New Art Investment Fund: Antique Violins

The Washington Post ran a good article on a new investment fund which will invest in antique musical instruments.  According to the article the minimum investment is $53,000, and the fund will terminate in 2021, when the instruments will be sold and the money disbursed.  Based upon the funds information fine musical instruments such as Stradivarius and Guarneri instruments have shown a solid and steady increase in value over periods of time. The investments are also considered less volatile than fine art funds and are thought of as a safe haven investment.  As the supply of fine antique instruments are limited and continues to diminish, and as geographic regions of new found wealth look to invest in only the best such as BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) it is thought the investment interest in instrument funds will be strong.

The Washington Post reports (through an original article in Bloomberg)

Decreasing supply and increasing demand from markets such as Russia may accelerate the gains for fine violins, many of which are almost 300 years old, said Steven Smith, a director at London-based dealer J&A Beare, which sold the Stradivarius to the orchestra.

“Prices are going up more steeply than they were, and I would expect that that’s very likely to continue,” Smith said in a phone interview. “The supply and demand situation is getting much, much tougher.”

Stradivari and Guaneri worked in the northern Italian city of Cremona during the 17th and 18th centuries. About 650 Stradivari violins and 135 del Gesu violins survive, according to the Chicago-based Stradivari Society. That makes them increasingly valuable and relatively illiquid, Graddy said.

“Compared to real estate and even art, the market for high-end violins is ‘thin,’ and many violins are sold through dealers rather than auctions,” she wrote in the 2008 report.

The Lady Blunt, auctioned Monday, was one of 19 Stradivarius instruments owned by the Tokyo-based Nippon Music Foundation. The proceeds of the sale will go to the organization’s parent, the Nippon Foundation, for its Northeastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund.

Clear HERE to read the WashPost article, or click HERE to visit the Australia Chamber Orchestra's website for more info on the antique instrument fund.

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