Think about your options today, because your bank accounts will thank me tomorrow. It is pricey and it can be a pretty big chunk of your money. However, depending on the artwork, the returns could very well be worth the money. I interviewed at Masterworks.io in Feb 2023. Someof our favorite aspects of Masterworks are: Masterworks presently has two methods for contacting the customer support staff. Check out professional insights posted by Kevin Cox, Vice President at Masterworks To start browsing, click on the tab at the top of the website, labeled Offerings, and you can scroll through the available offerings. A business will always want more leads and another job. Per the offering details that 11% is intended to be reasonable compensation for Masterworks services, capital commitment and outlay in sourcing and acquiring the Painting. However, to make sure you get the full picture, you should either check out the BBB (Better Business Bureau) or TrustPilot.com. Account type Investment advisor, individual investor, art dealer/ advisor, existing art collector, or other, Your investment portfolio size, which consists of your bonds, stocks, and other assets. Investing in fine art has been a pastime for the high roller world. Depends on your situation (thats why you have the phone interview to go through how much you can afford to invest), Blue Chip fine art with values typically between $1 million to $30 million, Yes Masterworks stores and insures paintings in a secure New York facility, By Phone: 205-518-5172 Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm ESTBy Email: support@masterworks.io, U.S. residents and non-U.S. residents can investSecondary Market: U.S. only. While art investing is exciting and an alternative form to earn profits, you should not consider Masterworks as a replacement for your retirement planning and other long-term investment goals. After youve input your information, youll want to click request invitation.. I was never told there was a minimum, but what THEY considered to be a good investment in terms of return based on the percentage of my liquid assets. Although the offering details say: the minimum investment amount per investor is $15,000 (750 Class A shares), however, we can waive the maximum or minimum purchase restriction on a case-by-case basis in our sole discretion Reports covering the macro level of art investing, including the wellbeing of the art economy, historical auction data, and other art world trends, Masterworks offers candid FAQs, where the platform lays out the pros and cons of investing in artwork, Keep in mind you have your own dedicated customer service representative, who can also help direct you to additional resources, should you have any questions. Masterworks makes it possible for almost anyone to start investing in blue-chip art worth up to $30 million+. Your article gave me the information I needed to feel confident about starting a membership with them. $25,000 - $31,000 a year. Here are a few more lucrative investments: Just remember to do your research no matter the investment type before you commit financially. Investors can get started with as little as $500 and can own a part of famous paintings without actually buying and storing them on their own. Shouldnt a minimum investment have nothing to do with my overall financial profile? Before you can make an investmentand buy shares, you must first go througha brief phone interview. Masterworks does not charge a signup fee but does require an investment of a minimum of $1,000, although most clients invest $10k to $30k, on average. 30+ days ago. . Thank you so much for your kind words! Your in depth analysis was very revealing. Thank you so much for your kind words Im so glad you enjoyed the article! If you prefer to keep your cash and not reinvest, you can also ask Masterworks to send your profits directly to your bank account. Yes (on the Masterworks secondary market). When you invest in fine art, it couldtake many years to pay out for a single piece. The piece, generally,is expected to be kept for 3 to 5 years until its soldand the art piecesproceeds allocated to shareholders. Nope it felt more like a job interview and when I wouldnt tell him how much liquidity I had immediately, he abruptly ended the call after 10 minutes saying that he couldnt help me. Step 3: Holding Period. If you are a US person, they provide a Masterworks Wallet where you do not have to pay any fees. Screenshots, logos, company names & styles are IP, copyright and trademarks of their respective owners, used on this site for their promotion or editorial illustration. Do you want to sell your Masterworks shares because youre sick of waiting for them to sell the painting and give you your cut? I enjoyed this easy read. Heres a quick overview of how investing in fractional shares with Masterworksworks: Keep in mind that because youre technically a part-owner of an LLC, you should expect to receive a tax form thats called a K-1 at the end of each tax year tofile with your tax returns. Thats a great question. If I was in this situation, Id probably take a closer look at the data to see what the long-term potential would be of the artwork and how that would factor into my overall financial plan. Today, the worldhas about47 million millionaires who dont only possess roughly half of the worlds capital, but also act as the primary market for rare art works. Although its not real estate in the traditional sense, its all digital. Im sorry to hear that and I appreciate you sharing your experience. She has also co-founded a local non-profit community teaching financial literacy and her work is featured on Forbes, FinCon, and MSN. This includes beginner questions and portfolio help. Founded in 2017, Masterworks currently has more than 400,000 registered users, with 100+ total art pieces and at least $400 million in securitized paintings. I was skeptical at first but now I feel confident with investing with them. With a very small amount, you can buildyour own rare art portfolio. Im going to take you through my step-by-step guide on how to sign-up for your Masterworks account today. It could make sense to invest in Masterworks if you are in need of diversifying your investment portfolio, want to invest in something that serves as a potential hedge against inflation, and if you are comfortable losing the money that you invested in Masterworks (i.e., dont invest your life savings in Masterworks). Im glad the analysis provided you with some value. You no longer need millions or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to invest in these rare art pieces. So while I wasnt pushed to purchase anything during the call, I will still have to hop back on another call to make that first transaction and become a member. To complete the Masterworks sign-up process, youll need to answer a few of the questions on this Investor Profile page and then hit finish.. Hopefully, things go smoothly for you as you hop back on your second call. More info than I couldve hoped for. That didnt seem right based on my research, so I didnt feel comfortable pulling the trigger. If Masterworks is unsuccessful in selling the painting to individual investors for a reasonable profit by year 7, then Masterworks reconsiders its strategy. I wish you much prosperity and happiness!! The organization employs 17 experts who holda stringent screening process for every art piece. It is worth noting that Masterworks is not a one-stop shop for long-term investment and retirement. Unfortunately what you are getting from masterworks is like some stock shares with the fees of a hedge fund. Why This Investment: Art is an extra asset class which is usuallyonly available to the rich and privileged. Masterworks charges a management fee of 1.5%, which is comparable to management fees charged by professional investment advisors. One reason why Masterworks could be an attractive income producing asset for many is that it offers the investor the opportunity to diversify their assets through artwork. Otherwise, if you are an art enthusiast like me and want to be a part-owner of some of the most expensive contemporary art of our times, this is the way to go. For more information see our disclosure. Opinions expressed in reviews, commentary and articles are those of the author and are not necessarily shared by Scam Risk. I guess I am lucky to be one of the chosen ones that could buy only 25 shares (500$) I guess they have issues finding people able to invest 15000$ and have probably open the market for anyone willing to invest. Good luck with your art investing journey, and please let me know how it goes! Once Masterworks purchases the artwork, it registers the art with the SEC and then issues shares in $20 increments. Below are some famous artists Masterworks currently invests in: Below are some examples of the works of art Masterworks is investing in. If you're approved as an investor, you'll be matched with an advisor who will be able to help you with any questions you may have. A bank account must also be linked to your Masterworks account. The historical performance of the art index looks attractive but doesnt match other research and the way they sold that one and only painting that allows them to advertise a high return looks curious. The great thing is how easy it is to scale. If youre looking for a proven, risk-free system for making passive income check out one of our recommend programs. or again they let the tap open for people outside the US. O ften in periods of financial uncertainty, the rich often resort to unconventional assets to increase the value of their portfolios. I hope is on the investment. This in my opinion is quite unreasonable considering I even use a USD card. Masterworks is open to all investors. Im so glad to hear that you found this review helpful Thanks Fiona, I have only read 2/3ish but its extremely detailed and very informative! Masterworks requires prospective investors to fill out an application and "request an invitation" to the platform. So, didnt work out for me. I like the concept of Masterworks but not the idea of revealing too much personal information to them. It was at that point I realized they lied to me and it was just a sleazy sales technique to get more money. Granted, some of the research articles and data are pretty dry and boring, but if youre wondering how (and where) your hard-earned money is going, I would definitelyrecommend you to do your research first. I actually thought that the interview was to help me understand the Masterworks model and decide whether it was a good investment for me and possibly how to use it. Masterworks still approaches art investing with an air of exclusivity, since you technically have to be invited to join the art investing world by completing a phone interview. As such, the fine art investment space has traditionally been reserved for the wealthy. Get exclusive wealth building strategies straight to your inbox. Wishing you luck in resolving this issue soon. A German tabloid magazine raised hopes and eyebrows earlier this month when it published what it called the "first interview" with Michael Schumacher, the race car legend who hasn't spoken publicly since suffering a near-fatal brain injury in December 2013.. What is % shown next to the particular artwork, for instance some are listed at 90%, does that mean the perceived value is almost achieved and art will be sold once at a 100% and if investing now you possibly wouldnt have to wait 3-10 years? As my Masterworks representative said to me, the secondary market is an escape hatch, its not a front door.. So, if you invest $1,000 with Masterworks, you could see a potential return of just over $2,500 in 7 years. Investor contact. Not only did blue-chip artwork outperform the S&P 500 backin 2018, but it has also increased more than twicesince 2000. Remember Masterworkstalking about their 20% commission off every art sale? According to the Artprice100 Index that as opposed to 200% for the S&P 500,rare artworkearned450%between 2000 and 2018. To my knowledge, I would say that if an investment shows 90%, then it is my understanding that this means the investment is almost fully invested (in other words, only 10% of the remaining shares remain for investors like yourself to invest). Investing should be a rational and analytical process. However, from what I was able to find out, it does look like there is an 11% markup fee. Masterworks will not allow any single investor to own more than 10% of an individual piece of art. Next, Masterworks will send you an email to verify your information. Masterworks sifts through a collection of over 1 million auction documents to pick the paintings by bestselling artists. Once the training program is completed you will also have access to a Facebook group much better than the Masterworks community in our opinion. Im bookmarking you! Thanks In other words, if Masterworks purchases a painting for $100 (a cheap painting! You are 100% right the commission that the art world (and to be honest, many other non-traditional and illiquid investments) charge is typically between 15% to 25% if not more. Masterworks does the rest of the work the analysis, the artist pre-vetting process, the storage, the insuring of the artwork, and ultimately the sale process as well. Fee structure. of data and information about the potential painting so you can make an informed investing decision. Masterworks is a new platform that gives the everyday investor the chance to invest in fine art, worth up to $30 million by investing in shares of fine art. The answer is probably in the millions if not in the tens of millions. With Masterworks, you'll have the option to: Diversify your portfolio Invest in blue-chip artwork Earn profits from 8% to 30%+ Protect yourself against inflation Heres an outline of how Masterworks actually works: As you can see, there are many steps involved with owning fine art, and Masterworks really does the grunt work for you. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with Masterworks! Masterworks is the art investing platform weve all been waiting for. Shares for all paintings are available to Masterworks members for purchase at $20. As more money enters the market, particularly in the hands of the wealthy, the rare artworks valuesoars to unprecedentedheights. On the bright side, however, at least Masterworks gives international investors the opportunity to invest (and there are several alternative investments that do not offer this option).