be subject to those existing limits." Several other large lenders already offer Help to Buy loans, including Halifax, NatWest and Barclays through its Woolwich arm. Barclays is offering 3.89% for three years with a £299 fee. NatWest has two fee-free deals at 3.15% and 3.59%; the second of those is a five-year fixed rate. Halifax is charging 3.19% for two years with a £999 fee, or 3.59% if you want to avoid upfront costs. However, Halifax's deal does come with an offer to pay up to £2,500 in stamp duty for first-time buyers who take out a loan before 7 July. "Nationwide has come out with a very competitive offering," says Andrew Montlake, director of mortgage brokers Coreco. "Having a big lender like this coming in will help to support the scheme and bring more competition into the market." As well as Nationwide's Save to Buy, there are other 95% mortgages available outside Help to Buy, but all involve getting parental backing or committing to a period of saving before applying for the loan, and rates are generally above 5%. First-time buyers Mortgages Mortgage rates Property Housing market Hilary Osborne guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Media files: Nationwide-sign-003.jpg (image/jpeg) Nationwide-sign-008.jpg (image/jpeg)

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Money | guardian.co.uk: Dear Jeremy – your work issues solved

Money | guardian.co.uk Articles published by guardian.co.uk Money

Dear Jeremy – your work issues solved Jun 1st 2013, 06:01 Problems at work? Need advice? Our agony uncle – and readers – have the answer How can I begin to contribute more and progress at work? I am 33 and have worked in software development for a government department for the past four years. My previous career, for six years, was as a police officer. Over time I discovered I was not suited to policing – I wanted a break from confrontational behaviour, and a more predictable work-life balance. I returned to university to do an master's in computer science. Recently I have felt disappointed about still being in a graduate-level job while my peers have moved on to managerial level. However my line manager feels I do not demonstrate key skills, such as working with others, communicating and influencing. I have repeatedly had feedback that I don't show enough initiative, have poor networking skills and don't contribute enough at meetings. Part of the problem, I think, is that I am still thinking in terms of the police working culture: showing deference towards superiors and waiting to receive instructions. How can I change so that I can progress? Jeremy says I think it likely that you are at least half way towards an accurate self analysis. Taking instructions, with minimal challenge, must be a necessary part of being an effective police officer. But I find it interesting that this was not your reason for leaving the police force. You didn't leave because you were denied the opportunity to take initiative; you left for other reasons. And this leads me to believe that the low-key behaviour your line manager has drawn your attention to – and which you seem to accept as fair comment – is the consequence not just of police force conditioning but also of your natural temperament. You have had four years to free yourself from any sense of cultural constraint – and have clearly failed to do so. I strongly suspect that in neither job has anyone handed you a project you were expected to take ultimate responsibility for. And in your current role you seem never to have put your hand up and shown any interest in any such assignment. It's high time you did. Rather than suddenly trying to appear generally more dynamic, which wouldn't come naturally to you and might seem odd, I think you should ask your line manager to give you a small but discrete project to manage. Your line manager says you've failed to demonstrate teamwork skills, influencing, communicating and taking initiative. To date, you haven't had to. But once you've agreed to be accountable for the completion of a given task, these become practical, necessary skills – without them you will fail. My guess is you will rise to the occasion. With a concrete objective firmly in mind you will find yourself behaving quite differently. And when you've brought one small project to a successful conclusion, a path to promotion becomes altogether more likely. Readers say • I would observe others and try to gain an insight into what is required. I watch people to see how they operate: do they listen or cut in when people are talking; are they communicating face-to-face, sending email updates out, on conference calls constantly? What can appear to be a person walking round the office chatting can actually be subtle networking – take time out to find out what's happening in their world, while giving face-to-face updates to stakeholders or colleagues. gmoney_1664 • Many managers look to promote only those who work in the same way they do. In fact there are many management styles and they suit different types of environment and staff. If you are not appreciated, it is time to look for a new job where you may fit in better with the culture. Take your experience and move on. RDUK123 My first job has turned into a bit of a disaster – should I admit defeat? I am struggling in my first job. I have been here three months, with another three months of my probation to go. When I started they said I'd be "learning on the job". Since then I have had two days of formal programming training, which was extremely basic compared to my day-to-day work. My manager knows nothing about programming. I have asked him for advice, but he says I should talk to other people fulfilling similar duties. I have asked others for help, but few understand the work I am doing. I am frustrated and angry that my first job has become such a nightmare. I am as qualified as other people in the office, but I feel isolated as my role is unique. I feel unsupported and am regularly made to feel like an idiot. Moreover, my manager has posted two vacancies – one which sounds remarkably similar to my role. Should I cut my losses and leave at the end of my probation, or will I look inadequate? When do I admit I have simply been defeated and move on to a less challenging career? Jeremy says Unless you are a sublimely confident person, which clearly you're not, first jobs can be confusing. In your case you are torn between believing you have been given inadequate support and training, and wondering if you've made an ill-advised career choice. Please don't judge an entire industry on the basis of three months' experience at one company. Nothing you've experienced should convince you that you should "move on to a less challenging career". Yes, you're floundering a bit; that's common enough when starting out. But it's also fairly obvious that your company – and your manager – are out of their depth as well. But you do need to stop feeling sorry for yourself. A good degree may be a necessary qualification for getting a job; but it's never, of itself, a qualification for doing a job. Do everything you can in the next three months to overcome the problems you describe. At the same time, research other companies that seem more likely to understand the nature of your work. You'll find this difficult to believe but – looking back, whatever the outcome – this deeply unsatisfactory period will prove to have been invaluable. But not if you chuck in the towel now. Readers say • You're probably used to having fairly clear definitions of "correct" and "incorrect", and the time to do things properly. Work is often more about pragmatically muddling through. It isn't necessarily easy, but you may find you become happier if you can adjust your expectations to better suit the environment you are now in. MrCrane • As a new developer you will make mistakes, especially when learning a new technology. It will largely be up to you to spot these, although if they result in a system that works you may not be able to spend time fixing them. Sometimes we know we produce code that is not optimal but simply do not have time to fix it – the good news is our management often has no idea, as they can't write code. ashvince For Jeremy's and readers' advice on a work issue, send a brief email to dear.jeremy@guardian.co.uk. Please note that he is unable to answer questions of a legal nature or reply personally. Work & careers Jeremy Bullmore guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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Money | guardian.co.uk: The low-cost ways to invest in shares

Money | guardian.co.uk Articles published by guardian.co.uk Money

The low-cost ways to invest in shares Jun 1st 2013, 06:01 There are alternative ways to invest in stock markets and avoid expensive, often underperforming actively managed funds Fund managers are some of the highest-paid people in the City, regularly raking in £1m-plus salaries, yet fewer than four in 10 "actively managed" funds beat the market index over a 10-year period. However, there are alternatives that enable you to match the performance of almost any index, at a significantly lower cost than giving your money to a Porsche-driving stockpicker. The good news is that it's not just cheaper to invest in index funds, it's easy too. Just follow our 10-point guide to investing on the cheap. 1 What is an index? The FTSE 100 index is made up of the biggest 100 companies on the UK stock market. The index began in January 1984 at a base level of 1,000, rose to a peak of 6950.6 on 30 December 1999 and this week was trading around 6650. If you invest in an index, you are investing a tiny part of your money in each company in the index. There are now thousands of indices covering virtually every market in the world. 2 What is an index fund? Index tracker funds buy the same shares as an index, in the same proportions, and so mimic its performance. A tracker fund uses computer programmes to do the buying and selling, cutting out pricey fund managers. There are two ways to invest in an index; either through a conventional unit-trust style tracker fund (the first was launched in the US in 1974) or through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) which began life in 1993. There are pros and cons for both. Most can also be placed in a tax-free Isa wrapper. 3 Why buy an index fund? Just one reason: price. A conventional actively managed fund on average gobbles up 2.5% of your money every year, while an index fund can be found for just 0.2% a year. On the surface, the fund management industry tells investors they will pay an initial fee (up to 5% of your cash gone straightaway, but often discounted down to zero with a bit of shopping around) plus 1.5% of your investment every year. Typically 0.75% goes to the fund manager annually, another 0.5% to the person who sold it to you and about 0.25% to the platform that holds and administrates the fund for you. But in truth, it's much worse than that, because fund managers don't disclose turnover fees upfront. That's the cost of actually buying and selling shares in a portfolio, which adds, on average, another 0.9% a year. Throw in auditor and trustee fees, and the real cost of buying an active fund is about 2.5%, year in, year out. These charges massively reduce your returns. Research from consumer group Which? shows that if you invested £10,000 in a fund with no charges, and it grew by 6% annually for 20 years, you'd get a return of £32,071 – just over £22,000 growth. If you invested in a fund with fees totalling 2.5% a year, you'd be paying out £12,000 in charges. Index funds and ETFs typically charge just a fraction of traditional fund management fees, with the cheapest (such as those from Vanguard and Fidelity) at about 0.2% a year. However, some index funds are surprisingly pricey; Virgin UK Index Tracking, which has more than £2bn under management, has an annual fee of 1%, and trackers sold by Halifax and M&S are also expensive. 4 How do I buy an index fund or an ETF? Fund supermarkets are the best place to start. These are platforms on which investors can manage investment Isas, funds and pensions all in one place. Index funds used to be unpopular to the companies that run these platforms as they don't pay commission, but investor pressure has forced them to be made available. Try i.nvest at alliancetrustsavings.co.uk, Hargreaves Lansdown at hl.co.uk, Fidelity's fund supermarket at fidelity.co.uk or Cavendish Online at cavendishonline.co.uk ETFs are more like individual shares and you buy them through share dealers, such as Barclays, Halifax and TD Direct, but many are also available on the fund platforms. Note that you will pay dealing fees and other admin costs. 5 Which index tracker should I choose? First decide which market you want to be in – UK, Europe, US, emerging markets and so on. Indexing tends to work better in big, developed markets but can be expensive if you want to track indices in less developed, illiquid markets. Vanguard is the giant in index investing, offering both funds and ETFs, with Fidelity making a major push into the market. 6 Which is cheapest for tracking the FTSE? Fees change regularly in what is a very competitive market, but this is a selection of the best: • Vanguard FTSE 100 ETF. Fee: 0.1%. Buy at TDDirectInvesting.co.uk on a standard dealing charge of £15 plus a quarterly admin fee of £15. If you invest over £15,000, the fees are waived so you only pay the 0.1%. • SWIP Foundation Growth. Tracks the FTSE All-Share. Fee: 0.1%. Only available at Hargreaves Lansdown, which adds a £2 monthly fee. If you are investing less than £15,000, this is a good option. • HSBC FTSE 100 Index Fund. Fee: 0.17%. If you buy at HSBC's Global Investment Centre, there is a 0.39% account fee on top. Buy at Cavendish Online for a total of 0.35%. • Fidelity Moneybuilder UK Index. Tracks the FTSE All-Share. Fee: 0.3%. No additional charges if you invest at Fidelity.co.uk. 7 Which is cheapest for tracking global markets? • To invest across the world, try Vanguard Life Strategy 80%. It is a pack of index funds covering UK, US, emerging markets and bonds, and is one of the best-selling funds on i.nvest. Fee: annual 0.32% plus 0.24% initial. • To invest in the US, try Fidelity Moneybuilder US Index Tracker. Fee 0.3%. No additional charges if you invest at Fidelity.co.uk. • For Europe try iShares Euro Stoxx Total Market Value Large ETF. Tracks large companies in European markets. Fee: 0.4%. 8 Which are better – index funds or ETFs? There's not a lot between them, apart from the fact that ETFs are listed on a stock exchange, like shares, and can be traded any time the market is open. Proponents of ETFs claim they are more transparent, liquid and flexible than traditional funds, and are often cheaper. What's undoubtedly true is that ETFs enable you to track not just equity indices but a wide range of other things, such as gold and oil, all the way through to agricultural commodities. But there are worries about synthetic ETFs which do not physically buy the underlying stocks but use a derivative instead. Critics, such as Terry Smith of fundsmith.co.uk, claim they are full of "unappreciated risks". 9 What if it all goes wrong? If the stock market falls, bad luck. There's no compensation scheme that protects small investors from shares going down in price. But the Financial Services Compensation Scheme does cover you for the first £50,000 if the firm you invest through defaults. 10 Is a tracker for me? They make sense as a cheap, core holding for any investor, so long as you follow some basic rules: diversify your investments, hold for the long term and drip-feed in your money through regular savings. Seeking advice? No-obligation investment advice is available from Guardian Investing, provided by Skipton Financial Services. If you have any longer-term financial aspirations but are unsure of how to achieve them, it could pay off to obtain personal financial advice. Visit guardianinvesting.co.uk Investment funds Shares Alternative investments Investments Isas Savings Investment Isas Stock markets Patrick Collinson guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Media files: Share-trading-for-beginne-002.jpg (image/jpeg) Share-trading-for-beginne-006.jpg (image/jpeg)

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Money | guardian.co.uk: Google Adword: beware copycat websites in paid-for search results

Money | guardian.co.uk Articles published by guardian.co.uk Money

Google Adword: beware copycat websites in paid-for search results Jun 1st 2013, 06:01 Web search results reveal scores of 'rogue websites' tricking the unwary into paying too much for government services Pensioners Brian and Valerie lost £80 after going on Google to renew their passports. The couple, from Harrogate, realised too late that the website they used, UK-passport.net, was not the official government service they had expected and that they had parted with their cash for "virtually a piece of paper which could be obtained for nothing from the Post Office". Another Money reader, Veronica Fenton, is furious that her daughter, a single mother, was caught out after a Google search directed her to passport-uk.co.uk, where she handed over her credit card details and passport number, only to end up paying an inflated price to obtain a passport. These are just two of the many letters Guardian Money is receiving almost daily from readers, outraged at the list of websites that appear at the top of Google searches and persuade the unwary to pay twice as much as they need to renew their passports. But the issue stretches much further than passports. On virtually every government or local authority service where a fee or licence is required, commercial organisations are paying Google for their websites to come top on searches – and then obtain fees by preying on the unwary. The list includes birth and death certificates, congestion charge payments, driving licences, national insurance numbers and even rod fishing licences. Each website tries to appear as official as possible. Indeed, passport.uk.com has "Official UK Passport Application" in its title line, and pays Google to sit firmly above the real official site, gov.uk/renew-adult-passport. Why, everyone asks, is Google allowing this, and indeed profiting from it? Why is the government not doing more to shut down these sites? Last week, Guardian Money scored a small, albeit temporary, victory when we took up Brian and Valerie's case. Google acted promptly, taking UK-passport.net off its searches. But days later, the ad reappeared on its search results, with slightly different wording at the top of the opening page. The way these sites work is to mimic the official passport site, passing on your details and charging you a fee for the privilege. Many describe themselves as "third-party processing firms" that make the application process "quicker and easier". But as Chris Ralston, another reader who was caught out, says: "The site I was taken to looked like the official government site. I am quite capable of filling in a form; these people need to be stopped. It's outrageous." Many users only find out they are not on the official site when they also have to pay the real passport service a charge of £72.50. Many ring the Home Office's passport service to complain, where the problem is now so common that staff have got used to explaining to upset callers that the site is nothing to do with the official service. Google says its rules do not allow firms to charge fees for services that are free from an official site, but a few minutes on the web uncovers many companies doing precisely that. The sites are supposed to prominently make it clear that the service they are offering is available elsewhere for free or for a lower fee, but this information is often buried at the bottom of the page in greyed-out type. In Brian and Valerie's case, prior to our intervention UK-passport.net had a message at the bottom of its page stating that it was not connected to IPS. Maybe it was relying on the fact that few consumers know that this stands for the Identity and Passport Service, which is actually now called Her Majesty's Passport Office. Following our calls to Google, the disclaimer is now more prominently displayed. UK-passport.net has now refunded the £80 fee the couple paid, but Brian says they have had to put their Rhine cruise on hold because of fears their new passports would be delayed while they took on the company. A spokesperson for Google said: "Our 'sale of free items and official services' policy makes it very clear that we do not allow the promotion of sites that charge for products or services that are otherwise available for free, unless they clearly state that the original service is available for free elsewhere, provide a working link to the official source where they can get the free service, as well as accurately represent the added value they are charging for. If we discover sites that are breaking this policy we will take appropriate action." There are signs that the government is becoming increasingly frustrated at what it calls "rogue sites". A spokesperson for Her Majesty's Passport Office told us: "It's totally unacceptable that unscrupulous companies are continuing to trick people into paying for information which is available free of charge by Her Majesty's Passport Office. "We have already taken action with the Advertising Standards Agency to fine the owners of rogue sites and ensure they do not use official logos or branding. We continue to monitor these sites and explore new ways to counteract their activities. "Customers can find information and download passport application forms via our website and telephone advice line on 0300 222 0000." We contacted UK-passport.net and asked them to justify their services. A director, James Wyatt, told us that his firm offers a genuine service aimed at people who need help filling in the application form, and said the site makes it explicitly clear that it is not the official IPS site. He said large numbers of passport applications failed each year because of errors – errors that his team will spot, saving his customers time. When asked why he thought so many Guardian readers were claiming they'd been misled, he said he had nothing to add. While most of the complaints that Money has received relate to passport sites, anger is also growing at sites that require users to pay for a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). These are free from the official site, nhs.uk/ehic/, but type EHIC into Google and click on the companies in the yellow ad box at the top of the search results, and you'll be asked to pay around £25 for your card. For example, Applyehic.org appears to fall foul of the Google guidelines but it continues to operate in spite of this. The website invites applicants to tick a box to confirm they have read its terms and conditions – but if you actually click on the terms and conditions link, there aren't any. Once you've got your health card and try to renew your driving licence, the same company behind UK-passport.net will charge you £40-£60 to check your licence application. The site features the same colour scheme as the old Direct.gov websites. Those applying to pay London's congestion charge face similar issues, as do those applying for a fishing rod licence. Perhaps the most nauseating are the sites that try to lure people wishing to obtain birth, marriage and death certificates. Leicester City Council, at the top of its own website offering information on the certificates, warns: "A number of private services have been set up online, which often appear to be official. But these websites can charge you extra 'administration fees' and some of them ask you to call premium rate telephone lines. In most cases you will have paid more for exactly the same service. Beware of companies overcharging for replacement certificates." Could a blanket ban be imposed on such sites? It's interesting that Google at one time promoted sites that came top on searches for the NHS Direct telephone number, but simply connected callers to the line on a premium rate instead. Under pressure from the public, it now bans commercial users from using its AdWords system to buy such searches. Critics say this shows that the internet giant, which made a profit of £2.6bn in the UK in 2011 but paid just £6m in tax, could do more to help consumers. Consumer affairs Consumer rights Advertising Google e-Government E-commerce Internet Miles Brignall guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Media files: UK-passport-003.jpg (image/jpeg) UK-passport-008.jpg (image/jpeg)

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Money | guardian.co.uk: Making modern art pay by degrees

Money | guardian.co.uk Articles published by guardian.co.uk Money

Making modern art pay by degrees Jun 1st 2013, 06:01 The works of 3,000 hopeful graduates are on show throughout the country. We look at this alternative investment and how buyers can get in on the ground floor Over the next few weeks, the degree shows at art schools across Britain will be showcasing the talents of 3,000 graduating hopefuls. A few will go on to become the next Hockney or Warhol, and see their works fetch a fortune, although the vast majority will never enjoy financial success. So if you are keen to support young artistic talent – but have an eye to possibly making a few quid along the way – where do you start in what is a famously fickle market? Sarah Ryan says she has the answer. She set up New Blood Art, and has, since 2004, trawled round all the degree shows in England, Scotland and Wales signing up artists. She then sells their work online through her website. "It is like looking for a needle in a haystack," says Ryan, 39, a former art teacher and graduate of London Guildhall, now called London Metropolitan. Trying to pin her down on what she looks for is as elusive as finding the next Damien Hirst. "It's not about the medium or the style; it's more about the quality of the artist. They need to have distilled their style into something characteristic of themselves, to have a unique visual language. I speak to the artist and their tutors," she says. Tellingly, it's not only about being talented. She's looking for those who are prepared to put in long hours in the studio, apply for prizes and residencies and intend to dedicate themselves to art for decades to come. "Talent alone won't take them through. People can coast with that. They need to be totally committed and passionate." When she founded New Blood Art, selling art over the web was in its infancy. But in the past few years there's been an explosion of site launches from galleries, artists' collectives and individuals themselves. Many of the sites which show a collection of artists have no adjudication process. The artists simply upload examples of their work, sometimes for a fee. One example is Saatchi Online, started by the Saatchi Gallery in 2006, which is free for any artist to use. "I have reservations about that," says Ryan. "It's a lovely ideal, but artists need guidance, especially when it comes to pricing their work. They need a track record of selling at a particular price. We go as low as is comfortable for the artist to get traction. Then, when there's demand, the price can gradually pick up." She cites Welsh artist Iain Andrews, a graduate of Aberystwyth, as an example. When she took him on in 2005, his paintings were selling for £300 to £400. More recently he sold a commissioned abstract for £20,000. The price tag on his works shot up after he was featured as one of the emerging artists on the TV series, School of Saatchi. He won the Towry award in 2011 and The Marmite Prize in 2010. But the level of demand means Ryan has no originals to sell. She also bought early work by David Wightman in 2004, which sold through New Blood Art for around £700. It now fetches £8,000 to £30,000 through Halcyon Gallery on New Bond Street, which represents the artist. Ryan makes her living by taking a cut of the artists' sales – and, on the face of it, this sounds breathtakingly high. When New Blood Art sells an item, it keeps 40% of the price. Compare that with the debate over investment funds on the stock market (see page 6), where the argument is over charges of 2.5%. But Ryan says her costs are actually lower than the physical galleries, which typically take 50%. The basic tenet of any investment is buy low, sell high. She says you could wait until you see the price of an individual artist's work start to pick up before buying or they win a major prize. "I would rather invest before you see any increase, but there's more risk and more reward," says Ryan. "If you wanted a surer thing you could wait until the price goes up." Among the 200 artists she features online, she tips Polish Bartosz Beda whose oil paintings cost £500 three years ago and are now nearly £3,000; Rebecca Fontaine-Wolf whose prices have trebled in seven years; Lisa Scrimgeour whose work sold out as soon as she was launched online and Masaki Yada who has attracted renowned collector Anita Zabludowicz. "Some people buy a whole collection, which immediately makes their investment more valuable," she says. "By investing you affect the value, especially if an esteemed collector buys the work, too." But what of this year's crop? Who's hot right now? Ryan says she has been immensely impressed by works coming out of the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, which is part of the University of Dundee. She tips works by Yasmin Davidson, "a lovely and very talented graduate I discovered at their show last week", selling for £450 upwards. She also rates the work of Morag Cullens from Dundee, whose framed oil on paper creations sell for £500 upwards. Potential investors can, of course, attend the degree shows themselves and make their own choices – and enjoy a great day out. The Edinburgh College of Art show opens on 1 June, with the college transformed into the Scottish capital's biggest gallery space as it celebrates the work of more than 500 graduating artists, film makers, designers and architects. On 3 June, Portsmouth's degree show opens to the public. Shows in Glasgow, London, Leeds and Birmingham follow. Most are free entry, although some are weekday only. Investments Alternative investments Art guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Media files: Self-by-Morag-Cullens-003.jpg (image/jpeg) Self-by-Morag-Cullens-008.jpg (image/jpeg)

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