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Allocate at least 5% of your portfolio to art

Contemporary art has outpaced the S&P 500 for the last 27 years by 136%, while displaying lower correlation to stocks than both bonds and gold.

For years, there was no way to invest in art unless you had millions to buy an entire painting. But an innovative platform called Masterworks is changing that.

What is Masterworks?

Masterworks gives you the ability to invest in fractional shares of blue-chip contemporary art. That means paintings by artists like Banksy, Picasso and Basquiat.

Every piece of artwork available to invest in through Masterworks is thoroughly vetted by their team of industry leaders, and less than 3% of all artwork passes their criteria. Once the Masterworks acquisition team finds a piece they deem worthy based on proprietary data, they purchase it, securitize it, and offer fractional shares that their members can invest in.

This is where you come in.

With Masterworks, you can diversify your portfolio by investing in a piece of fine art, and you won’t need to get dressed up and spend millions at an art auction.

Masterworks will hold the painting for 3-10 years before selling it, or you can sell your shares yourself on the secondary market.

Because of its low correlation to equities, fine art can still go up in value while stocks are crashing – like in 2022, when every single one of Masterworks 9 exits were profitable, delivering returns between 10% to 35%.

Get started with Masterworks today and you could make your portfolio as beautiful as a Starry Night.

Get Started

On their website

Annualized returns from sold paintings (including Mona Lisa)

Masterworks has sold seven artworks so far with an average net return of 17.8%.

  1. "Doppelbild" by Albert Oehlen; annualized net return of 36.2%
  2. "Lady Day II" by Sam Gillman; annualized net return of 33.1%
  3. "Mona Lisa" by Banksy; annualized net return of 32%
  4. "Lured" by Cecily Brown; annualized net return of 27.3%
  5. "Staring Into Space" by George Condo; annualized net return of 21.5%
  6. "Rhubarb" by Joan Mitchell; annualized net return of 17.8%
  7. "Coup de Vent" by Claude Monet; annualized net return of 9.2%

How it works

Step 1: Accredited investors just need to visit Masterworks.com and create an account. They’ll immediately be prompted to enter a few details about their portfolio and investment goals.

Step 2: Investors schedule a call with one of Masterworks Advisers’ registered investment representatives to determine if any artworks from their roster, which has included Banksy, Basquiat and Picasso, match those goals.

Because works are securitized and broken into shares, investors can allocate as needed between multiple paintings, without spending millions on a full work.

Step 3: When Masterworks sells a piece you’ve invested in, you get a return from any net proceeds. Past exits are not indicative of future performance, but representative returns (net annualized) include 14.6%, 16.0%, and 17.6% across their 22 exits.

Get Started

On their website

Em Norton Staff Writer

Em Norton is a Staff Writer for Moneywise. Em holds a B.A. in Professional Writing from York University and has been writing professionally since 2019. Em's work has previously been published by Room Magazine, IN Magazine, Our Canada and more.

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