Two colourful but risky corporate bonds

Brewer Innis & Gunn and rugby club Wasps are looking to raise money directly from investors. Should you take up their offers? Cris Sholto Heaton investigates.

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Wasps are too risky a proposition

Smaller companies are increasingly raising loans directly from the public instead of banks and last week we saw two especially colourful examples. Innis & Gunn, an Edinburgh-based brewer, wants to raise £3m-£6m to construct a new brewery, via a four-year mini-bond with an annual interest rate of 7.25% or 9% if you're willing to be paid in beer. And rugby club Wasps is refinancing the loan it used to buy its new stadium through a £35m seven-year retail bond paying 6.5%.

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Cris Sholto Heaton

Cris Sholto Heaton is an investment analyst and writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2006 and was managing editor of the magazine between 2016 and 2018. He is especially interested in international investing, believing many investors still focus too much on their home markets and that it pays to take advantage of all the opportunities the world offers. He often writes about Asian equities, international income and global asset allocation.

Cris began his career in financial services consultancy at PwC and Lane Clark & Peacock, before an abrupt change of direction into oil, gas and energy at Petroleum Economist and Platts and subsequently into investment research and writing. In addition to his articles for MoneyWeek, he also works with a number of asset managers, consultancies and financial information providers.

He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and the Investment Management Certificate, as well as degrees in finance and mathematics. He has also studied acting, film-making and photography, and strongly suspects that an awareness of what makes a compelling story is just as important for understanding markets as any amount of qualifications.