Saturday, 7th November 2009

 

World's first regulated fine art hedge fund

A new fine art hedge fund is being set up with the backing of prominent art collector Charles Saatchi, to tap into the boom in contemporary art.

The Art Trading Fund, described by its owners as "the first regulated fine art hedge fund", will be registered in Guernsey.

Founders Chris Carlson and Justin Williams are corporate patrons of the Saatchi Gallery, which the fund will pay a certain percentage of its profit to. The fund will focus on select works by western artists as well as from the emerging markets like China, India and the Middle East.

The fund managers will buy and sell a pool of works for a set fee. The Art Trading Fund has a short-term arbitrage strategy of three to 12-months returns and has a hedge to provide protection.

In 2005 Saatchi sold his Damien Hirst 'Shark' to hedge fund manager Steve Cohen of SAC Capital Advisors for $8m.

Tags: Charles Saatchi , The Art Trading Fund

Brummel

Relocation, relocation, relocation

Banks have never been shy of firing staff at the merest whiff of a downturn. First the fat, then the muscle and finally the bone. In the past, cuts have been so deep that firms have found it hard to benefit when the markets rebounded, paying over the odds to restaff at speed. Such wild oscillations in staffing numbers are known as “doing a Merrill”.

Rich Monitor

Sotheby's 3Q loss widens

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