IBM or Picasso?

With financial markets volatile and inflation on the rise, now more than ever may be the best time to consider diversifying into hard assets—specifically fine art, antiques and collectibles.
Consider these numbers:

* According to London's Art Market Research, prices for the top 12% of contemporary artists have risen 72% over the last three years.
* A study at the New York University Stern School of Business revealed that the art market outperformed the S&P 500 over the most recent three, five and 50-year time periods by the annualized rates of 18.2%, 8.0% and 3.2%, respectively.
* Many financial advisers recommend allocating 10-15% of your portfolio to investments in art.

But how do you know what's worth buying? No one is born a smart collector. It's an acquired skill. In the clubby, unregulated world of galleries and auction houses, it can be hard to know who to trust ... harder still to understand quality and value ... and virtually impossible for an untrained eye to spot clever restorations and fakes.

Whether your passion leads you to collecting Art Deco furniture ... California Impressionist paintings ... contemporary photography ... vintage race cars ... rare French Bordeaux ... game-used jerseys of baseball legends ... illuminated medieval manuscripts ... or vintage horror movie posters, . You have to develop the essential combination of connoisseurship skills and market savvy that will allow you to successfully pursue your art investing passions.