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The Chief Executive’s Top Tips: Our Finest Hour This is perhaps the most popular historical signature in the world… Probably the most important figure in British history… Certainly the most famous and charismatic British leader ever… This man, born 134 years ago, still has huge international appeal today. He is a “must have” for every collector and investor in historical signatures. Sir Winston Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) Born two months premature in a bedroom in Oxfordshire, he could have died before he even got started. If he had, we may all have been speaking German today. The young Churchill was a gentleman with a craving for war. Arrogant, rebellious, outspoken he believed from an early age that he had a destiny. Churchill believed that life is a struggle for existence, with the outcome the survival of the fittest. This one sentence, in my opinion, sums up what drove Churchill throughout his life. He was fiercely British, intolerant of foreigners and believed in action to protect the British Empire. It may sound “non-PC” today but this was what we needed during World War II – without him, we would have lost. Churchill was a fearless war hero first. He saw action in four wars. This served him well to lead the allied forces to victory as leader of Great Britain during World War II. In 1932, Churchill was a lone voice. He warned of the dangers of Germany’s rearmament. He did not have the power then to change history and millions would die as a result. When war broke out, Churchill was the obvious choice. As prime minister between 1940 to 1945 he did change history… His inspirational speeches created the patriotism required to win a war. He may well be the greatest orator of the twentieth century. Churchill’s greatest achievement was his refusal to negotiate a surrender to Nazi Germany. Few others in the Cabinet shared his degree of resolve. A surrender at that time would have resulted in Nazi rule in Great Britain and the rest of Europe. What would the world be like today if Churchill had died at Birth? How fragile the world as we know it is… By refusing an armistice with Germany, Churchill kept resistance alive in the British Empire. Following victory in “The Battle of Britain”, the allies led a counter-attack between 1942 to 1945. On May 7th 1945, the allies accepted Germany’s surrender. He created the alliance with the United States which remains to this day. In 1963, US president John F. Kennedy proclaimed Churchill the first ever honorary citizen of the United States. On a steady diet of Champagne, tobacco and socialising with friends, Churchill lived to the grand old age of 90. He was a unique individual who carried out his destiny in life to protect the way of life as we know it today. Interesting history but why is Churchill such a good investment? Type “Winston Churchill” into Google and you get 7.6 million hits. Type “Adolf Hitler” and only 466,000 come up. It looks like Churchill won the digital war too. What this demonstrates is the level of interest and popularity of the man today. This is the backbone for a good investment – consistent demand. Churchill is one of the most popularly collected signatures in the world. Churchill’s signature is so popular, it even appears in the Fraser’s 100 Autograph Price index. The index lists 100 of the world's most sought after and frequently traded autographs. The index is available to Bloomberg terminal users. The price of a Winston Churchill signed photograph is up from £2,500 in 1997 to £6,950 in 2007. That is an increase of 178% in ten years or 17.8% per annum. Put another way, this is like putting your money in a savings account for 10 years which pays you 11% interest per annum. Consistent returns like this are very hard to come by in any area of investing. So, we have strong historic returns. What about the future… No one can predict the future but we can have a view. My view is that historical signatures are undervalued as an asset class. The reason for this is simple. The collectibles market in historical signatures is quite immature. It is, in effect, a relatively new asset class. What I am witnessing now is an increasing appreciation of value by collectors… At auction, I am seeing record prices beaten consistently. We are at the early stages of a steep growth curve. A safe bet I consider Churchill to be one of the safest investments there are. Attributes which ensure long term price appreciation include:
If you are already an investor and don’t have a Churchill in your portfolio then you really must get one… No portfolio is complete without the (cigar chomping, champagne drinking) greatest leader Britain has ever known. A Churchill signature would take pride of place in any worthy collection.
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