Some of these guys are a little slow on the uptake.
From Penta:
Top wealth management firms have long had comprehensive art advisory units. Their bread-and-butter service: Using the artwork in their best client’s valuable collections as collateral, to lend them money, when the client momentarily needs extra cash to make a big purchase. But spurred on by the steroid-pumped growth of the art market over the past few years—with more collectors acquiring art for investment purposes and an increasing flux in prices—wealth management firms are hiring specialized talent to take their art advisory units to the next level.
“There’s a real race to find people who have a deep interest in art and banking knowledge, which is pretty rare and highly demanded,” says Gauthier Vincent, head of Deloitte’s wealth management practice, which compiles a comprehensive Art & Finance report annually. He says two talent pools are gravitating to the new positions: Bankers who have experience using art and other passion-driven collectibles as collateral, and bankers who are personally passionate about collecting art. Both are good matches for the fast-growing art advisory units. Art connoisseurs, who have accounting experience and handled grants at museums, are another subgroup getting poached by the private banks....MORE
