Few of us — sadly — can boast the vocal chords of Leona Lewis, the success of Take That or the acting prowess of Daniel Day-Lewis. All are flying high. The young songstress’s rise has been nothing short of a phenomenon in the UK, where her debut album sold more than 1.6 million copies in 14 weeks.

Take That, the boy band making it big second time around, scooped two Brit Awards, while Day-Lewis won the best actor Oscar in Hollywood for his acclaimed portrayal of an oil prospector in There Will Be Blood. And in a small way, you can join in.

While they might not earn film star rewards, a number of quirky schemes have recently made their debut through which investors can try to tap into others’ achievements.

It is an area that is growing in popularity and has been boosted by stock market volatility, as investors look to shield their portfolios from further falls.

Generally, 20 years ago people would typically invest in cash, shares and bonds — and that was all they used to do, says Mark Worrall, managing director of independent financial adviser Route Group.

Now, you would think it unusual if people didn’t have property in some shape or form in their portfolio and, going forward, we see a number of other investment areas: people are looking at wine, art, film. There’s a whole plethora of alternative investments that just wasn’t there a while ago and these tend to fare better at times of downturn or credit crunch.

The appeal of buying stakes in more unusual assets in choppy markets is not difficult to see: diversification is key to reducing risk.

But, beyond this, the attraction also lies in an element of escapism, says Worrall, who is also a dir-ector of the recently launched Footprint investment fund, which has just made its first film investment. Going to the movies is something that takes you off into another realm: it has that magical quality, he says.

While the big studios still dominate the roll-call of box office success, some of the most popular and successful films of recent years have been smaller, independent productions — The Last King of Scotland, Notes on a Scandal and The Lives of Others, for example.

The Footprint fund, developed by boutique film finance house Footprint Films and Route, has just invested in what it hopes will prove another hit: The Laundry Warrior.

Already in production, the film involves Barrie Osborne, the producer and director whose most notable work is The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King for which he won an Academy Award for Best Picture, a gong shared with Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh.

The five-year, closed-end fund aimed to raise $22 million (11.3 million, Dh80.92 million) at launch in August last year and a further $21 million during its first year. Worrall says it has to date raised less than $50 million, but refuses to be drawn further.

The minimum investment is 50,000 or $100,000 per investor, and charges come in at an initial two per cent and annual 2.25 per cent.

Investors will start to see returns some 21 months into the cycle and continue to receive payment through to the end of year five, with a targeted return of some 17.5 per cent per annum from investments in around 12 to 14 different films.

Crucially, the fund will not rely on box office success, but rather operate as a one-stop-shop boutique bank, providing finance for different stages of a film’s development and receiving a negotiated rate of interest on the loans.

In this way, it views film as an investment class capable of delivering attractive returns as opposed to an opportunity to secure tax relief: in the past, many film schemes aimed to make a loss so that investors could negate their income tax liability — a loophole closed by the government last year.

Venture capital trusts (VCTs) offer another way in which investors can plough their money into the world of entertainment, and come with large tax benefits, including 30 per cent income tax relief and tax-free dividends.

Two launches this year, Ingenious Entertainment and Edge Performance, will invest in small and start-up firms involved in live events — concerts, festivals, exhibitions, theatrical shows, conferences, trade fairs, sporting events and the like.

Meanwhile, Power Amp Music, a venture capital firm, has started an Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) that aims to give investors access to a diversified portfolio of UK music talent.

The government-backed EIS also comes with a range of tax reliefs, including 20 per cent upfront income tax relief, capital gains tax exemption and referral and full inheritance tax relief.

The Power Amp music fund — managed by a team fronted by Jazz Summers, known for his management of artists including The Verve, Snow Patrol and WHAM! — aims to bankroll up to 30 artists, including new band Mancini.

By investing in the career of a mix of established and emerging acts — everything from concerts and merchandise to album sales — investors are protected from dwindling CD sales by the growth in other revenue streams, says managing director Tom Bywater.

The industry has changed irrevocably and the hegemony major labels have long exerted over artists is crumbling, he says.

We have recognised the opportunities created by the changing industry and established a robust, flexible and cost-effective development model to capitalise on artists’ growing demand for alternative fin-ancing solutions.

The fund offers an extremely effective route into an industry with particularly strong revenue potential, providing an excellent win-win opportunity for investors and artists.

The fund’s minimum investment is 10,000 and closing date for applications is March 31.

Such investments, however, should be viewed in the context of overall wealth: these types of investments fall at the higher end of the risk spectrum and are not for the faint of heart. Unsophisticated in-vestors need not apply.

Liquidity is a predominant risk. Investments can be difficult to exit, so you have to make sure you have the capital to lock away, charges are generally high, which might dilute returns, and there might be changes to tax laws — sometimes retrospectively. You really have to look at each investment on its own merits.