现在，投资者们正试图寻找让他们的资本增值的新方法。在我们每两周一次的财经节目中，米歇尔•哈恩将带我们看看艺术藏品是如何成为投资的新“圣杯”的。

注释：
1.collectible n.（尤指别于邮票、铸币、艺术品、古玩等传统收藏品的）收藏品
2.Holy Grail n.〈宗〉（传说耶稣在最后晚餐时用的）圣杯；圣盘
3.pension n.养老金, 退休金
4.old master n. 早期绘画大师的作品
5.enormous adj.巨大的
6.dung n.（家畜的）粪
7.appreciate vi.增值；涨价
8.liquid n. 流体
9.provenance n. 起源；出处
10.memorabilia n. 纪念品

Investment in Art

ANCHOR
Now investors are trying to find new ways to grow their funds. In our bi-weekly segment on your money, Michelle Han looks at how art and collectibles could be the new Holy Grail of investments.

CORRESPONDENT
Christie’s recent auction in Hong Kong saw Asian art selling at record prices, but does this mean that art is a good place to park one’s hard-earned cash? And how do the returns compare to traditional investments?

CLARE PARDY, AXA ART
The obvious point of comparison is the British Royal Pension Fund because they actually went out to buy art as an investment and they spread the investment, so they bought everything from old masters to tribal art. But at the end of that, I think they made a five percent net profit, so not enormous.

CORRESPONDENT
AXA Art, the world’s only insurance company specializing in art, tracks the valuations of their clients’ assets. These vary from lumps of dinosaur dung to entire museums.

A recent in house survey showed that art was second only to property when it came to clients’ investments. But investment does not necessarily equal profit.

So what do art experts say about investing in art purely for financial gain?

JAMES LALLY, LAMES J. LALLY & CO.
No one should ever enter the art market with an investment motive as their primary motivation. It’s not as easy as it looks, just like the share market. It can be said that works of art have appreciated in value, but they’re not always the works of art that you happen to buy.

CORRESPONDENT
So owning the right art is important and, like the stock market finding a willing buyer is also a major consideration. This is where getting advice from the experts is essential.

HUGH MOSS, ART CONSULTANT
There is no question that those who have collected art over the centuries have done extremely well financially and it’s an extraordinary field to play in. But it’s certainly not one where you can say, “Right, well I’m going to spend a million pounds today and by Thursday we should be one point one.” It won’t; it’s a liquid. It may go up and down. In the long run, the rewards can be spectacular.

CORRESPONDENT
So let’s say you have the enthusiasm, the cash and are prepared to take a long-term view toward a return. Where do you start?

HUGH MOSS, ART CONSULTANT
Collect something you like, obviously. That’s the first fundamental. The second fundamental is to collect something which is within your budget means. There is no point in collecting Rembrandt paintings if you’ve only got 5000 pounds a year to spare. Once, that is, once those two are taken care of, you embark upon a small area and see where it leads you, that’s part of the process. You may start collecting buttons and end up collecting Rembrandts; it’s the way it goes.

CORRESPONDENT
And it’s not just the buyers who are looking at positive returns. Auction houses around the world are promoting the idea of collecting and will take a swing at anything, provided it has the right provenance, age and, of course, media hype.

CORRESPONDENT
Although it’s the million dollar sales that make the headlines, you don’t have to have millions to start your investment. As you can see from this golf memorabilia auction taking place in London, you can start your portfolio with something as small as this, an antique golf ball valued at around 85 dollars.

主播
现在，投资者们正试图寻找让他们的资本增值的新方法。在我们每两周一次的财经节目中，米歇尔•哈恩将带我们看看艺术藏品是如何成为投资的新“圣杯”的。

记者
克里斯蒂拍卖行最近在香港的一次拍卖创下了亚洲艺术品销售的纪录，但这意味着艺术品就是你投资辛苦钱的好地方吗？与传统投资相比较，它能有多大的回报呢？

克莱尔•帕尔迪，AXA艺术保险公司
可资借鉴的一个显例就是英国皇家退休资金，因为他们开始购买艺术品时，就是将其作为一种切实的投资，并同时合理分散投资，购买的对象从早期绘画大师的作品到土著艺术品，无所不包。但到头来，我认为他们能得到5%的净利，所以说并不是很多。

AXA艺术保险公司是全球惟一从事艺术品保险的公司，它对客户资产进行跟踪评估：从恐龙粪块到一整家博物馆。

最近一次机构内部调查显示，关于客户的投资意向，对艺术品的投资仅次于房地产，但投资未必就意味着回报。

那么，艺术品专家对于纯粹为了经济上的利益而进行的艺术投资是如何评说的呢？

詹姆斯•拉利，拉梅什•J•拉利公司
在涉足艺术品市场时不应该将投资做为首要动机。它可不是像看上去那样的容易做，就像股市。可以说艺术品会增值，但是你并不是总能碰巧购买到这种艺术品。

记者
所以，重要的是得拥有正确的艺术品，像股市一样，找到乐意购买的买主也是需要考虑的一个主要因素。因此，从专家那里征得建议是绝对必要的。

休•莫斯，艺术顾问
毫无疑问，那些收藏了数百年艺术品的人在经济方面都得到了极好的收益，这是一个可以涉猎的非凡领域。但是在这里你肯定不能说，噢，好吧，今天我要投入100万英镑，到星期四我们就应该有110万了。不会出现这情况。它并不是固定不变，而是有涨有跌的。从长远来说可能会有非常可观的回报。

记者
那好，现在你有热情，也有现金，对于回报也有长期作战的心理准备，你该如何着手呢？

休•莫斯，艺术顾问
收藏自己喜欢的东西当然是首要的原则；第二个原则是要在自己财力允许的范围之内。如果你一年只能在这方面投入5000英镑，那就毫无理由去收藏伦勃朗的油画了。一旦，呃，一旦这两个原则都能兼顾到了。你就可以先从小的方面入手，看它能使你如何发展，这是过程的一部分。你也许会从收藏钮扣开始，到最后就能去收藏伦勃朗特的绘画作品了。就是这样。

记者
并非只有购买者期望从中得到实实在在的回报，全世界的拍卖公司都努力宣扬收藏这一理念，而且会在任何一件东西上押大赌注，只要这件东西有适当的出处和年代，当然还要有媒体的大肆宣传。

记者
尽管上百万美元的买卖才会成为头条新闻，你可没必要非得有了上百万美元后才开始投资。就像你现在看到的在伦敦举办的这个高尔夫纪念品拍卖会，你可以从一些小物件开始你的收藏，比如这个价值85美元的古董高尔夫球。