Holding Artwork In Trusts - Key Considerations

There has been greater interest in recent years for the use of trusts to hold artwork, particularly as an investment class in its own regard, or a "diversifier" asset class which is less correlated with world stock markets.

Sales of fine art have grown significantly in the last 5 years. Since the market crisis in 2008/9, there has been an increase of nearly two-thirds in the global art market, according to the latest figures from the European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF). These suggest a figure of $46.1bn in 2011, represented by public auctions and estimates of private sales.

In 2012, $12.3bn was generated at fine art auctions alone, the two main multinational players being Christies and Sotheby, with a combined annual turnover of $5.2bn. A large percentage of their auction revenues are represented by a small number of sales, being only 0.23% of total transactions - where fine art is sold for prices over $1m