Art
Indian Fine Art Fund Launched [DO NOT EDIT]
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UK-based The Fine Art Fund Group has opened $25 million for an Indian fine art fund. It will be the largest international fund to date to cater to the booming demand for Indian art. The Indian Fine Art Fund, which seeks to raise funds through both resident and non-resident Indians, as well as global investors, is a five-year closed-ended offshore fund. The minimum investment is $100,000. Art funds raise resources which are used for purchasing works of art which are later sold depending on the time horizon of the fund to garner returns for its investors. The Indian Fine Art Fund will look at buying contemporary as well as modern Indian art. The Fine Art Fund Group founder Philip Hoffman, a former deputy managing director of auction house Christie's, told Economic Times: "The market for Indian art globally is still in its emerging phase and the growth has been much slower compared to that of China. One difference between the two has been that as against the Chinese art market where the demand spurt came from European and American buyers, Indian art till now has largely been bought by Indians or Indians living abroad." According to estimates the size of the Indian art market has grown from $2 million to $400 million over the last seven years and a number of art funds have been set up. The Osian's Art Fund, which raised INR102.4 crore ($26 million) from local investors in 2006, is the largest. Other art funds in India include India Art Fund, launched by the wealth management division of Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yatra Fund and Crayon Capital Fund. ICICI Bank is also in the process of raising a $25 million art fund primarily targeting Gulf-based NRIs. The London-based Fine Art Fund Group currently has three funds in operation internationally, including Fine Art Fund I, Fine Art Fund II and the Chinese Fine Art Fund. Total assets under management are $100 million. It is looking to raise a further $100 million through its various funds this year, including the Indian Fine Art Fund and the proposed Middle Eastern Fine Art Fund.