Art
How Art Assets Can Be Transferred Among Families - White Paper
A new report examines the process of transferring art collections - now growing at a rapid pace worldwide - among family members.
Fine Art Wealth Management, the specialist firm founded by Randall Willette – a regular commentator in these pages – has launched a new report on how art assets can be transferred among family members, coming at a time when private collections are said to be booming.
The report, called Structuring for Transfer of Art Wealth to Family Members, is produced in collaboration with Bellerive Stenham Trust.
“Today, the private collections of ultra-high net worth families can rival those of major art institutions and private museums are being created at an astounding rate,” a summary issued by the report’s authors said.
“Wealthy families are moving toward an increased focus on using their collections to realise what they define as a richer life in order to achieve a greater sense of fulfilment for themselves and for their communities. Equally important, art is increasingly becoming the investment of choice for families who are searching for alternative assets that offer risk-adjusted returns uncorrelated with others assets in their portfolio,” they continued.
The white paper sets out considerations for art owners, as well as some of the more appropriate structure types and it also examines philanthropic considerations including private museums, and the role of the family – including the importance of knowledge being passed down to the next generation.
For example, the report notes that family trusts and foundations trusts and foundations can be important in how to legally holding the art collection independently of the family members, whilst incorporating the requirements and views of the donor.
The study also considers the growth of private museums worldwide, noting that a lack of public exhibition space has caused them to rise.
As well as Willette, who founded Fine Art Wealth Management in 2003, the co-author is Ltd, his co-author is Heath Martorella, is the head of family office at Bellerive Stenham Trust Limited in Guernsey.
