Insurance

Today’s young professionals are starting to put their cash into collecting valuables rather than blowing their cash on flashy cars and in fashionable bars, according to insurer Zurich.

The most popular collectibles are first edition books and comics (12%), paintings and prints (11%) and vinyl records (10%). Others invest in items like cigarette cards - one has just sold in the US for £1.2m - exclusive glassware and pre-1950s football programmes.

Around one in six of collectors do so purely for commercial reasons and to take advantage of the increase in value of their artefacts, and 11% put their collections on a par with investing in stocks and shares.

In the past five years they have spent an average of £2,000 each on classic collectibles such as paintings, sculpture, books, coins and furniture. The expectation is that each collector will bank a profit of 190% each over a five-year period.

Martin Hall, head of personal lines underwriting at Zurich, said: “It seems that old valuables are the new investments for modern professionals these days.

“Our research shows that they’re more interested in, and profiting more, from antiques and collectibles than any other generation before them.

“However, anyone with a valuable collection must keep their insurance company or broker up to speed with what they are doing.”