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Investing
in art and antiques
With
interest rates almost non existent for savers, shares
at record lows and property prices falling where do
you put your money to make a return in the medium to
long term?
Apart from the necessity of housing
what enjoyment do you get from owing scraps of paper
in the form of share certificates, many of which are
now worthless, or savers bank accounts that produce
virtually no interest?
In times like we are presently
experiencing in 2009 many turn to old fashioned volatile
commodity investments such as gold, wine and postage
stamps which is great if you get some enjoyment from
looking at a gold bar, drinking your investment or staring
at postage stamps and many do. Instead, or as well as,
why not purchase some fine art and antiques that can
give enormous pleasure in ownership and utilisation
and will often, when sold, if not left to one’s
heirs, show an excellent return on original outlay?
An added dimension that a number
of our clients enjoy is that they have become collectors;
this gives them a new and enjoyable aspect to their
lives and, taken seriously, they become extremely knowledgeable
in their chosen subject.
We are not suggesting that you
invest in a fund or any such thing but simply to put
part of your portfolio into something tangible and enjoyable
whether it is paintings, furniture, clocks, ceramics
or jewellery for example.
No, there is no fancy data showing
cycles, trends, curves and the like that have been traditionally
used in stocks and shares and other types of investment
but as we now know were fallible. No, we don’t
offer you sky high unrealistic returns but we do promise
that you will enjoy and use your purchases and that
they will almost certainly increase in value over time.
Most of our clients have purchased
items for their homes at an outlay of between £25,000
and £100,000 and the mix tends to be furniture,
paintings, silver and jewellery. Without exception these
purchases have transformed their homes and have given
and are giving tremendous pleasure. All our clients
rest assured that whatever they have bought through
us is genuine and authentic.
The key, as always, in buying
good antiques and fine art and making a good investment
is the right advice in the first instance and this is
where we can help, we understand the market and have
been involved at the front end for nearly 40 years.
We spend a lot of time with clients usually at minimal
expense in helping them to decide on which subject to
purchase before any outlay is made. It is most important
that both parties are comfortable with each other, after
all they are going to work together often over a long
period.
All our transactions are transparent
as everything we buy for clients is bought through public
auction. We are not dealers and we hold no stock. We
charge for our advice on a commission basis and client
funds are held in a ring fenced ‘client trust account’.
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