Arete Wealth is big-time into alternative investments, with an investment mix roughly in the range of 70% traditional investments and 30% alternatives. The reasons are twofold, says Josh Rogers, founder and CEO of the Chicago-based firm.

“That’s what high-net-worth investors want,” he explains. “A big part of investing isn’t just about pure capital; it’s about social capital. A lot of that has to do with feelings of exclusivity that you’re in a certain club that others are not.”

Equally important, he adds, is that it comes down to performance. “People in truly non-correlated investments are less likely to get emotional during turmoil in the traditional markets, therefore they generally experience better results.”

In that vein, Arete two years ago created its Art & Wine Advisory program to help clients invest in these high-end collectibles and gain exposure to non-correlated assets in what feels like an increasingly correlated investment world. At the same time, it also helps Arete stand out from the wealth management crowd.

“I thought this was a good chance for us to differentiate ourselves by creating what we believe was the first formal offering in this space,” Rogers says, adding that it’s his impression that while various high-end trust companies and private client groups at major banks offer occasional seminars on buying and selling art and dealing with art in an estate plan, he isn’t aware of anyone else offering a formal investing program focused on art and wine.

“It’s akin to having subadvisory contracts with a third-party asset manager or SMA manager, but with art,” Rogers says. “This allows our advisors and/or their clients to identify what areas of art or wine they want to focus on, and they have a subadvisory relationship with an art or wine advisor.”

Arete has both a corporate registered investment advisor and a broker-dealer, and the company has 29 branch offices comprising 135 advisors. According to the firm’s ADV document, it generally requires a $50,000 initial minimum account balance. But Rogers says the firm tries to focus on accredited investors and above—in other words, the kind of people apt to dabble in the rarified realms of fine art and fine wine.

The Art & Wine Advisory service came about from Rogers’ own keen interest in art collecting (the firm’s West Loop headquarters is filled with edgy artwork and was chosen by Crain’s Chicago Business as the city’s coolest office in 2016). He also has a moderate interest in wine. He has his own connections in the Chicago-area art world, and through a contact of a contact he became friends with wine expert Steve Morgan. He, along with art experts Patti Gilford and Ryan Kortman, as well as Sandra Berlin, an insurance specialist focused on fine art, fine wine and jewelry collections with Willis Towers Watson, make up the Art & Wine Advisory team.

Here’s how the program works: If clients want to avail themselves of an art or wine advisor, their financial advisor will make an introduction and then the art or wine advisor works directly with the clients. In most cases, because there’s either a buy or sell transaction that will occur—or, in Sandra Berlin’s case, some sort of insurance product—there will be a commission involved on those transactions.

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