Art Investment Funds

Art of the Deal author David Horowitz has an article on ArtInfo about art investment funds and who benefits. As we know, as the art market heats up there is more interest and investment by high net worth individuals into art as an asset class. Most of these groups we have posted about on the AW Blog have not done well, but that does not appear to keep many from trying and testing the market and in attempting to develop efficient exchanges.

Horowitz writes

That the art market has rebounded so robustly in the face of this changed picture has everything to do with the dynamism of the industry (different market niches can, and do, move independently of one another, and the current landscape is arguably more nuanced than ever before) and the broadening of the collector base in both established and emerging markets. This latter factor is particularly key, for if the globalization of art buyers has been a curiosity for several decades now, the actual impact of these constituents during the latest boom was ambiguous. Some noteworthy exceptions aside, European and American collectors (often with hedge-fund wealth) have thus far remained the driving force in the trade.

But the tides, it seems, are finally shifting, and a newly globalized elite are putting their money to work in profound ways, helping to jolt the art market from its short-lived slumber and giving rise to endless speculation about what this all means for the future of the industry. China, of course, is at the center of this spiraling debate, but Russia, India, the Middle East, and other developing markets will certainly also play their part. Over this past weekend, galleries manned booths at Zona Maco in Mexico City, a fair that in a few short years has, alongside Art Basel Miami Beach, become a gateway to the rapidly maturing Central and South American markets; the involvement of elite international players like David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, Massimo de Carlo, and Lisson Gallery testifies to the importance of doing business in this part of the world.

To read the rest of the article,click HERE.