OVDP, land or dollars: Serhiy Fursa named the best investments for Ukrainians

Dollars “under the mattress”, cryptocurrency, real estate or government bonds – where should Ukrainians store and increase their savings today? Ukrainian investment banker and financial expert Serhiy Fursa in an interview with Femida.ua named two instruments that he considers the most attractive for investing in Ukraine, and also told which assets he would advise staying away from now.

According to the expert, keeping savings simply in dollars in cash is not the best strategy, since inflation gradually reduces their purchasing power.

“From the point of view of investing, a dollar under a mattress will be a bad story. Inflation is accelerating now, including dollar inflation, so your money under the mattress will be eaten up,” Serhiy Fursa noted.

Government bonds or a deposit: what does Fursa choose

If you have to choose between a bank deposit and domestic government bonds, the financial expert prefers government bonds.

Fursa explains this by the higher yield and the absence of taxation of income from government bonds. In addition, the procedure for their acquisition for the average investor has been significantly simplified.

“When we choose between deposits and government bonds, government bonds are clearly much better, because they have a higher yield and there are no taxes. Since the purchase of government bonds is now as simplified as possible, the last argument for a deposit has long been lost.”

Real estate in Ukraine: is it worth investing now

Fursa calls real estate during the war a rather irrational investment.

In western Ukraine, according to his assessment, individual objects may be overvalued. In particular, the expert draws attention to the ratio of housing costs in Lviv and Kyiv.

At the same time, investments in capital real estate carry additional war risks due to the possibility of Russian strikes.

“Real estate does not currently look like an attractive investment,” Fursa summarized.

The expert was also skeptical about the recently popular idea of ​​buying investment property in Bali, noting that he does not consider such a strategy a good idea.

Land and government bonds are the top 2 investments in Ukraine

Instead, Fursa calls agricultural land, especially in the northern and northwestern regions of Ukraine, one of the most interesting assets.

According to him, such an investment can generate income now through rent, and in the long term, the investor can count on an increase in the value of the land.

Fursa calls Ukraine’s future integration into the European Union a separate factor in the potential price increase.

“Land and government bonds are now the top 2 investments in Ukraine,” the expert said.

Another advantage of agricultural land, he calls its relative resistance to risks associated with Russian strikes.

Gold no longer looks so “protective”

Fursa is more cautious about gold. According to him, in recent years the price of the precious metal has increased significantly, and a significant amount of speculative capital has entered the market.

Because of this, investing in gold can now be riskier than traditionally believed.

A separate problem for the average investor is physical gold due to the significant difference between its purchase and sale price.

“If you want to play in the casino”: what Fursa said about cryptocurrency

The financial expert spoke most categorically about cryptocurrency.

When asked what the maximum part of investment capital he allows in such assets, Fursa replied:

“Zero. If you are talking about investing – do not touch cryptocurrency. If you want to play in the casino – you can buy it.”

Thus, Fursa does not consider cryptocurrency as an investment instrument for saving savings.

Where to invest $1,000, $5,000 or $10,000

For people who are just starting to invest and have from one to ten thousand dollars, the expert does not see the need to diversify the portfolio.

According to him, he would completely direct such amounts into government bonds.

“When we have such small amounts, we should invest everything in government bonds. At this stage, it makes no sense to divide.”

According to Fursa, it is more expedient to diversify investments between different assets from about $50,000. In this case, he would consider distributing funds between government bonds and land.

Which investments does Fursa advise to stay away from

In addition to cryptocurrency, the expert is currently cautious about the global stock market.

According to his assessment, the stock market is “very overbought,” and the valuations formed on it may indicate significant overheating.

“It seems that we are at a stage when the largest bubbles in world history have inflated. Therefore, at this moment we should probably stay away,” said Fursa.

The expert also advises against considering popular projects with the purchase of houses in the Carpathians as an obviously profitable investment, calling such an investment story “very strange”.

So, among the instruments available to Ukrainians today, Serhiy Fursa primarily singles out domestic government bonds and agricultural land. For small amounts, he prefers government bonds, while he suggests considering diversification between domestic government bonds and land with much larger capital.