Classical Notes: October 20, 2008 Archive

I've Got One Word For You: Violins

Posted at 1:23 PM on October 20, 2008 by Gillian Martin

It goes without saying that I am completely unqualified to offer investment advice, but this little tidbit at the intersection of art and commerce caught my eye.

With the stock market so volatile, what's a savvy investor to do? According to one advisor, rare violins are the way to go.

Instruments made by Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737) and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu (1698-1744) are much sought after, but many of them are owned by museums and other institutional investors, so the number of them on the open market is small, according to Steffan Borseman, owner of a company called Stradivari Invest. This scarcity pushes up the price, he says. His argument is so poetic, I'll let him speak for himself:

Investing in rare stringed instruments is an alternative asset class that provides superior long-term returns and diversification benefits for investors due to its low correlation with other investments.

Read the whole thing here.