ART INDEXES
Similar to the NASDAQ, the S&P 500 and other significant indicators, art market indices help decipher the top movers and shakers in the industry and the general mood of the market. As investors, becoming familiar with these indices is essential. Let us introduce a few..
Mei Moses Art Index
Produced by Professors Jianping Mei and Michael Moses of NYU’s Stern School of Business, this index uses repeat sales from auction data circa 1935 to study the performance of specific works. The Mei Moses database includes over 45,000 repeat sale pairs for over 20,000 individual works of art sold internationally. The Mei Moses offers a great tool to determine the performance of specific genres and should always be consulted before a major move is made.
Artprice: Art Market Confidence Index (AMCI)
Constructed by a publicly listed French company, this index employs the same method used to compute the Consumer Sentiment Index. The AMCI surveys the users of Artprice.com, asking them four questions with three possible responses: positive, negative or neutral. The index aims to survey the 1.3 million members and art-market participants in pursuit of identifying the general feelings surrounding the market. If the AMCI is positive, it’s a good time to invest.
arnet’s Price Database and Market Performance Reports
Assembled by a publicly listed German company, this index tracks market trends for over 4,300 artists since the 1980s. The findings are based on the Price Database that contains more than 3.7 million auction results. The index uses key characteristics such as lot transaction data, bought-in statistics, sales volume, price levels and auction estimates to create comparable groups that illustrate art market performance. Because of artnet’s extensive data collection, their Contemporary C50 index, for example, offers a reliable ranking of the top 50 contemporary artists.
The AMR Price Index
This index is produced by a private UK firm and measures the average value of a work against the base period (1974–1975). Unique about the AMR Price Index is its inclusion of data from over 800 auction houses worldwide, instead of focusing solely on Sotheby’s and Christie’s. The index divides the market price by the corresponding month in the base year to come up with a comparison of today’s market versus the base years. Knowing the performance of a sector since this base year offers a useful growth comparison of different categories in the art market.
ArtTactic’s Art Market Confidence Indicator
Produced by ArtTactic, this index illustrates the average number of positive answers to a biannual survey. The system is similar to that of the CEO Confidence Survey. The questions are distributed to a group of 160 “art insiders.” Using the average relative value as a benchmark to determine the indicator value for each question, the index then averages the indicator values of different questions to create confidence indicators. Looking at the ArtTactic CI is the best way to determine the mood of the top art market players before deciding to make major investments.
Now we know where to look for market indicators. However, these indices must be used carefully. Data is often misrepresented and used inappropriately to justify investments. Experts are able to make the most out of this information and should always be consulted. Arthena offers a financial product that gives you access to the alternative asset class with the highest barrier to entry and strongest historical returns. We invest in the most liquid segment of the art market, with the lowest volatility, yielding tremendous growth uncorrelated to traditional investments. Arthena’s automated and data driven investment strategy regulates art investment by building traditional fund structures. Learn more about art investment strategies by signing-up for Arthena’s Art Investment 101 e-mail series.
