A Stroke of Luck

A chance meeting helped launch a Shanghai-born academic’s world-renowned business that tracks prices of fine art

by Mark Graham

Academic Mei Jianping can offer hard evidence that there is such a thing as a free lunch. In his case， a gratis midday meal proved to be the catalyst for a successful business， a world-renowned index that tracks the price of art.

The Shanghai-born academic is the co-founder of the Mei Moses Art Index， which can trace its evolution back to a New York University lunch， provided free to encourage faculty members to mingle. Mei began chatting to fellow professor Michael Moses， and after a while the conversation turned to art， in particular methods of tracking the auction-house sales of prime paintings.

Moses already had a decent store of knowledge on the topic， acquired through his art-collector wife. As a hobby， the professor had begun collecting information on how the price of paintings by Picasso， Van Gogh and Renoir had fluctuated over the past century.

“He told me his interest in art came about when he married someone who was beautiful， intelligent， had a lot of money and a love of art，” recalls Mei. “She bought it for fun， but he became interested in how art compared to stocks as an investment. He could not find any research on the topic， so he started collecting data.

“After ten years， he had this fabulous database which documented all the sales of Sotheby’s and Christie’s over the last 100 years or so， but he didn’t know what to do with it. I was intrigued by how you calculate the returns from art investment and said I would take a look. I had an open mind， and tried many different things， but I found it very hard. After a couple of weeks， it occurred to me that it was exactly like real estate， and some of the models， and tools， could be applied; nobody buys a house and sells it the next day， it is quite unlike a stock， which you can buy in the morning and sell in the afternoon.

“We approached it from an academic point of view， rather than something to make money from， or to occupy a niche in the art market. Like professors do， we wrote a paper. We looked at the main drivers， such as inflation， economy， and wealth created in the economy and whether a well-known artist like Picasso would make more or less money.”

The research， which was published in a specialist journal， concluded that anyone investing in art over the years would have achieved returns similar to those of stocks. In particular， investors who put their money in art between 1955 and 2005 would have achieved returns of 10% a year， compared to 10.4% on stocks. The buyers would， of course， have had the unquantifiable pleasure of seeing an exquisite piece of art adorning their wall， rather than having a yellowing sheaf of stock certificates in their bottom drawer.

Their research paper might have lingered in a library archive like any other paper if a Wall Street analyst had not become intrigued by their findings and suggested that other people in the industry take a look. Word began to spread of the Mei Moses analytical methods， to the extent that the British bank Barclays undertook detailed due diligence and ultimately accepted their methods as valid and worthwhile. The bank went on to recommend that wealthy individuals and institutions put 5% of their assets into art.

“They used our data and did their own research， which gave us publicity，” recalls Mei. “When they published that， we got a flurry of calls from people who wanted to use our data. We were approached by gallery owners to use the data to show their clients that a painting could be as good an investment as stocks.”

The pair realized that they had a business on their hands， albeit one they had stumbled upon. Galleries， financial institutions and individuals were willing to pay for access to the Mei Moses Art Index， and also to fork out for specific research. The data base has 28，000 historical records of repeated sales of art， allowing interested parties to calculate the returns from a specific piece of art – or a particular artist – over the years.

The venture was helped enormously by the Internet， which allowed access to a worldwide audience of clients willing to pay a fixed fee for access to the regularly-updated site. Twelve staff members， based in the United States， keep tabs on auctions held in New York， London， Paris， Amsterdam， as well as Hong Kong， Beijing and Shanghai， and are also at work on the soon-to-be-published Mei Moses Global Art Guide.

Being in the right place at the right time with the right idea and specialist knowledge has been a feature of Mei’s adult life， ever since he was a student at Fudan University in Shanghai studying mathematics. The arbitrary job-appointment system of the day saw the new graduate assigned to a Chinese traditional medicine work unit， as a researcher working on herbal formulas.

He might have stayed there were it not for the opportunity to enter a nationwide competition seeking scholarship candidates to study in the United States. Young Mei secured first place and set off to study economics at Princeton University， with a finance specialty.

After university Mei lectured at New York University， an institution known for its cutting-edge financial research and close ties with Wall Street. The Gordon Gekko-infested New York of the late last century was rather different to the scenario he had left back in Shanghai.

“The States has a lot of things to attract you – including the drive for academic excellence， which I think is still lacking in China，” Mei says. “Everyone here is a capitalist， trying to make material success， so the atmosphere is not as conducive to academic research as in the US. But looking back， after 25 years， I very much admire the forward thinking of China’s leaders. When I left China the economy was just starting to take off and become more market-oriented. It was socialism with Chinese characteristics.

“China currently offers growth opportunities and the opportunities for growing professionally. Having studied and worked in the US for 20 years， it opens up your mind. There is not just one way of economic growth， there are multiple ways. As economists we don’t have a full understanding of how the economy works， so you have to be open-minded and consider an alternative economic model， which is the China model.”

The academic， or financial， lexicon does not yet have a word that accurately describes the China of today. The mish-mash of raw capitalism operating under the aegis of a Marxist-Leninist constitution defies formal academic-style categorization or explanation， although plenty of authors have produced dire， bone-dry tomes that try.

It is certainly a fertile intellectual stomping ground for sharp minds such as Mei， who is now professor of finance at the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Beijing. Successful part-time businessman though he is， he retains the air of a slightly rumpled academic， speaking quickly and loudly， with a bubbling enthusiasm and ready chuckle that must make even the most desperately dull MBA topic come vividly to life; the professor’s knowledge is clearly broader and deeper than his professional purview.

“I like to read financial history and economic history， world history and Chinese history，” says Mei， 51， whose Chinese-American wife and grown-up daughter still live in the US.“I love Chinese philosophy. I studied traditional Chinese medicine， and it is not just about understanding the body， it is understanding how the world works. It is part of the universe， so if you understand how that works you understand your body better and make it more harmonious. I exercise regularly， and I have the right balance of yin and yang in my food. If I swim， the water must be of the right temperature， if I work I don’t work too hard!”

The art index also led to a new hobby – acquiring paintings. Although he is more aware than most of the investment potential， the professor follows the fundamental tenet of choosing works purely for aesthetic reasons.

“I put my money where my mouth is， and have my own collection of contemporary Chinese art and a very small Picasso collection，” he says. “I cannot collect the very best but I do have some Chinese pieces that I think are undervalued， I don’t want to mention their names as people will think it is a recommendation.

“People ask for advice and I always say the only way to make good investments is to buy low and sell high. The key with buying art is to buy within your budget， it should not exceed 10% of your total wealth， don’t overdo it. Only buy it if you really love it – then it will give you tremendous joy whatever happens with the price. The financial returns are just icing on the cake.”

Having said that， the professor is mightily intrigued by the inexorable rise of Chinese contemporary art， where new world records seem to be set almost monthly. Further exploration of Chinese art， ancient and modern， as an investment tool — similar products exist already in other jurisdictions — is on the immediate agenda.

“As someone who has studied finance and art I think I can play some role in that，” he says. “Also I can communicate in English with Wall Street， so I think I can bring some Chinese art to the worldwide audience. Some have been very successful but I think by and large many Chinese art and artworks are little understood in the world.

“China is now an economic power， but it is not yet a cultural power in art. It has a history of 5，000 years and I hope I can help change its image from ‘Made in China’ to ‘Creative in China’. I can then make a contribution to China and the world.”