There’s no mistaking how financial blogger and art lover Felix Salmon feels about art funds:

All art funds fail; the only question is when, rather than whether. I have never seen a single example given of an investor (as opposed to a principal) in such funds who has actually made money on his investment, and I don’t expect I will. […] There is a case to be made that the wealth-management arms of big banks can and should have experts in the art market on staff. High net worth individuals often have a significant proportion of their net worth in art form, and that changes their risk profile. On top of that, they will occasionally want to borrow money against some or all of their collection. Their financial advisers should understand how the art market works and how much financial value there really is in the collection, over and above the pleasure that the collectors get from owning and viewing the work.

Art Funds Return (Felix Salmon/Reuters.com)