Zilkens' News Blog

Zilkens' News Blog 52 2024

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve – but that won't stop Putin's bloodthirsty henchmen from spreading terror in Ukraine 1065 days after the start of the invasion. It is truly sickening that people in Germany are voting for parties that openly advocate violating international law and then go on to propagate leaving NATO and the EU. A glance at the UK should be enough to show the effect that leaving the EU would have on economic development. But since every fact that is likely to correct wrong opinions is rejected as untrue in order to protect one's own opinion, hope may die on the next big election day in Germany, 23 February 2025.

For a long time, those responsible have wanted to know how big the market for art insurance is in Europe. A study has just been published that can be purchased for over €10,000 and that comes to interesting conclusions. Interconnection Marketing u. Information Consulting Ges.m.b.H., Getreidemarkt 1, 1060 Vienna, Austria, developed it and further information can be found here. Interesting insights into the submarkets of Austria, Switzerland and Germany. Overall, we are talking about a premium volume of approximately EUR 620 million in Europe, which is expected to grow to approximately EUR 695 million by 2027. Brokers are the most important sources of business for insurers in Germany. It is interesting to note that more than 50% of the policies brokered at Europe's sick man are combined products including home and farm, whereas in Switzerland this type of product accounts for just 9%. There, people prefer more individual products backed by more expertise.

In the USA, the mixture of Darth Vader and Karamanga, Mr Tesla or indeed Elon Musk, is supposed to give the public administration a slimming cure that will presumably also help him to achieve his dream of world domination. He showed how clueless he is with an active election recommendation in the German election campaign. If he does the same to the American administration, it will be interesting to see what is privatised and what still works. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the United Arab Emirates, is taking a slightly different approach: he has offered a reward of around €2 million for administrative staff who can make viable suggestions for reducing bureaucracy.

In 2025, governments across Europe and the United States are making cuts to culture and reducing budgets. Whether it's Berlin, Vienna, Paris or Washington, the future is looking increasingly uncertain for the cultural sector, unless private initiatives can step in to fill the gap.

At Weng Fine Art, the supervisory board was re-elected in December. Florian Illies - illustrious writer and auctioneer - and Dietrich von Frank - once active for Nordstern Versicherungen in New York and later for Helvetia in Zurich, but long since retired - are no longer on the board. A pharmacist from Kempen has been added to the list, who chairs the supervisory board of the local Volksbank in Krefeld, as well as someone from UBS in Frankfurt who is a director in Global Wealth Management there. This presumably fits in with the new compliance regulations, which require a great deal of bureaucracy from supervisory boards but less entrepreneurial skills. This fits better with banks than with art.

Stefan Kobel begins his review of the reporting over the last six months.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and more peaceful times – let us remain respectful of one another.

Stephan Zilkens and the team at Zilkens Fine Art Insurance Broker GmbH in Solothurn and Cologne