Appraisal Bureau has partnered with Marsh, the global leader in fine art insurance, to bring our clients access to industry-leading coverage at highly competitive premiums. Through this integration, clients can request a custom quote from Marsh directly within their Appraisal Bureau account. Artwork details and insured values are shared with Marsh and automatically updated, enabling seamless risk assessment and ensuring policies reflect the most accurate valuations.
Head of Fine Art & Luxury Brands at Marsh, Charlie Horrell, speaks to art market journalist Riah Pryor about innovation in the sector, including their recent partnership with Appraisal Bureau.
Charlie Horrell, Head of Fine Art and Luxury Brands, Marsh |
Could I start by asking for an introduction to Marsh and your department?
Absolutely, so I lead the fine arts and luxury brands team within Marsh. We help clients better understand and manage the potential risks for their collections. We’re lucky enough to enjoy a substantial size of the market and to work with a wide range of clients in the art and luxury world. The scope of a fine art policy has broadened massively in recent years. You only need to look at what happened throughout COVID, with the increased value in memorabilia and sneakers etc, to understand the constant change at the forefront of the sector.
We have focused on putting together substantial facilities and processes to also try and make the whole process as easy as possible for our clients, which I think is where our partnership with Appraisal Bureau fits so well.
So how did your work with Appraisal Bureau come about?
It leads back to our commitment to innovation which aligns quite naturally with the ambition of Caroline [Taylor/CEO and Founder of Appraisal Bureau]. Marsh, for example, was the first broker to place a pure NFT policy in the market and so we’ve been at the forefront of digital art valuations, and Appraisal Bureau quite quickly demonstrated their ability to support this area as well.
We’d also noticed that a lot of clients really didn’t seem confident about knowing where to get their art appraised and were almost put off by some of the traditional processes, or the idea that a company would be expected to carry out an extensive, in person review of an entire collection. Being able to offer a process which was clear, efficient and built trust offered us a really strong way to add value for clients. |
You mention a desire from the market for greater speed and transparency, what are the inefficiencies and challenges art insurance has historically faced?
As you know, the art world is still very traditional. Someone coming along, like Appraisal Bureau, and offering something that can speed up the process and make it more accessible is a real shift. A lot of art is covered under broader contents or property policies and it’s important to try and guide clients, so they can get more clarity around what can be offered and achieved in our market.
A lot of people also assume they would need to go to an auctioneer for valuations and are sometimes reluctant to do that because they would be handing over a lot of their data, so I think the feeling of a neutral platform is significant.
I think it’s fair to say that the art trade has also historically been fairly cautious in adopting technological innovation. Do you feel this is shifting?
Yes, I think so. The art market is largely unregulated, so it remains slightly behind the times in many ways. But I do think that people are really adapting to the use of digital to boost speed and trust at the moment. What we're trying to do is to make sure that we're doing our part from the insurance perspective, particularly by our clients using Appraisal Bureau or our Balance Facility. Balance is a market leading placement facility which rewards clients for sustainable movements with premium savings, and we have the ability to place up to $2B of coverage with agreement of only three insurers. You also have to consider the demographic of an art buyer these days. It's massively different from even a decade ago, it's a completely different generation of art buyers. I think just because of that, it will naturally move things along.
How do you see this technology changing the way insurance companies evaluate and price risk in the art market?
At the moment, everyone is exploring the potential of AI, we have all this at our fingertips and insurers are happy to utilize this if it can offer more clarity towards valuations in line with market trends. Ascertaining the correct limit of indemnity is vital, as the basis of valuation under an art policy is the scheduled, or agreed value.
That said, if a client was to sustain a total loss and haven't had their collection valued for a number of years, they could easily be underinsured. Considering the fluctuations in values over the last few years, we suspect that many collections are not fully covered. By teaming up with Appraisal Bureau, art collection valuations are regularly updated so we know appropriate coverage is in place.
Is there risk in introducing a system that uses valuations without seeing artworks in-real-life?
Looking at the range of clients we cover and the vast collections that we represent, it would never be practical to offer in person inspections for every item. You would end up with an appraiser living on site!
There won’t be a solution for everyone and every work, but as a key element in what Appraisal Bureau can offer it provides a much more cost-effective solution.
What kind of feedback have you received from clients or insurers about using the platform during the insurance process?
The feedback has been very positive from clients and insurers. Being able to quickly offer full information of all artworks in one place and recurring, up-to-date appraisals, provides faster premium quotations. And I just think that a lot of insurers feel that this innovation is needed.
Learn more about Appraisal Bureau and Marsh |