The London International Vintners Exchange 100 Fine Wine Benchmark Index, an electronic exchange set up by stockbrokers to add value to the ...

The London International Vintners Exchange 100 Fine Wine Benchmark Index, an electronic exchange set up by stockbrokers to add value to the trade in fine vintage wines, is now available on Bloomberg. The fine wine market has risen 26 per cent over the last 12 months, outperforming UK equities, property and bonds. The market has been driven largely by interest from high net worth individuals. James Miles, managing director, London International Vintners Exchange, told WealthBriefing: “We saw that there was quite a lot of money to be made from trading in wine via an informal market, and wondered why there was no exchange. We thought that with an opaque market an exchange could add value so we set up a commodity exchange for fine wine. “Most of the traders are intermediaries buying on behalf of private customers, HNWIs mainly. There are now a lot of people buying into wine - it generally starts at about £500 ($913) per case - and demand is growing for expensive vintages faster than there are chateaux to produce them,” he said. The component wines must have achieved both critical acclaim and be frequently traded. The Liv-ex 100 is 73 per cent weighted to Bordeaux wine. Wine prices are calculated on the mid-price between the bid and offer on the exchange.