Klein, Mary Elizabeth
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(Article) The art legacy dilemma
01.06.2019
Mary Klein shares her experiences from serving as an officer in a large family office; working with leading art experts; and as a senior partner at a Big 4 accounting firm. She is a person committed to the arts - including being an Advisory Director to Carnegie Hall and an Investment Advisory Committee member to the Art Students League of New York. Family art collections raise a number of challenging issues and can easily become the source of family conflicts. Mary carefully delineates the many choices. She summarises the issues: Inheriting an art collection is fraught with intricacies and choices, including the potential for conflicting priorities among family members. Beneficiaries may not have the same passion for art as their benefactor and prefer to monetize the investment into other asset classes or to fund philanthropic objectives. Given the magnitude of the impact of such a decision on the family's legacy and familial relationships, the family office should engage with independent experts and allow ample time to reach congenial and well-thought out conclusions. -
(Article) The art of giving: strategies for gifting art
01.03.2020
A comprehensive summary of the issues involved in managing and disposing of private art collections, by Mary Elizabeth Klein (United States). Mary covers all the topics relating to art charitable giving strategies for family offices where art is a significant asset within an investment portfolio. She includes factors affecting art charitable giving during life and at death under US tax regulations as well as international art giving considerations. -
(Article) Art valuation in disruptive times
01.06.2021
Mary Elizabeth Klein notes that: "The pandemic has necessitated a more fluid sale schedule, many more online sales at all price points, a re-thinking of art centres to include more international focus on Paris and Hong Kong salesrooms, and pop-up venues from the Hamptons to Palm Beach". She gives a detailed explanation of the elements of a proper appraisal, which can be a very complex procedure. She lists the subjective and the objective drivers of price. The several manners in which outright fraud can occur are listed in a table. She offers advice: "Family offices can avail themselves of the International Foundation of Art Research (IFAR) website to protect against art fraud." For some purchases (and sales) a specialised lawyer can be very helpful: "to review a contract for the purchase of a work, or to review a bill of sale, especially for significant art transactions, can protect buyers against purchasing art without clear title, stolen art, a potential dealer or gallery bankruptcy, or a Ponzi scheme, all of which scenarios have been covered by the news media of late". She closes with the caution that what is different now is the pace of change and complexity of factors meaning that: "Family offices need to approach the management and opportunities related to art with diligence to protect their wealth in this time of great change." -
(Article) Family offices and the art of investment
15.09.2022
In 'Family offices and the art of investment', Mary Elizabeth Klein explains the current trends regarding investment in art. She describes the benefits and the risks of investing in art, as well as the different ways of investing (eg, art funds, NFT-based art and art lending). She stresses the importance of involving art professionals due to, among others, the market opaqueness and the lack of regulation and the fact that the type of investment depends on the objectives of the investor. For instance, an investor may prefer to invest in an art fund in order to avoid the responsibility of owning and maintaining the physical piece of art. -
(Article) Effective implementation of a family's philanthropic mission through charity
26.06.2023
Mary Elizabeth Klein explores the use of private philanthropic foundations, exploring best practices, stewardship principles and trends within them.