Katya Kazakina asks a few questions of the folks who put together the World Wealth Report and finds out that mature economies are beginning to follow the pattern of emerging markets with the rich storing money in objects like art instead of financial markets. Obviously the events of 2008 and 2009 have led to a re-shaping of investors’ attitudes:

“It was such a severe crisis, the investor psyche has really shifted,” said Ileana van der Linde, the Capgemini principal who managed the research, in a phone interview. “They don’t fully trust the financial markets and regulatory bodies. That’s why we are seeing a trend toward putting money into tangible assets like art and gold.” […]

For those with more than $30 million in investments, art was the largest of the six passions, the report said.

More investors began adding art, coins, wine and antiques to their portfolios. Investors in India, China and the Middle East tend to hold art and other tangible assets as an inflation hedge, the report said.

“In emerging economies, art has been part of the overall investment portfolio for a while,” said Van der Linde. “Now you are starting to see the same trend in the mature markets.”

Hedging Millionaires Buy Jets, Art, Bling, Give Less to Charity (Bloomberg)