Cross-border
Real Estate and Private Collections — How Trophy Assets Coexist in a Family Balance Sheet
For families that hold both significant real estate and significant collections, the two interact more than is usually appreciated.
A family with serious real estate often also has serious collections — art, watches, wine. The two asset classes interact in ways that warrant explicit thought: where the collection is stored, how it is insured, what its situs is for estate purposes, and how the combined illiquidity affects the overall family liquidity profile.
The interactions
- Situs — art kept in a Spanish residence is Spanish-situs for some estate purposes.
- Insurance — major collections require specialist policies separate from the property's homeowner's insurance.
- Storage — bonded warehouses and freeport facilities are often the right structural answer for large collections.
- Liquidity — both real estate and collections are illiquid; combined, they can dominate a balance sheet in ways that surprise heirs.
About the author
Shibui Research is the editorial desk of Shibui Collective, covering private real estate for cross-border family capital. Our team has structured and operated more than $1.2B of value-add and core-plus real estate across Europe, the Americas, and Asia over the past fifteen years.