Sotheby’s is rebooting its Trusts and Estates department under the leadership of Valentino Carlotti to address the needs of fiduciaries, a broader group of professionals who help manage the assets of art collectors. Recognizing that art collections are managed by a range of financial and legal advisors in banks, family offices and law firms, the new department will be led by Mari-Claudia Jimenez. Jiménez has been promoted to Chairman of Sotheby’s Fiduciary Client Group & Valuations in the Americas. Here’s how Sotheby’s describes the new group:

The Fiduciary Client Group focuses on working with lawyers, bankers, family offices, and fiduciaries as they plan for the life cycle of their clients’ collection by:

• assisting with valuations for charitable giving and estate planning purposes
• crafting and spearheading sale and disposition strategies, and
• preparing for significant collections that may be coming to market in the future.

The majority of the Fiduciary Client Group team are attorneys – the only such team in the field – so they understand the issues fiduciaries face. They are well positioned to creatively and pragmatically work with fiduciaries to maximize the value of the art and collectibles they are working with, taking into consideration the unique needs of fiduciaries before and after a collection is sold.

The team in the Americas is led Claire Robertiello, and includes Rebecca Lockwood, Alexandra Shorall Kelly, Samantha Anderson and Min Seo, and was also recently joined by Kara Popowich and Alexandra Duch.  Cassie Spencer is the Midwest Fiduciary Client Group representative and Hugh Hildesley continues his long tenure at Sotheby’s as Vice-Chairman, Senior Business Development.

In addition to the Fiduciary Client Group team in the Americas, Sotheby’s has launched a mirror department in Europe led by Maureen Hooft Graafland, whose background includes more than a decade as a Corporate Finance banker at JP Morgan in New York and London, as well as Laura McCarthy.  In Europe, the Fiduciary Client Group builds upon Sotheby’s successful Tax & Heritage practice, led by Wendy Philips.