Hedges love affairs with wine, whiskey and movies turn sour. What’s next?

Hedge funds have invested in wine, whiskey and movies in pursuit of returns that outpace stocks and bonds. Now they're taking on an even riskier bet: the search for soccer's next Wayne Rooney.

For £250 000 (R3.5 million), investors will have the chance to buy a piece of the next potential superstar. The two UK-registered funds, Hero Investments and Sports Asset Capital, plan to buy stakes in the contracts of younger athletes, then grab a slice of the transfer fees clubs pay for players.

The funds expect to profit from a buying spree led by Chelsea's billionaire owner, Roman Abramovich, who has helped lift transfer spending by English clubs to a record £330 million this year. By taking part ownership of a player, they will also help smaller clubs compete for talent with larger rivals, the funds say.

Rich soccer teams often buy the rights to players for a one-time transfer fee that nets the selling club a profit. In 2001, Real Madrid paid a record $64.5 million (R495 million) to Italy's Juventus for French midfielder Zinedine Zidane. Manchester United paid £27 million to buy Rooney from Everton in 2004.

Nick Hely-Henderson, the founder of Hero Investments, says his fund will allow well-heeled soccer fans to profit while helping to bring more competition to the sport. Hero has raised £100 million to spend on contracts, Hely-Henderson says. The fund plans to invest for at least five years, and will probably acquire the rights of between 20 percent and 50 percent of the transfer values for each player.

Sports Asset Capital, set up by player-turned-financier Ray Ranson, has £50 million to invest. Ranson, a defender who had a 14-year career at clubs such as Manchester City, says his fund will buy insurance to protect it against career-ending injuries as it strives to deliver a 20 percent annual return.

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