The Shadow of Great Britain

127: Chapter 87 The Game of Capital (Part Two) (4000 words) 127: Chapter 87 The Game of Capital (Part Two) (4000 words) Lionel raised his hand to the servant standing beside him, and soon a document was brought before his eyes.

He placed the document on the coffee table and introduced it to Arthur with a smile, “Mr.

Hastings, it’s quite a coincidence, if you are planning to invest in more stable sovereign bonds, then you could catch this wave.”

“Are sovereign bond investments very stable?” Great Dumas leaned on the sofa and asked, “As far as I know, among the public debts issued by South American countries, only Brazilian bonds are still paying interest normally, right?”

Lionel smiled and extended his hand to Great Dumas, saying, “So this gentleman has had experience with public debt investment?

That’s not a field just anyone can enter into.

But looking at you, you don’t seem familiar to me, you must not have managed this in London before, right?

May I be so bold as to ask for your venerable name?”

Great Dumas shook his hand and replied, “People from Rothschild indeed have a keen eye.

Indeed, I have had investments in that area, and I even opened an account at the Rothschild bank, although you might have frozen my account by now.

After all, I am now a fugitive wanted by the French government, my name is Alexander Dumas, a pleasure to meet you.”

When Lionel heard this name, he could not help but open his mouth slightly in surprise, but he quickly recovered.

He laughed and patted his forehead, “I should have realized, Mr.

Dumas, when I was traveling in France previously, I accompanied my uncle to the theater to see your play ‘Henry III and His Courts,’ and the historical play ‘Christina,’ they were quite spectacular scripts.

I heard from my uncle at the time that you made nearly a hundred thousand Francs from that play, positioning you as one of the foremost figures among French dramatists.”

Great Dumas was comfortably flattered by Lionel’s compliment, and he nodded proudly, “Those were just minor works I scribbled down, you flatter me greatly.”

However, Lionel quickly turned the topic back to Arthur with a smile.

“I knew it, Mr.

Hastings’ friend could not be just anyone.

Outstanding individuals always attract each other, and at Rothschild, we not only invest in wealth but are also very willing to invest in outstanding individuals, both in the present and the future.

Mr.

Hastings, I won’t hide it from you.

Sovereign bonds from South America are indeed unreliable, but Rothschild has recently been authorized by the Treasury to issue a relatively small amount of British public debt for the government.

I can reveal a little information to you, it’s a batch of urban development bonds with a total value of £200,000, with a ten-year term and an annual interest rate expected to be around 3.15%.

If you are looking to invest in stable assets, I can reserve £1,000 worth of these bonds for you privately.

In this way, for the next ten years, you could expect to earn an investment income of £31.5 each year.

In the current environment, although the return rate is not particularly high, it is safe and stable.”

Arthur nodded slightly upon hearing this and then asked, “What about investing in real estate?”

Lionel opened the document in front of him, revealing all the information on it to Arthur without reservation.

It was a summary of sales and rental price trends for properties managed by the London Housing Investment Consulting Company.

As Arthur reviewed the pages, Rothschild patiently explained the contents to him.

“As you can see, property prices in London have always been quite stable.

Apart from a few popular areas that have seen rapid increases, most areas have maintained an average annual growth trend of 1% to 2%, and the annual rental yield after purchasing a property fluctuates around 4.8%.

After deducting your costs for maintenance, taxes, and other expenses, the rough return rate should be around 3.5%.

This return is indeed higher than British public bonds, but it requires a bit of your time and energy to manage.

Of course, if you find managing these properties too time-consuming, you can entrust our company to operate them on your behalf.

However, we would charge a service fee in that case.

All things considered, the profit from property investment might be similar to buying public bonds; its advantage over the new public bonds may just be bringing the owner some intangible income, such as voting rights.”

Arthur nodded slightly, Lionel had not deceived him and, to gain his trust, had even not hesitated to lay bare the commercial secrets that other estate agencies coveted right in front of him.

But he also understood the meaning behind the other’s actions; there’s no such thing as a free lunch, some things don’t need to be spoken too clearly— a simple gesture can make both sides understand each other’s intentions.

Arthur slowly closed the document in front of him, looking at the smiling Lionel, he realized that from now on, he would be riding on the Rothschild yacht floating on the Thames River, just like Duke Wellington and the others.

He then asked, “What about the stock market?”

Lionel raised an eyebrow, instead of talking about stocks immediately, he asked with a smile, “You’re well-informed, so you must know that the railway industry is very hot right now, correct?”

Arthur nodded, “Of course, they say the last thirty years have belonged to the canal industry, and the next thirty will belong to the railway industry.”

“Listening is certainly an important reference, but I have even more important data here.”

Lionel smiled and opened another document on the side, “Look here, in 1821, Great Britain’s first railway company was officially approved for establishment, but it was not until 1824 that we had a second railway company.

However, look at this, since 1824, the number of approved railway companies has been rising sharply.”