Before describing the new category of collectors who will bring new growth to the art market, it is worth remembering that there are around 500 million art buyers worldwide. Clearly, the concept of buying art covers a wide range of activities from hunting for bric à brac to collecting works of art. But it is also interesting to remember the number of people who have been drawn to the culture by tradition, ownership, collection but also, unfortunately by speculation.
The major art collectors who stabilize the markets and the speculators, who disrupt the market have already been the subject of many articles and analyses; that is why we are interested in the typology of affluent neglected collectors.
The affluent neglected collector is not a major collector by definition, but could become one. In the same way, he is not a speculator as, buried deep within him, he has a real interest in culture and art.
Furthermore, whether he is affluent through his financial income, or through acquired or soon to be acquired assets, he is an informed economic player in the art world. But he is also neglected, since he is not fall into the category of UNHNWI (ultra high net worth individual), whose wealth is managed by private banks or other financial firms.
Consequently, he is not a priority target market for companies offering alternative solutions to financial management such as investing in art objects, collecting or antiques.
It is up to us, as art advisors, to bring out his hidden taste for art, to get him to take the next step, to support him in the different art sectors and to help him mount the steps of culture, even though he already has within him, an unexpressed desire to do so.
This movement of affluent, neglected collectors currently represents 700,000 people in France. In the next decade, these informed economic players will represented at least a national market of 140 billion euros of business. However, we should look towards other horizons such as Europe. In this geographical region, the sociological behaviours vary; that's why it is wise to consider a reduced scope compared to that used by the European institutions, who have calculated this population of affluent, neglected collectors to be more than 3.5 million people, to achieve the greatest homogeneity.
For collectors, a work of art is not a financial asset, something which the art economists or those who are interested in art have regularly demonstrated factually. Nevertheless, in everyone's eyes, art has a market value.
This economic value is made up of factors such as the rarity of the object, its technical achievement, the liquidity of works, the fact that they are durable assets which have a longer life-cycle than that of humans ... In the near future the art market will grow by increasing the volume of collectors who believe in this non exhaustive list of factors.
Therefore, the affluent, neglected collectors will become key economic players and are already the movement that will sustain the art market in future decades. Progressively, they will strengthen and open up the range of possibilities to major collectors. Through a ripple effect or even mimicry, the potential European market will grow to at least 800 billion euros, probably within the next two decades. The resulting impact will produce a new stabilising effect and new flow of money to artists and the different professions in the art world.
Finally, the pride of these affluent, neglected collectors in belonging to a movement will be even stronger since they will feel that they represent a movement with an economic and social reach, encouraging expansion and the development of individuals and companies.
This new movement: "the new link" is already underway and will prove to be a worldwide economic growth factor.
Eric Toudy
