‘Art, the safest long term investment’

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With volatile markets being the trend and interest rates low on return, art seems to have come back as the safest investment option for many, says leading art curators and investment analysts.

"Art is the only commodity other than gold which is constant in giving steady returns from the very beginning. Art can make its own money over a period of time," says Neville Tuli of Osian, one of the largest art auction houses in the country.

"This means, art should not be taken as a short investment of just few months. Give it some time and this does not mean lifetime but at least around three years. It will give you good returns," he adds.

While paintings were earlier bought because of interest in such forms of art, experts say that many are now coming forward for just pure investment purposes. "If you pick out good paintings and study their progress in the last few years, you will find out that they have given very good returns. In some cases, certain pieces of art has given 100 per cent returns and more," says Minal Vazirani of Saffronart, an auction house cum gallery.

Agrees, S Kalra, a leather exporter who regularly invests in art. "I had a Rameshwar Broota's painting with me which I had bought for a very small amount in 2000. I sold the painting in 2004 and it gave me a return of around 75 per cent," he says.

Though Kalra did make a decent profit, he ruefully adds, "I should have waited a little longer. The same painting would have given me more than 100 per cent return now."

In India, the organised art market today is valued at around Rs 800 crore a year, which experts say is growing at a rate of over 30 per cent per annum.

A number of financial institutions have come out with art funds or schemes, trying to cash in on this growing new market.

Art funds typically operate by pooling in money from select investors and use it to buy art objects that have huge appreciation potential in a short period of time. Market sources say there are no estimates available on the number of art schemes in the market or the quantum of funds collected.

Hence, recently, Stock Market regulator, SEBI, had said that it would initiate action, including criminal case, against companies that operate Art Funds without its approval.