 a problematic factor to art investments 

1 An example in coexistence – that is how we might define the intersection between the banking sector and the art world since the Middle Ages. These two disparate fields gradually evolved a number of points of contact, many of which have persisted for centuries. In 2020, faced with the spread of Covid-19, people’s interest in illiquid art investments has diminished, but, given the long history of interactions between bankers and people of art, we may conclude that the historical trend is bound to spring back.

2 The first examples of cross-pollination between banking and art can be traced back to the 13th century, when wealthy financiers would acquire or commission masterpieces as a means of penitence for their sins and as a marker of social status. By the 16th century, as religious influences receded, bankers were motivated by the luxury of becoming patrons of the arts, mythologizing their individual power through art and architecture. The most well-known example of this trend was the Medici family, which sponsored the artistic development and posterity of Renaissance virtuosos such as Donatello, Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci. In the 17th century, art became a consumer commodity, and would often be used as currency; artists were also known to use their work as collateral for loans. In the 18th and 19th centuries, banks would provide immeasurable support to the founders of the earliest art academies and national museums.

3 The turning point in this journey for art and banking came in the 1940s, when the art world’s centre of gravity suddenly shifted straight across the Atlantic, from Paris to Manhattan. In light of this tectonic shift, Chase Manhattan Bank president David Rockefeller launched the bank’s art collection programme, which would define the future vision of nearly every finance institution globally. It became one of the first few commercial art collections, as we know them today.

4 Currently, one of the largest commercial collections of artworks is owned by Deutsche Bank. From humble beginnings with the acquisition of the first few paintings, sculptures, photographs and graphics in 1979, it now reaches an estimated value of 500 million U.S. dollars – perhaps a diminutive figure in the grand scheme of things, but Deutsche Bank prefers to feature young, promising artists. The most valuable pieces in the Deutsche Bank collection had been acquired well before their respective authors became household names. Thus, the bank purchased Abstraktes Bild (Faust), Gerhard Richter’s 1981 triptych, for 12 million dollars; in February 2020, it was sold for triple the amount to an anonymous buyer.

5 Over time, but we may observe how the relationship between artists and bankers has grown increasingly transactional since the Medici era. Today, art is still a hallmark of socioeconomic status, even though most bankers also treat art both as a financial investment and interior decoration that shapes the organisational climate and inspires personnel.
Art collecting is often included under the umbrella of a marketing strategy, as a peculiar language of broadcasting organisational values. Where the common journey of banking and art may lead in later decades or centuries is difficult to predict, but one thing remains clear: art will remain a point of interest for bankers.

 repudiate current criticism to sustainability carried out by the actions of several well-known companies in South America and in Asia.

 introduce a promising theory to address climate change concerns that hasn’t been put to practice so far, in hopes that major companies and brands will apply it.

 inform about a new trend among businesses around the world that have striven to produce a more meaningful socioeconomic and environmental impact.

 disavow worldwide firms’ defense of unnecessary carbon emissions in order to produce socioeconomic growth, in spite of environmental damage.

 explain that regenerative brands act in diametrical opposition to sustainable ones, since the concept of regeneration presupposes environmental damage.

1    Sustainability is out, regeneration is in. According to a 2019 survey by ReGenFriends, nearly 80% of US consumers prefer “regenerative” brands to “sustainable” brands. Gen Y and Z consumers find the notion of “sustainability” too passive. They want to buy from regenerative businesses that embody and practice the three noble qualities found in all living systems: renewal, restoration and growth.
Regeneration goes beyond sustainability by creating a deeper and wider socioeconomic impact.
2    Sustainable brands strive to just do less harm to the planet. Regenerative businesses go beyond sustainability and fight to do more good to society and the planet. Specifically, regenerative firms seek to boost the health and vitality of people, places and the planet simultaneously in a synergistic manner.
In doing so, there is a growing body of evidence to suggest that regenerative businesses can achieve far better financial performance and impact than their sustainability-focused peers.
3    In the Amazon, we find an example of how regeneration works in practice. The murumuru is a palm tree that grows in the Amazon forest. The Amazon’s indigenous peoples chop this palm tree down and use its wood to produce and sell items such as brooms. As it happens, we can obtain a highly moisturizing butter from the seeds of this palm tree, which is very efficient at repairing and renewing damaged hair. The value of these seeds is seven times greater than that of this palm tree’s wood. As such, people in the Amazon can generate seven times more economic value by preserving the murumuru tree than cutting it. Businesses are taking notice.
Natura, a Brazilian cosmetics firm, is collaborating with Amazonian Indigenous people to ethically source murumuru butter for a variety of hair care products, using their traditional farming techniques. This mutually beneficial collaboration means indigenous communities are regenerating themselves and the planet along three complementary dimensions: economic, socio-cultural and environmental.
4    But it’s not just natural ecosystems that can benefit from prioritizing regeneration. Human ecosystems, too, stand to benefit. Regenerative businesses also strive to boost the health and vitality of individuals and communities, especially in aging societies.
Take Japan, a country that is aging rapidly. 30% of its population is already over 65. The average life expectancy of its citizens is 84 years. Sadly, longevity doesn’t promise vitality.
5    Meiji Yasuda is Japan’s oldest largest life insurance firm. During Covid-19, the firm realized that its true mission should be to boost people’s vitality rather than protect them from death. In April 2020, the firm launched a 10-year plan to evolve the life insurance firm into a life regeneration company. This strategy calls for prolonging the healthy life expectancy of its clients and vitalizing local communities across Japan where the firm operates. Meiji Yasuda is investing in new partnerships and technologies to promote preventive healthcare in Japan. For instance, it teamed up with the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center in Japan to develop new digital tools that can help its clients anticipate and prevent cardiovascular problems.
6    To get buy-in from internal and external stakeholders, businesses should explain how their triple regeneration strategy – the synergistic revitalization of people, places and the planet – could yield great economic and social value for all stakeholders. Visionary food companies and apparel makers like Danone, General Mills, Eileen Fisher, Illycaffè and Patagonia are investing in regenerative agriculture. They are doing it not only because it drastically reduces water use and emissions, boosts soil fertility and improves animal welfare, but also because it enhances the livelihoods of financiallychallenged farmers.
7    Promising place-based economic development initiatives exist in disadvantaged communities across the US that use a holistic approach to regenerate people, places and the biodiversity altogether. By joining these initiatives, businesses can accelerate their own transition to a regenerative model. For instance, Reimagine Appalachia (RI) is a multi-stakeholder coalition that aims to revitalize abandoned coal mines and restore the natural ecosystems in Appalachia. RI is supporting the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative, while also creating jobs and economic opportunities in the region.
8    Given the climate urgency, it is time that businesses think and act beyond sustainability. They must evolve into regenerative businesses that renew, restore and grow people, places and the planet synergistically.


Questões de Inglês