Real estate and contemporary art have replaced gold as the most popular way for the superrich to physically store wealth, Bloomberg reports. Laurence D. Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, said at a conference in Singapore that art and apartments are great asset classes for because they’re both less volatile investments and more exclusive than gold.
“’The two greatest stores of wealth internationally today is contemporary art…and I don’t mean that as a joke, I mean that as a serious asset class,’ said Fink. ‘And two, the other store of wealth today is apartments in Manhattan, apartments in Vancouver, in London.’”
So next time you’re walking around Manhattan and you see another luxury condo being built and you wonder, “who is that for? Who’s going to live there?” the answer, of course, is no one. It’s not a residence; it’s an investment vehicle. New York is not a place for living, it’s a place for the global titans of industry to stash wealth and go on vacation every now and then. It’s the true Bank of America. You knew that already, but this is more confirmation.
If I were rich af, I personally would rather have a large collection of contemporary art and a $91-million dollar condo than a pile of gold bricks. Seems more useful. So this is a great development for the rich. Just not for anyone else.
(Photo: Bullion Vault)
