Private banking, household art investments up to 20 per cent

The propensity of Italians to invest in works of art is growing. A market that worldwide has exceeded 2,500 billion dollars and is destined to reach 3,500 billion in 2030. Today, there are over 120 funds dedicated to art in the world and private families invest 20% of their assets in this segment. In Italia “the percentage is much lower, but it is not well known, because the art market is mapped very little. Suffice it to say that the Bank of Italia’s annual survey, which identifies the 12,000 billion of private families’ wealth, does not include investments in works of art’. Making the point is Andrea Ragaini, Deputy General Manager of Banca Generali, on the occasion of the presentation of the two new works of contemporary art in the ‘BG arTalent’ collection, displayed in the historic Palazzo Pusteria in Milan, which will be open to the public during Milan Art Week 2026.

The Strategy

One has to consider that in Italia ‘in eight out of ten cases works of art reach families through inheritance’, so that ‘sometimes they are not ready to manage or value them’. This is why Banca Generali has created an internal team that has ‘the objective of accompanying clients in the valorisation of works of art’. At present, one in five Italian private families say they have bought works of art for investment purposes. In practice, after traditional investments and precious metals, there are investments in art. Approximately 40% of the portfolio is represented by paintings and pictures, 14% by sculptures, and another 14% by digital art. “Technology,” according to Ragaini, “is providing tools, such as the tokenization of assets, which could favour the development of club deals in art investments. Therefore, ‘art is not only emotion, memory and passion, but also value and investment’. Banca Generali’s goal is to ‘promote a dialogue between these dimensions’, the emotional and the asset dimensions, in order to manage assets ‘in a more complete, more integrated and also more profitable way’. According to Ragaini, therefore, the time has come to “consider works of art within the overall wealth of clients and to consider art as an asset class”. Today ‘about 20% of Italian private banks have a team dedicated to this sector within them and we believe in it in a special way,’ says the manager. This is also in light of the arrival of new collectors. “The new generations see art as a language to be experienced and are looking for instruments that combine performance, identity and cultural impact,” explains the manager. “The Next Gen interprets art as a language of identity, experience and cultural impact: a sensibility that is also redefining investment choices, from design to passion assets to digital forms. It is a change of sensibility’.