Something fundamental is changing in the way the world stores value. The question is not whether to hold tangible assets — it is how quickly to act, and which ones.
This report examines the three pillars of the Take Markets investment thesis: physical gold, museum-grade fine art, and SEIS-qualifying UK ventures. It draws on current research from leading global institutions, auction house data, regulatory filings, and market reports to provide an evidence-based overview of the opportunity in tangible assets in 2026.
The context is significant. Gold has delivered over 64% gains in 2025 — its strongest annual performance since 1979 — and institutional forecasters at J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, and UBS have set year-end 2026 price targets of $6,000–$6,300 per ounce. Meanwhile, the global fine art market, while undergoing recalibration at the very top end, continues to attract new buyers at the highest rate on record, with transaction volumes growing even as headline values adjust.
In the UK specifically, sweeping changes to inheritance tax — including the inclusion of unused pension funds in taxable estates from April 2027 — are prompting high-net-worth individuals to urgently review estate planning strategies. For many, tangible assets represent both a store of value and a vehicle for structuring wealth transfer more efficiently.
The core argument of this report is that we are witnessing a structural rotation — not a temporary trend — into real, physical, verifiable assets. This rotation is being driven by four converging forces: geopolitical instability, monetary debasement, the erosion of traditional estate planning tools, and a growing recognition among sophisticated investors that financial instruments cannot replicate the characteristics of the physical world.
Three forces are converging simultaneously — and each one, on its own, would be enough to shift capital towards the physical world. Together, they represent the most compelling environment for tangible assets in a generation.
The world in 2026 is navigating a period of profound uncertainty. The ongoing conflict in Ukraine, persistent tensions in the Middle East, and the structural unpredictability introduced by shifting trade policy under the Trump administration have together created a risk environment that is pushing capital towards safety and certainty. The United States has imposed sweeping tariff regimes that have reshaped global trade flows. The US dollar has weakened materially — down nearly 10% in 2025, its worst year since 2017 — and its role as the unchallenged anchor of the global financial system is increasingly questioned. This erosion of dollar confidence is a structural tailwind for hard assets.
Central bank balance sheets remain historically elevated following the extraordinary monetary expansion of 2020–2022. US fiscal deficits are structurally large and growing — the combination of high debt levels, persistent inflation running near 3%, and a Federal Reserve navigating political pressure creates a context in which traditional fixed income offers diminished real returns. In this environment, assets that cannot be printed, diluted or defaulted on — physical gold, authenticated fine art, and stakes in real operating businesses — command a structural premium. Gold has outperformed every major asset class in both 2024 and 2025.
Central bank gold purchases exceeded 1,000 tonnes for the third consecutive year in 2025, according to the World Gold Council. Seventy-six percent of central bank officials expect gold to make up a higher share of international reserves over the next five years. Gold has formally been recognised as a Tier 1 asset in the international banking system and has overtaken the euro as the world's second most widely held reserve asset. This is institutional architecture changing in real time.
Gold surged 64% in 2025. That headline figure understates what actually happened. This was not a spike — it was a repricing. The world's largest financial institutions have revised their models, their forecasts, and their convictions about where gold belongs in a portfolio.
As of early 2026, gold is trading above $5,000 per ounce. The metal has undergone what J.P. Morgan's research team describes as a "rebasing" — not merely a price rally, but a structural repricing reflecting a changed role for gold in global portfolios. The drivers are multiple and mutually reinforcing: trade tensions and dollar weakness driving safe-haven demand; central bank purchases providing a sustained structural floor; ETF inflows rebounding after three years of outflows; and retail bar and coin demand exceeding 1,200 tonnes annually.
For the first time, there is something approaching consensus among the world's major investment banks — and that consensus is firmly bullish on gold.
| Institution | 2026 Price Target | Upside Scenario | Key Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| J.P. Morgan | $6,300/oz | $8,000–$8,500 | Central bank diversification, ETF inflows, reserve currency paradigm shift |
| UBS | $6,200/oz | $7,200 | Low real yields, fiscal stress, persistent geopolitical uncertainty |
| Bank of America | $6,000/oz | $8,000 (2027) | Fed leadership uncertainty, fiscal deficits, underinvestment in gold |
| Goldman Sachs | $4,900/oz | $5,700 | Central bank demand, Fed rate cuts, structural diversification |
| Deutsche Bank | $5,500–$6,000 | — | Inflation persistence, dollar weakness, geopolitical premium |
| Wells Fargo | $6,100–$6,300 | — | Continued safe-haven demand, central bank purchasing pace |
In November 2025, a Klimt sold for $236.4 million — the most expensive modern artwork ever auctioned. A week earlier, a Rothko made $62.2 million. These results did not occur despite economic uncertainty. They occurred because of it.
The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report — the most comprehensive annual analysis of the global art trade, authored by cultural economist Dr. Clare McAndrew — provides an authoritative picture of where the market stands.
The headline decline in aggregate value in 2024 masks a crucial distinction: the market contracted at the very top end — the number of works selling for over $10 million at auction fell 39% — while the broader market by transaction volume grew for the fourth consecutive year. This is a market democratising and broadening its base, not collapsing. Dealer sales values fell by 6% to $34.1 billion, while private sales conducted by auction houses showed a 14% increase, confirming that blue-chip buying continues to be active — simply away from the public auction spotlight.
The United Kingdom reclaimed second position in the global art market in 2024 — ahead of China — with sales of $10.4 billion, representing 18% of the global total. The UK market demonstrated resilience, declining by only 5% versus sharper falls elsewhere. Dr. McAndrew's report notes that "global dominance of art hubs like the US and the UK is founded not only on their domestic wealth and art trade infrastructures but also on their transparent and regulated environments for art sales." London's structural advantages — its regulatory framework, concentration of international auction houses, and depth of collector base — remain intact.
The clearest evidence that exceptional art is uncorrelated with economic uncertainty came in a single week in November 2025 — one of the most remarkable auction weeks in the history of the art market, achieving over $1.4 billion in total sales across the major houses.
On 18 November 2025, Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914–16) sold at Sotheby's New York for $236.4 million — the most expensive work of modern art ever sold at auction, the most expensive work ever sold by Sotheby's globally, and the second most expensive artwork ever sold at auction behind only Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi. The six-foot portrait, part of the Leonard A. Lauder Collection, had been estimated at $150 million. Bidding opened at $130 million and a 20-minute contest between multiple phone bidders drove the final hammer to $205 million. The result doubled Klimt's previous auction record and confirmed that the market for museum-quality modern art — far from retreating in a volatile geopolitical environment — has entered a new tier of demand. "Tonight, we made history," said Helena Newman, Sotheby's worldwide chairman of Impressionist and Modern Art. "To see it become the most valuable work ever sold at Sotheby's is nothing short of sensational."
The same week, on 17 November 2025, Christie's New York sold Mark Rothko's No. 31 Yellow Stripe (1958) for $62.2 million as the top lot of a $690 million evening sale. The work, from the Weis Collection, carried an estimate of over $50 million and drew sustained competition from multiple bidders before hammering at $53.5 million ($62.2 million with fees). It was the latest in a sequence of Rothko results confirming the artist's enduring position at the apex of the postwar market — a market driven not by sentiment but by the fundamental scarcity of museum-quality work from the Abstract Expressionist canon.
These results are significant not merely as data points but as signals. Both sales took place against a backdrop of geopolitical tension, monetary uncertainty and elevated inflation — the same conditions that have historically driven capital towards tangible assets of verified cultural and financial significance. The market at the very top did not hesitate.
Among the most significant findings in the 2025 Art Basel and UBS report is the entry rate of new buyers. 46% of all online art sales in 2024 were made to first-time buyers — up from 35% in 2023. Private dealers reported a 50% increase in new clients. Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi, CIO Global Equities at UBS Global Wealth Management, described this as "a confluence of trends: more family-inclusive collecting, a stronger presence and purchasing power of women, and a rising emphasis on research-driven acquisitions." These are the hallmarks of a maturing market broadening its participant base — a structural positive for long-term demand.
The art market is not one market. It is two — and only one of them has the characteristics of an investment asset. Understanding the difference is the single most important thing a new art investor can do.
The art market is not homogeneous. A painting purchased at a commercial gallery in an airport, a decorative print sold online, or a work by an unknown artist at a local fair are fundamentally different assets from a museum-grade work authenticated by a major institution, with documented provenance and exhibited in recognised venues. The 2025 Art Basel and UBS report confirmed that "higher prices were mostly seen for well-established names" — artists with museum collections, major retrospectives, and institutional recognition. Works by newer contemporary artists continued to sell, but at lower price points and with no assurance of secondary market support.
| Characteristic | Museum-Grade / Gallery Art | Commercial / Decorative Art |
|---|---|---|
| Provenance | Fully documented; includes major collections, auction history, exhibition records | Limited or absent; often newly created with no market history |
| Authentication | Independently verified; may include catalogue raisonné entries or institutional certification | Artist-signed only; no independent verification of quality or significance |
| Gallery Representation | Represented by established galleries with international networks and secondary market support | Often sold directly or through commercial outlets without ongoing gallery support |
| Price Transparency | Auction records publicly available; gallery sales tracked by ArtPrice, Artnet databases | Prices set without reference to established market data |
| Resale Market | Active secondary market via auction houses and specialist dealers; liquidity achievable | Limited or no established secondary market; resale highly uncertain |
| Capital Preservation | Historical track record of maintaining or appreciating in value over long periods | No established track record; value may be arbitrary or primarily decorative |
| Institutional Ownership | Works held by major museums, institutional collectors, family offices | Typically held only by retail buyers |
The relationship between an artist and their gallery is fundamental to the long-term value trajectory of their work. A gallery that actively supports an artist through exhibitions, institutional placements, critical discourse, and international art fair participation is building the cultural infrastructure that underpins financial value. When Take Markets facilitates access to fine art, it does so through relationships with established gallery partners who apply rigorous standards of curation, authentication, and artist representation. The digital passport provided via the Tangbls platform creates a permanent, blockchain-verified record of ownership and provenance that travels with the work through every future transaction.
From April 2027, pensions will be included in taxable estates for the first time. The IHT nil-rate band is frozen until 2030. AIM share relief has been halved. The window to restructure is narrowing. This section explains what is changing and why it matters now.
Following the October 2024 Autumn Budget, the government confirmed that from 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds and pension death benefits will be included in the deceased's estate for inheritance tax purposes. This is a fundamental change. Under current rules, most modern pensions fall outside the estate because trustees exercise discretion over distribution. From April 2027, that preferential treatment is removed. Transfers between spouses remain exempt, but all other beneficiaries — including children — face IHT at 40% on the value of inherited pension funds. For deaths after age 75, beneficiaries may additionally face income tax on withdrawals, potentially creating a combined effective tax rate exceeding 65%.
The standard IHT nil-rate band (£325,000) and the residence nil-rate band (£175,000) remain frozen until at least 2030. As property values, investment portfolios, and pension savings continue to grow in nominal terms, an increasing number of estates are being drawn into IHT scope through fiscal drag. HMRC investigations into IHT compliance rose by 41% in 2024/25, with interest on overdue IHT charged at 8.25%. The direction of travel is clear: the scope of taxable estates is expanding, and the tools traditionally used to reduce IHT liability are being narrowed.
Qualifying unquoted business and agricultural assets up to £2.5 million per individual (or £5 million for couples) will qualify for 100% IHT relief from April 2026. Assets above this threshold receive only 50% relief. AIM-listed shares — previously 100% exempt after two years — now qualify only for 50% relief, doubling the effective IHT charge for this widely used estate planning strategy.
These changes are creating a new urgency around wealth structuring. As pensions become less efficient for intergenerational transfer, investors are reviewing the full range of assets available to them. Physical gold and authenticated fine art can be held directly, valued independently, and transferred as part of a structured estate plan. SEIS and EIS investments may also qualify for certain tax reliefs — including potentially Business Property Relief after a qualifying holding period — subject to individual circumstances and eligibility requirements. These are complex areas: independent specialist tax and legal advice is essential.
No other G7 government offers a venture investment incentive that returns 50% of your capital as income tax relief in the same tax year you invest. Understanding why SEIS exists — and how to use it — is essential reading for any UK taxpayer.
SEIS and EIS are government-backed frameworks designed to encourage investment in early-stage UK businesses. They offer a combination of income tax relief, capital gains tax exemption, and — potentially — inheritance tax mitigation that fundamentally changes the risk-return profile of early-stage investment.
Under SEIS, an investor committing £100,000 to a qualifying company receives £50,000 back as income tax relief in the same tax year — immediately halving their effective exposure. If the investment is also used to defer a recent capital gain, the combined tax benefits can be even more significant. Any gain realised on disposal after a minimum three-year holding period is free of capital gains tax. SEIS and EIS investments may qualify for IHT Business Property Relief after two years of holding, provided qualifying criteria continue to be met — though this is highly dependent on individual circumstances and independent specialist advice is essential.
Take Markets is facilitating access to a SEIS-qualifying investment in Tangbls — a technology platform designed to modernise the art market through gallery sales infrastructure, blockchain-verified digital passports for artworks, and a peer-to-peer secondary market for authenticated works. Tangbls sits at the intersection of two structural trends: the growth of the art market's digital infrastructure and the increasing demand for provenance transparency that is driving both gallery and collector behaviour.
Both Gold Britannia coins and Cash ISAs are exempt from Capital Gains Tax in the UK. But their return profiles are fundamentally different. Use this tool to compare a lump-sum investment in each over 3, 5 or 10 years — and see what tax you would have paid had neither been exempt.
The question is no longer whether tangible assets belong in a portfolio. It is why so few private investors currently hold them — and what that gap means for those who act before the crowd does.
Physical gold produces no income — it carries storage and insurance costs and its price is determined entirely by market dynamics. Fine art is illiquid — selling a painting takes time and incurs transaction costs. SEIS investments are high-risk — most early-stage businesses fail, and investors should be prepared to lose their entire investment. These are reasons to approach tangible assets with appropriate professional guidance, appropriate portfolio sizing, and a genuine understanding of what each asset class demands of its holder.
The evidence for a structural rotation into tangible, real-world assets is compelling. Central banks are accumulating gold at historic rates. New buyers are entering the art market in record numbers even as headline values adjust. The UK government's IHT reforms are forcing a reassessment of how wealth is structured and transferred. And the geopolitical and fiscal environment is creating conditions that have historically favoured hard assets over financial paper. This is a multi-year structural shift driven by forces that show no sign of reversing.
The following information is provided in the interests of complete transparency and to ensure that all readers have access to the regulatory and risk context within which this report has been prepared.
This document has been prepared by Take Markets Ltd (Company No. 14398240, registered in England and Wales) for general information and educational purposes only. It does not constitute and should not be construed as financial, investment, tax or legal advice. Nothing in this document is a recommendation or solicitation to buy, sell or otherwise transact in any investment or financial product. This document is provided for guidance purposes only. You must always consult your own independent professional advisers — including FCA-authorised financial advisers, qualified tax advisers, and legal counsel — who are duly authorised and regulated to advise on the specific products and strategies relevant to your individual circumstances and needs, before making any investment decision.
All investments carry risk. The value of investments and the income from them can go down as well as up, and you may not get back the amount originally invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Physical gold is not a regulated activity under the FCA. SEIS and EIS investments are high-risk and illiquid. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and is subject to change.
Take Markets Ltd is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for the provision of regulated investment advice. The information contained in this report is current as at April 2026 and is subject to change without notice. © 2026 Take Markets Ltd. All rights reserved.