Art is a valuable asset class that can significantly reduce the overall risk of an investment portfolio. While stocks can suffer double-digit losses in one day, the art market exhibits far more stability due to the limited supply of fine works of art and the emotional attachment collectors have to them. Whereas other assets, such as real estate, cannot be transported, art is portable and can be easily traded in any country and currency.
The beauty and unique nature of art as an asset class is that it gives individuals the opportunity to derive pleasure and excitement from its ownership and from the visual image of the object while it increases in value. It is also one of the surest ways to safeguard wealth and increase the financial performance of a portfolio. Over the past decade, the global auction turnover for Fine Art increased more than 350% with postings of $16.1 billion in 2014. And the global art market overall broke all existing records in 2014 with sales achieving more than $53 billion (source: TEFAF Art Market report).
Investing in art has proven so successful that BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink referred to it in 2015 as one of the two “greatest stores of wealth internationally… I mean that as a serious asset class".