Pojęcie i istota inwestycji alternatywnych
The concept and essence of alternative investments

Summary/Abstract: Background: The dynamism of the financial market forces the holders of cash to secure it, which has resulted in the education and dissemination of the idea of investing in goods other than finan¬cial instruments. Alternative investments are still on the margins of consideration in the scientific discourse. Each author who deals with a given issue creates a definition of alternative investments. Therefore, one cannot talk about the institution of alternative investments being established in science. It also results from the ever changing scope of these investments. With the passage of time and the development of the market, some of them are beginning to be considered “classic” investments, while increasingly new forms of money hoarding, not necessarily correctly, are auto¬matically considered to be alternative. Therefore, it seems reasonable to try to answer the question of what alternative investments are, how we can understand them, and what their genesis, essence, and criteria for separation are. Given the unusually dynamic development of the financial instru¬ments market, the growing political tensions, and the resulting market volatility, Research purpose: The article aims at systematizing the currently available theoretical know-ledge on alternative investments, working out their general concept, indicating their quantifiers, and understanding their role in the contemporary financial market. Methods: The methods of defining alternative investments presented in the literature were ana¬lyzed by comparing them with each other, juxtaposing them with the current market, and the main legal provisions regulating the market. Conclusions: Alternative investments are a variable concept in terms of their extensions in tem¬poral, subject, and geographical terms. To harmonize the understanding of a given term, a two-step method of defining alternative investments was proposed, in which the sine qua non con¬dition of recognizing an investment as an alternative is the impossibility of being credited as a financial instrument or currency. The proposed definition facilitates the use of a given concept, limited geographically to one country (or group of countries), and limited in time (as long as no financial instrument is created for a given investment).

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