News

In this final update for 2019, we are going to review a handful of key points which we think clients of Australian Diamond Portfolio should keep front of mind as they work out how best to structure their investments as we head into the next decade.

The report will review:

• The performance of pink diamonds in 2019
• How far equities could fall in the next correction
• Risks in defensive assets like cash and bonds
• Why Australia will continue to struggle economically

As you will discover from reading this report, the 2020’s promise to be a very rewarding period for pink diamond investment, with this unique asset class set to benefit from multiple tailwinds.

These include the pending closure of the Argyle Diamond Mine, as well as an economic and financial market environment that will continue to push astute investors toward hard tangible assets.

We trust you will enjoy the report, and encourage you to share it with friends, family and colleagues that you think would benefit from reading it.

Image © Rio Tinto 2019

Diamond Demand Strong as Argyle set to Close

Pink diamond demand was strong throughout 2019, with Australian Diamond Portfolio having its busiest year ever. The increase in demand that we saw in our business personally was in line with global trends, best evidenced through the strength of this year’s Argyle Tender.

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Last week we commented on the large increase in demand that we have seen at Australian Diamond Portfolio, with many clients either opening or adding to their pink diamond investment portfolio as 2019 comes to a close.

As we discussed, this has been driven by a number of tailwinds, including the pending closure of the Argyle Diamond Mine, which is on track to shut for good by the end of next year.

In this week’s “In the Loupe”, we wanted to share with you the latest news from the Argyle mine itself, which reinforces how strong the demand for pink diamonds is around the world today.

The headline below comes from a 20th November 2019 press release from Rio Tinto (the owner of the Argyle Diamond Mine), which discusses the results from this year’s 35th pink diamond tender.

The press release noted that the tender saw double digit growth in the number of bids for diamonds, relative to the demand seen last year.

Successful bidders came from nine different countries, further evidence of the intense global demand for these diamonds, with one successful bidder stating that, “no other diamonds on earth match the rarity and provenance of pink diamonds [from the Argyle mine].” 

We very much agree with and share that sentiment, as both of these features, rarity and provenance, are essential characteristics of any investment diamond we present to clients of Australian Diamond Portfolio.

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Over the last couple of months, there has been a notable uptick in demand from our clients at Australian Diamond Portfolio. Multiple tailwinds have driven this demand, including the release of the penultimate pink diamond tender in July this year, and our special report into the closure of the Argyle Diamond Mine, which looked at its likely impact on prices for pink diamonds in years to come.

Interest rate cuts by the RBA have also been an important driver, with investors realising there is no real way to preserve, let alone grow real wealth through traditional savings anymore.

By and large, clients are looking for pink diamonds with significant vibrance and rich, deep colouring, as those are the stones that offer the best performance potential in the years ahead.

Clients are also wisely (in our view) steering clear of colourless diamonds, and even other coloured diamonds like yellow diamonds, as these types of stones do not offer the unique supply/demand profile, nor the investment potential that pink diamonds can provide.

As our widely read Pink Diamond Investment Guide highlights, whilst; “In the colourless diamond world, buyers pursue ‘less’: less colour, fewer inclusions and little if no fluorescence, to the point where the ‘void’ symbolises perfection…….In sharp contrast, in the fancy colour diamond sphere, we pursue ‘more’: more colour, more saturation, brighter tone and more character.”

“In the fancy colour diamond sphere, we pursue ‘more’: more colour, more saturation, brighter tone and more character.” – Australian Diamond Portfolio’s Pink Diamond Investment Guide. Image © Rio Tinto 2019.

Hue, saturation, and tone: Those are three of the key characteristics we look for when assessing which pink diamonds we should present to our clients as investment opportunities.

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It’s been another solid quarter for rare coloured diamonds, with the Fancy Colour Research Foundation (FCRF) releasing their Q3 2019 diamond index data last week.

Overall, pink diamond prices were steady, with the highest performance seen amongst fancy vivid pinks, particularly 1 and 3 carats fancy vivid pinks, which rose by 1.6% and 1.7% respectively.

Whilst not enormous gains for one calendar quarter, these price increases do translate to gains of approximately 7% per annum in USD terms, a very solid return in the difficult investing environment we find ourselves in.

Pink diamond prices were also substantially more resilient than other parts of the diamond universe, with yellow diamonds falling by 1.5% for the quarter, with losses of approximately 5% over the last year.

This performance discrepancy is one of the key reasons why Australian Diamond Portfolio focuses its efforts on the pink diamond market.

Our decades of experience in the industry, and the pending closure of the Argyle Diamond Mine give us confidence that pink diamonds, and pink diamonds alone are the sector of the rare coloured diamond market that offers the best return potential for our clients in the next decade.

Under the proposed “Currency (Restrictions on Use of Cash) Bill 2019” businesses and individuals would be limited to $10,000 for cash transactions.

Cash Ban Coming?

One of the interesting developments taking place in Australia right now is the discussion around limiting the use of cash in day to day commerce. Under a proposed law, called the “Currency (Restrictions on Use of Cash) Bill 2019” which looks like it may well get the legislative go ahead, all cash transactions between businesses and individuals would be limited to $10,000, with a range of punishments for those who breach this limit.

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Last week we shared an article that appeared in both The Financial Review and in Bloomberg, which looked at the pending closure of the Argyle Mine, and why it will likely kick-start another leg higher in the pink diamond market.

This week we wanted to share some findings from a recently published update from Knight Frank, whose regular Luxury Investment Index highlights the performance of a range of boutique assets favoured by High Net Worth investors the world over, from whiskey, to wine, to cars, coins, art, watches, stamps, furniture, and of course, coloured diamonds.

The recent Knight Frank update, which focused on the performance of coloured gemstones, noted the strong rise in these gemstones, which had outperformed the broader jewellery market.

The report also highlighted the strong performance of diamonds, and included the following chart, which shows the growth over 10 years in a range of luxury investment assets, including coloured diamonds.

Source: Compiled by Knight Frank Research using data from Art Market Research (art, coins, furniture, jewellery, stamps and watches), Fancy Coloured Research Foundation (coloured diamonds), HAGI (cars), Rare Whiskey 101 and Wine Owners. All data Q1 2019 except watches (Q2 2018) and coins, furniture, jewellery and stamps (Q4 2018, stamps provisional).

As you can see, coloured diamonds as a whole have had an excellent decade, more than doubling in value in the ten years to end Q1 2019, with total growth of 113%, or approximately 8% per annum.

Pink diamonds, which are our speciality at Australian Diamond Portfolio, have of course outperformed the broader coloured diamond market, with returns of over 12% per annum since 2005, a return that would make them the second highest performing asset on the chart above.

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