Collectible Investments for the High Net Worth Investor

Chapter Collecting and Behavioral Finance

Introduction

“You collect because you love the object, not for investment.” How many times have you heard that said? I well remember my last time: I was driving across the Sydney Harbor Bridge and a spokesman from an antiques publishing house was conducting a radio talk show on the wonders of collecting. I remember thinking that some parts of the antiques trade have such an ingrained tradition of taking their own clients for fools. By telling the buyer that it's all for love, the dealer auditions for the role of matchmaker rather than his actual role as a market maker (that is, as a trader who both buys and sells, profiting on each “round trip”). The implicit message to the buyer is that the price is ...