Art Basel Hong Kong on legacy

At Art Basel Hong Kong, the pitch around collecting shifted from buying art to planning an inheritance around it. (scmp.com) Ben Rudd, head of Chubb Wealth for Asia Pacific, told the South China Morning Post at the March 2025 fair that advisers should match protection plans to a client’s goals, time horizon and liquidity needs. He framed art as an asset that can sit inside broader wealth and succession planning, not just a passion purchase. (scmp.com) That conversation landed at a fair that drew 240 galleries from 42 countries and territories to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from March 28 to 30, 2025, with preview days on March 26 and 27. Art Basel said attendance reached 91,000 across VIP and public days. (artbasel.com 1) (artbasel.com 2) Chubb Life Hong Kong was an official show partner for the second straight year and used the fair to stage an installation called “Conversations of Life: Every Wish Lasts.” The company said the experience was built around legacy, intention and “the enduring impacts of our actions.” (chubb.mediaroom.com) The legacy angle fits a wider push in Hong Kong’s private-wealth business. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority said assets under management in the city rose 13 percent in 2024 to HK$35 trillion, while private banking and private wealth management assets rose 15 percent. (hkma.gov.hk) Banks and advisers have been widening their art services as wealthy Asian clients ask for help with valuation, governance and succession. In April 2025, Goldman Sachs said it had begun offering art and collectibles advice to ultra-wealthy clients in Asia, including Hong Kong and mainland China. (scmp.com) That is a change from treating art mainly as something to acquire, display or sell. Chubb’s own materials pitch coverage for fine art, jewelry and collections as part of protecting “the luxuries” clients own, while its Hong Kong factsheet says collecting can be both personal and an investment decision. (chubb.com) (chubb-b70a-prod.adobecqms.net) Family-office advisers have been describing the same demand in sharper terms. A March 2024 South China Morning Post report said Chinese family offices were asking for art advisory work that included collection governance and legacy planning, alongside market expertise. (scmp.com) The practical issue is liquidity: a collection can hold value, but it is not as easy to divide or sell quickly as cash or listed securities. That is why Rudd argued that protection planning has to reflect when a family may need money, how long it plans to hold works and what it wants the collection to become over time. (scmp.com) At this year’s Hong Kong fair, the art on the walls was still for sale. The message around it was that, for many wealthy families, the harder question starts after the purchase. (artbasel.com) (scmp.com)