Seymours

Seymours Art promotes and encourages connoisseurship but does not dabble in dealing. For Ewen this is an important distinction, because it enables the company to give truly impartial advice. "When Seymours Art was founded in 2002 we stated in our shareholder agreement that we would not own the whole or part of any artwork," says Ewen. "We have no a... rtworks to sell, so we listen to our clients' objectives and then we attempt to act on those on the client's behalf . If we are acting as a vendor agent we provide transparent information about what we believe to be correct within the market and then try to find a buyer in the most efficient and sensible way. It gives us true independence, and aligns our interests entirely with our clients' interests." Ewen and his team see themselves primarily as problem solvers. Their first job is to listen to what the client wants, and rather than selling a limited selection of services, they take a broader view. "We offer a group of individuals who have a significant amount of expertise across the art market as a whole and so the services that we provide are fairly all encompassing within that market," says Ewen. "We are transparent about what we can achieve as well as transparent in every other aspect of our business." Rather than focusing solely on financial concerns, Seymours emphasises the enjoyment and intellectual fulfilment that can come from passionate art collecting. Its advisers provide support that takes into account how much clients have to spend and what they want to achieve - for example, whether they want to invest in a collection for future generations or look at shorter term goals. "It's about risk assessment and appetite for risk and matching any potential client's aspirations and requirements to any investment program that we put together for them," he says. A major hurdle when creating a collection is the opaqueness to the art world, which is unregulated, or at best self-regulated. Sometimes it can be difficult to gain access to all the information you need ...Read More