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Got a unsolicited email from a company called Arts Futures Group (http://www.artfuturesgroup.com/index.php), which invests in contemporary chinese arts.

I can't say myself to be an expert in this area but I do know a number of works by a number of chinese artists (Minjun, Zhang Xiaogang) have gone up exponentially in the last 10 - 15 years.

But how would something like art investing work? I find valuations like this then to be subjective... it is basically based on supply and demand and last sold prices. They also mentioned using something called ArtTactic Confidence Indicator for valuations.

As an investment, art pieces would rank low on Liquidity & Marketability.

If invest in a fund that invests in arts piece, that's additional counterparty risk.

If one wants to get exposed to an asset class like ART, i thought maybe investing in the infrastructure of this asset class might make more sense. Examples are like (1) auction houses (Christie's), (2) Appraisers. These companies basically are independent of the winners/losers of the art pieces. As a result, our investment process is simplified by taking away the variable of choosing the right art pieces, giving the average guy a better shot at profitability.