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ADVISORY | Combining clear, transparent advice with market-leading insight
Offering expert guidance, our dedicated art Advisory teams offers strategic insight with transparent advice to guide our clients seamlessly through the market. Whether buying for passion, investment, or both, we support each client to realize their individual aspirations
Providing expert service and attention to detail at every step, our dedicated advice guides clients through the buying process. We work solely on our clients’ behalf, always acting independently from galleries, auction houses and dealers.
Education is at the core of our services. Our team of specialists aims to educate and inform throughout, with access to bespoke gallery visits, one-on-one time with experts at art fairs, visits to artists’ studios, proprietary market research, artist-specific reports and more.
Whether working with a first-time buyer or an experienced collector, we support our clients across all aspects of the acquisition process.
ADVISORY SERVICES
Market analytics reports
Identifying artworks
In-depth artist market reports
Sourcing and access
Due diligence
In-person viewings on behalf of clients
Negotiations
Acquisition and logistics
Bidding at auction
Art and the family office.
For many affluent families, a family office has become an indispensable ally in preserving and growing wealth and managing financial complexities. More than 4,500 family offices (triple the number in 2019) together manage some $6 trillion in assets. Yet even as they advise on investments ranging from private equity to real estate and mineral rights, family offices may not fully account for the implications of another kind of asset: art collections.
A passion or a financial asset?
Of course, a painting is not a share of stock. The emotional component makes a potential acquisition more nuanced and subjective than, say, buying into a hedge fund. Moreover, the art market can be complex, opaque and mystifying to outsiders. For all their expertise in portiolio management, accounting or tax law, Thiessen says, “Family offices may not have people on staff with a background in art.”
As such, family offices may be inclined to focus on other assets and leave the art collections to the family. Yet that may be a missed opportunity. While collecting will always be driven by an individual’s passion, joy and artistic tastes, a family office, often with the help of external art experts, can provide vital strategic services across the full life cycle of collecting, from acquisition to managing a collection and creating a legacy.
Acquiring art
For avid collectors, there’s no such thing as an “acquisition phase,” Many continue purchasing art throughout their lives, even as they create estate plans that may determine the artwork’s ultimate destination. Creating some structure at the outset can help avoid confusion and possible mistakes along the way.
Because art tends to be costly and can be difficult to sell quickly, liquidity planning is key. “Family offices conduct detailed planning for illiquid assets such as private equity investments,” Rief says. “Similar conversations should take place about art acquisition.” For example, if a family buys a significant painting, that could draw down a portfolio’s cash reserves and may require adjustments to help keep the family’s liquidity in proper balance. At the same time, a valuable art collection could become a source of liquidity, as collateral for loans used to purchase additional artworks, pursue a business opportunity or fund other goals.
Managing a growing collection
As a collection matures and grows, new challenges emerge. We know collectors who’ve run out of space, they’ve got art hanging in multiple homes, on the walls of their kids’ homes or on loan to arts organizations. It’s easy to lose track of where everything is.
The same could be said of essential records about the purchase price of a work, how it’s insured and other important information. There might be digital spreadsheets, handwritten ledgers or other kinds of record-keeping that fail to account for the entire collection. Bahl family offices already use aggregated reporting technology to organize and review financial assets, which soill into your art collection.
Family Office
Our practice provides specialized consulting and services to help you and your family manage your day-to-day needs, governance and stewardship.
