Wealthy investors are increasingly turning to stamps, autographs and other collectibles as a means of protecting their fortunes.

Stanley Gibbons, the world's biggest philatelic dealer, said yesterday that collectibles were being recognised more and more as an “alternative investment” and that their potential as a “savings and wealth management asset class” was growing.

Mirroring recent comments on the strength of the art market, Mike Hall, chief executive of Stanley Gibbons, said the value of rare stamps and autographs - the company's two biggest areas of expertise - were unaffected by falling stock markets, making them popular as investors sought to diversify their asset holdings.

“The stock market is driven by greed, whereas the stamp market is driven by passion,” he said. “People love their collections and if things get tight they're the last things that go.”

He said that while low-value stamps could be susceptible, rare stamp values were resilient to economic downturns. Even between 1980 and 1985, the most difficult period of recent times, the value of rare stamps continued to grow, albeit marginally.

An index comparing the prices of 30 rare stamps sold by Stanley Gibbons in 1998 and again in 2007 shows an average annual increase of 10.7 per cent and a compound increase over the period of 149 per cent.

Mr Hall was speaking after reporting a 23 per cent jump in 2007 profits before tax and exceptional operating costs to £4.62 million, from turnover up by more than a fifth to £20.2 million. Earnings per share were up 22 per cent at 13.46p and the final dividend of 2.75p makes a total of 4.5p, up 13 per cent.

Its philatelic and retail operations lifted sales by 23 per cent, while autographs, records and related memorabilia were 37 per cent higher. Sales were boosted by the acquisition in December of a collection worth £500,000 of royal signatures ranging from James I and Henry VIII to Marie Antoinette.

Mr Hall said that the group had benefited from a 40 per cent rise in the number of visits to its website and the growing popularity of products such as investment portfolios and guaranteed minimum return contracts, where investors are promised a return of 4 to 6 per cent per annum. The company, founded by Edward Stanley Gibbons in 1856, has also benefited from a significant reduction in its stock of lower-value stamps, such that its average sale price is about £100 a stamp. It has a client “wants list” of more than £12 million of rare items.

Sales to overseas customers, particularly those in the so-called Bric economies - Brazil, Russia, India and China - also increased. The company's biggest individual customer is said to be an unnamed stamp collector from Brazil.

Mr Hill said that the least developed of the four countries was China, where stamp collecting was, until relatively recently, illegal. While there were 18 million collectors, the majority were children who sought low-value items. However, Stanley Gibbons is in the process of creating a Chinese-language website and Mr Hill said: “We believe it will become a key market.”

He said that, although the company was considering diversifying into other areas of the collectibles market, including medals and militaria, its main focus would remain stamps and autographs. He pointed out that Stanley Gibbons, despite its strong position, still commanded less than 1 per cent of the £5 billion stamp market.

Shares in the company rose 7p to 203p.

Roots of a right royal pastime

— Stanley Gibbons traces its roots back to 1856, when Edward Stanley Gibbons bought a sackful of rare Cape triangular stamps for £5 from two sailors who had been in South Africa

— In 1914, it was awarded a Royal Warrant by King George V, a keen stamp collector who inherited his interest from his father, Edward VII

— The Queen, who has extended the Royal Warrant until 2013, is one of Stanley Gibbons’ biggest customers. The Royal Philatelic Collection at St James’s Palace is the world’s largest

— Maria Sharapova, the tennis star, and Sophie Ellis Bextor, the singer, are stamp collectors, as were Freddie Mercury and John Lennon. The Beatles’ childhood stamp album was sold by Stanley Gibbons in 2005 for £30,000 to the Smithsonian Institution

— According to Guinness World Records, the most expensive stamp was the Swedish Tre Skilling Banco, sold for about £1.37 million in 1996

— The Fraser’s Autographs division of Stanley Gibbons is Europe’s biggest autograph dealer, with 60,000 signatures ranging from Lord Nelson (£9,000) to a signed photo of Wayne Rooney (£150)

— Autograph collectors include Frank Skinner, the comedian, and Tony Froggatt, the former Scottish & Newcastle chief executive

— Popular autographs include Sir Winston Churchill, Napoleon, Lord Nelson, James Dean and The Beatles

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