Managing Director of Winston Art Group

Elizabeth von Habsburg is Managing Director of Winston Art Group, the largest independent art advisory and appraisal firm in the US. The firm’s 75 specialists cover all areas of fine and decorative art through US offices in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Palm Beach, Chicago, Denver and Houston, and worldwide representation in London, Geneva and Tel Aviv. Prior to Winston Art Group, Elizabeth was President of the US operations of an international appraisal firm for 18 years, and before that, she was Vice President of Habsburg Auctioneers. She started her career at Christie’s as Assistant Vice President in charge of the Appraisal department. Elizabeth’s BA is from Stanford, in International Relations, and her MA is from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She was a Board Member of the Appraisers Association of America from 2003-2015, and was a 2008-2015 Trustee and 2014 Chair of The Appraisal Foundation in Washington, DC. Elizabeth is a Fellow of the Morgan Library and of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, and a member of ArtTable, Inc. She is a Director of the Albert Kunstadter Family Foundation, and on the Board of Trustees of Christie’s Education. Elizabeth has qualified as expert witness in Fine Art and Decorative Art in the NY, Palm Beach, Philadelphia and Texas courts, and lectures worldwide on all aspects of art. She is Certified by AAA in Modern and Impressionist art and European Furniture and Works of Art, and is compliant with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). She revised four Antiques Hunters Guides (2000-2001), contributed to “Fine Art and High Finance” (2009), to the Appraisal Handbook (2012), and to “Regulation of Art Investments” (not yet published). In 2015, she was named one of the Fifty Most Influential Women in Private Wealth, by Private Asset Management.

Founding partner of TPC Art Finance

Joe Charalambous is a founding partner of TPC Art Finance, a specialty finance company that provides liquidity solutions to private collectors, dealers, and gallery owners. Joe has over 10 years’ experience in specialty finance and art business, having previously worked with a UK based art financing company facilitating their expansion to the US, developing their channels to market and serving as the Vice President of Business Development. He has originated and managed over $100 million of art loans throughout his career and has arranged financing for a number of the world’s leading collectors and galleries. Joe has a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from the University of the West of England, Bristol and resides in New York.

Former CBS Professor, current Advisor

Arturo Cifuentes brings more than twenty years of experience as an investment banker, hedge fund manager, risk analyst, scientist, university professor, consultant, and newspaper columnist. Currently, he divides his time between New York and Chile. In Chile, he is a Research Associate at Clapes-UC, a public policy center affiliated with the Catholic University (PUC). He also advises the Chilean Association of Insurance Companies, a Chile-based family office, and a US-based alternative (structured products) investment fund; and sits on the board of Adolfo Ibanez University. Recently, he taught at the Business School of Columbia University for three years, and at the University of Chile for five years. Previously, he served three years as a member and President of the Chilean Sovereign Fund investment committee (US$ 25 billion); and four years as a member of the Advisory Board of the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). He has written numerous academic articles (refereed papers) on topics related to finance, portfolio management, applied mathematics, and financial aspects of the art market. Many of his opinion pieces have been published by the Financial Times. His upcoming book on finance and the art markets will be published by Columbia University Press. Arturo holds a Ph.D. in applied mechanics and a M.S. in civil engineering from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech); an MBA in finance from New York University; and a civil engineering degree from the University of Chile.

Partner at Emigrant Bank Fine Art Finance

Li Jun Xian is a Partner at Emigrant Bank Fine Art Finance, the specialty financing subsidiary of Emigrant Bank (Member FDIC, founded 1850). Emigrant Bank Fine Art Finance focuses on lending secured by art, antiques, classic cars, fine wine, stringed instruments and other passion assets. She regularly advises and structures loans for collectors, dealers and gallery owners, and institutions who are seeking liquidity from their passion assets, and counsels the financial advisors, accountants, lawyers and other professionals on whom they rely. Prior to joining Emigrant Bank Fine Art Finance in 2007, Ms. Xian was a credit analyst at Goldman Sachs, where she was responsible for analyzing and monitoring the firm’s counterparty trading risk, and advising major public and private companies on capital structure decisions and their effects on credit ratings. Ms. Xian was instrumental in the formation of Emigrant Bank Classic Car Finance in 2015. She began her career in the art world as an intern at Robert Miller Gallery and Christie’s, and is currently Treasurer of the Professional Organization for Women in the Arts (POWarts). Ms. Xian graduated with honors from Dartmouth College with a degree in Economics and Art History.

Founder of ArtCrossing.io and Art Market Symposia

Viktoria Prigarina is a Board Member of the Columbia Business School Alumni Club, Chairman of the Arts Committee and GM & Head of Art Crossing.

She started her finance career at Morgan Stanley, followed by options trading and structuring at Barclays Capital and Deutsche Bank. She has also worked in Brazil where she created a capital raising platform for what is now a $10 billion hedge fund—SPX Capital and served as a Member of the Investment Committee of the firm. Viktoria holds a Master’s degree in Mathematics of Finance from Columbia University and a B.B.A. with concentrations in finance and comparative literature and minor in Latin American Studies from Baruch College. Viktoria has been passionate about the arts throughout her life and has pioneered the Art Market Symposia for CBSACNY.

Founder of Venus Over Manhattan

Adam Lindemann is recognized as a taste-maker in collecting and investing in contemporary art and design. He operates Venus Over Manhattan, the influential gallery devoted to iconoclastic exhibitions both historic and contemporary. Lindemann was also known for his art writing, specifically his popular column in The New York Observer, as well as two of Taschen’s bestselling art books, Collecting Contemporary (2006), and Collecting Design (2010). Lindemann is perhaps best known, however, for setting records in the contemporary art auctions. In 2007, he sold Jeff Koons’ “Hanging Heart,” setting the world record for a living artist at that time. Then in May of 2016, he sold Jean-Michel Basquiat’s “Untitled,” setting an all-time record for a work by the artist. He has been a featured commentator in several documentaries and interview relating to collecting and art, including recent features on the BBC, Charlie Rose, and Reuters. He lives and works in New York City.

Managing Director of Yieldstreet and Chief Investment Officer of Athena Art Finance

Cynthia E. Sachs is a Managing Director of Yieldstreet and Chief Investment Officer of Athena Art Finance, its art finance vertical. Prior to joining Yieldstreet, Ms. Sachs was also the Chief Executive Officer and founding member of Athena, then an independent specialty finance company backed by The Carlyle Group. Ms. Sachs has over 25 years of asset-based lending and high yield corporate credit experience across debt origination, structuring, portfolio management and trading (par and distressed). Previously, Ms. Sachs ran Morgan Stanley’s global proprietary corporate credit platform within its Fixed Income Division and was a Managing Director at Natixis CIB where she ran the Telecom Media & Tech leveraged finance business. On the Fintech side, Ms. Sachs created, built and led Bloomberg’s fixed income evaluated pricing business, BVAL, from a nascent platform to becoming the global market leader in the bond and loan valuation space. Ms. Sachs started her career at Bank of America after earning her MBA in Finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Senior Vice President, Art Services Specialist at Bank of America Private Bank

Based in New York City, Drew has over 15 years of experience in art auction, art finance, and arts and cultural institutions. Drew leads client outreach for Art Services to offer art collectors, their families, and advisors a tailored suite of art banking services, including art lending, art planning, consignment services and arts nonprofit services. Prior to joining Bank of America Private Bank (formerly U.S. Trust), Drew oversaw business operations, finance, and consignment deal structuring for various sale departments at Christie’s auction house in New York. Before his tenure at Christie’s, Drew managed UHNW client relationships in a boutique wealth management firm. He began his career as a manager and consultant for arts and cultural institutions in North America and Europe. Drew earned a Bachelor of Arts in French and Art History from Columbia University in New York City, where he also participated in a joint program with The Juilliard School. He also holds an MBA from INSEAD business school in Fontainebleau, France. Drew speaks regularly on art world-related topics at art fairs, educational institutions, professional associations, and investment conferences nationwide. He is a regular media contributor to national news organizations on the intersection of art, business, and finance, and has been quoted in The New York Times.