Arete Wealth Launches Affiliated Branch Office in N.Y.C. with Masterworks, Provider of Art Investment Securities

Arete Wealth CEO Joshua D. Rogers Says Collaboration Is 'Perfect Complement' to Firm's Standout Art & Wine Advisory Practice

Masterworks' Platform Enables Investors to Purchase Minority Stakes in Many of the World's Most Iconic Artworks

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Arete Wealth

Nov 18, 2021, 10:00 ET

CHICAGO, Nov. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Arete Wealth, a full-service broker-dealer, registered investment advisor, and insurance firm, announced it has agreed with Masterworks, a provider of art investment securities, to launch an affiliated branch office in New York City. The two-year agreement is effective immediately.

Financial considerations for the agreement were not disclosed, and neither company has taken any equity ownership in the other party or any of its affiliates.

Using its proprietary data to build a diversified portfolio of art curated by its industry-leading research team, Masterworks' platform offers investment opportunities in works from the world's most renowned artists including Banksy, Kaws, and Basquiat.

The new branch will conduct business under the Masterworks brand and become part of Arete Wealth's network of more than 100 locations across the United States; it also represents Arete Wealth's first branch office in New York City.

Under the agreement, Chicago-based Arete Wealth will act as a co-managing broker-dealer, underwriter, and placement agent for all of Masterworks' art securities products offered for sale in primary offerings. The branch will participate as a syndicate member in any transaction that names Arete Wealth as a co-manager.

The arrangement also provides a boost to Arete Wealth's highly regarded Art & Wine Advisory group, an exclusive service for clients thought to be the only one of its kind in the U.S. offered by a financial services firm. The Arete Wealth Art & Wine program allows clients to work with advisors who are experts in these specific alternative investments.

"This agreement underscores Arete Wealth's efforts on behalf of our valued clients to seek the market's best alternative investments," said Arete Wealth Founder and CEO Joshua D. Rogers. "The collaboration with Masterworks also provides a perfect complement to our Art & Wine advisory group, a practice that we promote with a savvy approach and high standards for any desired level of investing."

Both firms will seek to recruit up to 50 registered representatives for the new branch, and Arete Wealth will provide full regulatory compliance services and advice to New York-based Masterworks.

"Arete Wealth is the only firm with experience in both art and investing," said Scott Lynn, Masterworks Founder and CEO. "We're excited to partner to deliver some of the first registered art investment products."

The agreement with Masterworks is the latest significant move for Arete Wealth in 2021 — in January, the firm announced it had acquired Center Street Securities, a Nashville, Tenn.-based securities broker-dealer and registered investment advisor whose endowment-style investing for high-net-worth clients is consistent with Arete Wealth's investment philosophy.

About Masterworks
Masterworks.io, the first investment platform to securitize contemporary art. Masterworks is a members-only platform where investors can buy and sell shares in iconic works of art, by artists such as Basquiat, Banksy, Kaws, and more.

Art is estimated to be a $1.7 trillion asset class, and contemporary art has appreciated 14.0% from 1995-2020, outperforming the appreciation rate of most other asset classes including the S&P 500, real estate, and gold. For centuries, this asset class has only been available to the ultra-wealthy who can afford multi-million-dollar paintings. Masterworks' vision is for any investor to be able to allocate to art, just as they do with stocks and bonds.

About Arete Wealth
Through its full-service broker-dealer, registered investment advisor, and insurance units, Arete Wealth Inc. has been offering comprehensive and sophisticated wealth management services for investors, clients, and partners since 2007. The Chicago-based firm offers high-net-worth investors access to a unique suite of alternative investments in addition to providing services that include investment banking, private equity programs, and other traditional financial planning.

In 2021, in its most significant transaction to date, Arete Wealth acquired Center Street Securities, a Nashville, Tenn.-based broker-dealer and registered investment advisor that provides a natural complement to Arete Wealth's distinct endowment-style investing philosophy. Arete Wealth also features a highly regarded Art & Wine advisory practice, an exclusive service for clients thought to be the only one of its kind in the U.S. offered by a financial services firm.

Arete Wealth's impressive growth is increasingly gaining attention from trade publications such as InvestmentNews, FA Magazine, and Financial Planning which all feature the firm's rising prominence in their current annual industry surveys. Arete Wealth's 265 registered representatives, spread across 100 offices in the United States, manage more than $5.7 billion in total assets. Find out more at www.aretewealth.com.

Contact:
For Arete Wealth
Nate Moster, Chief Marketing Officer
312.940.3684
[email protected]

For Masterworks
Matt Sutherland, VP, Media Relations
[email protected]

SOURCE Arete Wealth