Millennials may not want to own a car, but they are snapping up a huge chunk of the $67 billion market fine art, according to UBS.
The net generation, Gen Y, or millennials are notoriously difficult for wealth managers to bank. The generation of 22- to 37-year-olds will oversee more than $24 billion by next year, according to consulting firm Deloitte.
The «picky» generation have turned up in a surprising statistic: they make for nearly half of buyers in the last year who paid $1 million or more for pieces of fine art, according to a study published by UBS on Friday.
«For a generation that might never own a car, their appetite for buying art is encouraging», UBS marketing chief Johan Jervøe told «Reuters». UBS has long worked with Art Basel, a high-end art fair held annually in Miami, Basel, and Hong Kong which it uses as a client perk.
Experiences As Assets
What's behind the surprising affinity of millennials for the art market? «It may be a reflection of the unique and often experiential qualities of art and collectibles as long-term assets», Jervøe said.
The study questioned wealthy clients in Germany, Britain, Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore; millennials made up one-third of respondents. Two years ago, UBS enlisted Clare McAndrew, a cultural economist specialized in arts, antiques and collectibles markets to compile the report.
Asian Millennials
Despite a backdrop of political and economic uncertainty, the global art market grew 6 percent last year to hit total sales of $67.4 billion. The three largest markets – the U.S., U.K., and China – accounted for 84 percent of the global sales.
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