US Trust Pushes Art Loans; UBS Likes Art as Inflation Hedge

Financial adviser Gail Liberman talks about Art investment in her Palm Beach Daily News column:

An art loan may prove less volatile than a margin loan, suggests John Arena, senior vice president for U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, New York. Some clients may even use an art loan to help postpone paying taxes that otherwise would be owed if an artwork were sold. New Yorkers, he says, have leveraged art to buy bargain-priced real estate and avoid that area’s real estate recording tax. […] At U.S. Trust, art loans, Arena says, have a floating rate, based on the LIBOR, and are quietly customized, largely based on the client’s risk, banking relationship and term.

Craig Price, senior vice president of UBS’ Price Wealth Management, Palm Beach, suggests that clients keep 10 percent to 15 percent of assets from which they don’t need to earn income in art. “There are a lot of positive things coming together right now,” Price says, citing rising global demand. He especially likes art as a hedge against inflation.

Is Art the Next Investment Craze? (Palm Beach Daily News)