Things to Remember While Investing in Art

The Indian art market is divided into two segments - Modern and Contemporary. Modern segment comprises of masters like M F Husain, S H Raza, F N Souza, VS Gaitonde, Amrita Sher Gill and more. Contemporary segment is comparatively young, around last 30 years. Alternately, Painters who were born after 1930. 1. Do your own research. One of the first things to do before buying art is to empower yourself by reading up on art, visiting local art galleries, meeting artists/ collectors and other people who are actively involved in this field. Talk to artists, consultants and curators to get insights about the functioning of the art market and to also network with like-minded people intending to buy art also known as "Collectors". There are international auction houses like Sotheby's and Christie's which focus on Indian art. Also there are domestic auction houses like Pundoles, Asta guru and Saffron Art. You can contact dealers and galleries. You can also approach an art advisor. You can end up paying a consultant 2-5% fee for expensive works. The service for smaller works may cost 5-15% of the value of the artwork. Fees also depends upon rarity of art work. Ensure that the dealers and galleries sell genuine/ authentic works. Art market is full with fake artworks, so make sure you do proper research before buying the art. Check few important documents while purchasing art like authenticity guarantee, a provenance certificate, that is the previous owners of the artwork, condition report, publications (if any). Nowadays, many auction houses like Saffronart do not provide authenticity certificate. While buying from the auction houses make sure you understand buyer's premium and the total cost incurred by (delivery charge, taxes, etc). Usually when you are buying through a dealer, only the seller has to give commission to the dealer and not the buyer. This can also be happen when you buy from a gallery. Again this depends on dealer, gallery and artwork involved. 2. Quality, not quantity. Invest in fewer pieces that are higher quality. Not all pieces done by a renowned artist are masterpieces. You must take help from experts to recognise a masterpiece. For instance, an oil on canvas is perhaps the most expensive form of painting. Then is an acrylic on canvas, followed by an acrylic on paper. Then would follow watercolor on paper and charcoal on paper. 3. Buy art that you like and understand. Allocate a budget. Buy art that you like. It is something you may keep for a lifetime, as you don't know whether you will be able to sell it or not. Unlike other forms of investment such as stocks, it is worth remembering that art has an aesthetic quality that can, and some say should, be appreciated outside of its monetary value. Art is a long term investment. Also, prices of a renowned artist's works do not necessarily shoot up when he dies. Art should not form more than 5% of your total investments. 4. Maintaining the artwork Once you buy the art, you also need to incur the maintenance cost like insurance, storage cost. Also you need to take care of the artwork, like art should be stored in an environment that does not get direct sunlight. 5. Investing in emerging artists Experts say you can look at investing in emerging artists whose works are available from Rs 1 lakh onwards. Though they may be a good option, it is difficult to predict who will make it big in the future. For this, you need to take advice from experts in the field. 6. Prints, limited editions If you have limited budget, you can also invest in limited edition prints like serigraphy, lithography. 7. Evaluating an artwork.

How to Plan Your Investments

Whether you are an individual or a corporate body planning your investments ahead is of at most importance. As planning your investments means planning your future financial status and meeting unforeseen with ease and confidence it has become life blood that makes your path of hardships a bed of roses. Planning your finances involve planning your inflows and outflows i.e., In short managing the entire flow of funds during a certain course of time. Thus, it is a must for anyone to plan your investments well in hand so; that your future will be safe and you can encounter any issue with ease and comfort. A proper investment planning would make your financial distress also a bliss as you always have a surplus reserve for different unforeseen of life. The reasons for financial distress could be multitudinous but the survival rate is higher and quicker for those who are financially planned when compared to those who are not. For having a proper investment planning you must follow few but regular steps which will save you at the eleventh hour. Let us look at few steps that you must follow to cushion yourself financially and to get a tag of well investment planner. • The first and foremost step in investment planning is to assess your income. Asses all your inflows, which must include any sort of long term or annual cash inflows that you are expecting. • Once you assessed your cash inflows, the next major step is to set a goal that could be any specific aspect that you would like to achieve with the money you are going to save from this year onwards. • Once you set forth your goals and assess your inflows the next step is to plan your savings. The other way planning your investments. To plan your investments well you must know what your risk coefficient is and how much profits you want to make out of your little investments. To know this you must look at variety of financial and demographic and socio- economic factors that affect you and your family's lifestyle. • Once you are done with the assessment of your risk coefficients and return expectations the next big leap is to set an investment strategy. Under this, you will choose among different investment alternatives that are available to you based on your risk and profit margins. • Once you choose a basket of investment options, go with the ones that are convenient for you in terms of time horizon, maturity period and return margins and so on. Having a clear investment strategy would not only make you a good investment planner but also a supersaver to your own self and to your family at times of emergencies.