Wealth managers and banks are differentiating themselves through art services, driven by a desire to preserve capital, a global study shows.

Wealth managers are increasingly recognizing the valuable role of art and collectibles in their service offerings, according to the Art & Finance 2016 report published by Deloitte Luxembourg with ArtTactic. 

“For the first time since the launch of the report in 2011, there seems to be an alignment of the wealth management industry with collectors and art professionals, with 70 per cent and 77 per cent respectively also recognizing this need,” Deloitte said.

Nearly three-quarters (73 per cent) of those surveyed this year said their clients want to include art and other collectible assets in their wealth reports, up from 58 per cent in 2014.

“The financial component of art collecting seems to become a primary driver for developing art wealth management services. The key interest is not the investment or yield-seeking aspect of it; rather it is more the preservation of the capital allocated to art and collectibles,” said Adriano Picinati di Torcello, art and finance practice director at Deloitte Luxembourg.

“Seventy-two per cent of art collectors around the globe buy art for passion with an investment view, while only 6 per cent indicated that they buy for a mere investment purpose,” Picinati di Torcello added. “Twenty-two per cent of the collectors surveyed buy art only with the aim of collecting. Although the emotional value remains their primary motivation for acquiring art, the financial component should not be underestimated.”

While wealth managers are expected to continue investing in art-related services over the next year, this will most likely be at a slower rate, Deloitte said. The firm's Art & Finance Future Indicator suggests that they will concentrate on services aimed at preserving the proportion of clients’ wealth allocated to art such as estate planning, philanthropy and art-secured lending, rather than on art investment funds, for example.

Other insights from the report include: that the US art-secured lending market is growing significantly, with an estimated loan book size of between $13 billion and $15 billion; that most wealth managers, art professionals and art collectors believe threats to the art market (such as inflation) are best addressed from within the art industry itself rather than through government intervention; and that the global hike in wealth, and a neutral-to-positive art market outlook, point to an intensifying need for wealth management services dedicated to art.

The findings are based on responses from 120 art professionals, 53 private banks and 14 family offices, as well as over 90 art collectors.