Art Futures Group is Asia’s first company to offer an end-to-end art investment service. Art buyers in Hong Kong also benefit from the city-state’s tax-free trading. Jon Reade, managing director at Art Futures Group, said: "We encourage our clients to treat the paintings simply as an investment tool to generate returns. Our objectives are to assist our clients in being art investors, not art collectors,” he said. Here is discusses what is hot in the Chinese art market.
Despite the economic downturn and financial uncertainty that has gripped nations recently, the art market in China is booming. Auction houses have been seeing record-breaking sales since 2010 and savvy investors are seeing the long term rewards of putting their money in art, in particular Chinese contemporary art. With offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur, Art Futures Group is positioned perfectly to meet the increasing appetite from investors in this alternative asset class.
Established in August 2010, AFG is an art investment firm focusing on Chinese contemporary art. The company decided to focus on this segment of art due to its dominance in the market - Chinese contemporary art is now the largest art market in the world, with capital appreciation of 10 - 15 per cent per annum.
The Chinese art market is still in its relative infancy, as up until the 1980s it was illegal for mainland Chinese to display contemporary Chinese artworks on their walls. Chinese demand has increased exponentially over the last decade with large numbers of Chinese actively seeking to buy Chinese contemporary art. Moreover, this phenomenon extends beyond the East to growing interest from the West also. America and Europe in particular have developed an appreciation for Chinese contemporary art. Therefore, AFG recognises that this is the perfect time to promote investment in Chinese contemporary art.
The Artists
AFG sources all of its artworks directly from the artists themselves, whereby the pieces are sold to art investors. The artists sourced and selected are of a definite quality as the company goes through a very detailed and thorough research process in its selection. Criteria include auction track records, primary market and gallery prices of the artist’s works, media attention, awards received and public demand.
Fragment Series - Red (Shen Jingdong)
Two of the artists under AFG’s portfolio particularly stand out - Shen Jingdong and Hou Qing. Shen was a soldier in the Chinese Army for over 20 years, and has combined his military and artistic experience to create his whimsical pop art "Hero" series of paintings. They are very unique and highly collectable.
Hou Qing, on the other hand, integrates Western and Chinese culture into his work. He portrays beautiful Chinese women with influences from traditional Confucianism and Taoism. His paintings are highly stylised and are exhibited and collected all over the world.
Idle 悠悠 (Hou Qing)
Art Investment Services
AFG is involved from the initial recommendation and purchase of the artwork, to market monitoring, storage, and to implementing the exit strategies to ensure clients gain the best return on their investment.
AFG also provides clients with an additional revenue stream with their art leasing programme, with the option of leasing their artwork to corporates or other interested parties, for a secondary income of 6 per cent per annum.
This art leasing programme is a relatively new concept but is showing a steady increase as businesses are beginning to see the value in displaying high end contemporary pieces in their offices. Business entities also use leasing because it allows them to change the art pieces on a regular basis at a reasonably low cost.