Most interesting investment: tokenisation of art work by family offices
Family offices are using the blockchain to tokenise art works (Unsplash/Derick McKinney)
The wealthiest in society have long put their money into art, but let it never be said that investors are not creative, particularly when something like legacy is at stake.
In the world of family offices, you often hear about investments being made in passion asset classes such as wine, jewellery and classic cars. Now, however, families are taking this one step further through the tokenisation of art works to an already crowded investment market.
Hundle Asset Management, a multi-family office based in London, recently told us how the firm uses blockchain to tokenise art works, meaning investors can now own small parts of a single piece of art.
According to Kate Forsyth, deputy chief investment officer for Hundle, it is important for ultra-wealthy families to “build a legacy that’s beyond just a big chunk of money that they leave behind”.
This highlights just how buoyant the investment market remains. The past year has been a volatile one for asset owners, with ongoing geopolitical headwinds (a phrase essentially synonymous with Donald Trump) making it difficult to determine where on earth to allocate to.
Yet Hundle’s approach suggests that, however perilous the market may seem, there is always fertile ground to be found, or created, if you have the money and the will to do it.
And if nothing else, then at least we get to fulfil what every artist surely dreams of – having their work sliced up and sold off. Metaphorically speaking, of course.