Ping Scott/others - any listed funds that invest in art?

BWG

Are you aware of any listed funds (domestic or international) that invest in art and are accessible to retail investors? There are a couple of hedge funds that do this. Another way to play this is through auction houses but Christies is private. While Sotheby's is public, some part of its revenue/profit stream is tied to financing. Thus, if the stock markets collapse and Sotheby's customers who have received financing on the basis of wealth tied to stocks start defaulting on loans, Sotheby's takes a big hit. Hence the poor performance of Sotheby's (BID) in 2008/2009.

scott

I don't know of a fund, but Mallett PLC is an antiques dealer (paintings/furniture, etc - http://www.mallettantiques.com/) in London, but there does not appear to be a pink sheet version of the stock, nor does the stock appear to have done very well at all in London. I also see V22, which is more what you're looking for (http://www.v22collection.com/index.php?view=v22plc), but unfortunately, it appears to be on the PLUS market in London, an alternative market that does not look to be available to US investors at all. There also appears to be a collection of Storyboards as an investment on the PLUS market. I think it would be a great idea for a fund in an international market (there's a fund for old coins - http://www.avarae.com/) so hopefully a more substantial art fund will be available at some point, as I'd be interested. As of right now, it's more of a hedge fund arena, unfortunately.

Sort of in the general vicinity, here's a large pawn store chain in the UK: http://www.albemarlebondplc.com/Our-Business/Strategy

Investor

Now, Ron (rono) might list his Gold and Silver coints as art.