The global art market is vibrant — up 12% from 2016 to an estimated $64 billion, according to the most recent annual study conducted by UBS and Art Basel. Evidence of its vitality was seen this past December at Art Miami, a major international event sponsored in part by Chubb, where works by newcomers and established artists in a variety of genres were on display.
Many purchases were made at the Miami event, and regardless of the work chosen, every buyer faced the same practical issues of getting their art home, protecting it and safely displaying it.
These aren't worries of globe-trotting billionaires alone. As viewers of the popular PBS series Antiques Roadshow can attest, homes across America contain art worth tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's fair to assume, therefore, that many of your clients own or are planning to purchase art that could represent a not insignificant portion of their total wealth.
Without becoming art experts, financial advisors can provide extremely valuable advice to clients by alerting them to the risks associated with buying, transporting, installing, storing and insuring artwork of all types.
Consider this example: On a trip to Europe, a client buys a painting for $50,000 at a Milan gallery. Is the purchase automatically covered by the client's insurance policy? If the clients have an art policy, does the purchase exceed coverage limits? Who is responsible for damage or theft while the art is in transit home? When does "transit" begin and end?
If your clients' current insurer has little or no experience in fine art and international shipping, a basket of unknown risks can land in your clients' laps.
