Aiming to make ownership of museum-quality fine art more widely accessible, bidding platform aShareX Inc. will hold its first auction on Aug. 30 in partnership with Bonhams. The Westwood-based company, which stands for Art Share Exchange, said its focus on fractional ownership lets bidders diversify their portfolios and invest in valuable artwork even if they don’t have the money to purchase it as the sole buyer. 

Alan Snyder, aShareX’s founder and chief executive, said fine art is a wise asset for portfolios, but that most people don’t have the financial means to invest in it. Snyder is also the founder and managing partner of Westwood-based investment firm Shinnecock Partners LP, which offers a loan-portfolio option specifically focus on art lending. By offering the opportunity to buy into fractionalized ownership, aShareX wants to “democratize” access to art.

“They’re not (fiscally) available to the public, and I think that’s a tragedy,” Snyder said. “By fractionalized ownership we can make them available … we know that (art) is a great store of value, over time has a tendency to appreciate and is fabulous diversification.”

Potential investors participate in an auction-bidding process where aShareX aggregates fractional bids until they reach an item’s asking price, at which time the fractional bids are entered as a single bid. If the fractional bidders win, they become owners and the asset is stored at a secure warehouse. Art could also be stored at a museum if investors agree.

Shareholders cannot buy out one another’s shares. The company takes 10% of the profits when an asset is sold, and its other revenue comes from a 6% sourcing fee and a share of the buyer’s premium.

Snyder said that it’s in an art dealer’s interest to open an asset or work to a group of fractionalized owners because it expands the pool of bidders. aShareX has a $5,000 minimum buy-in for investors, and the assets, which are qualified by the Securities and Exchange Commission, will typically have a minimum value of $500,000. Specific artwork and assets that will be up for auction were undisclosed, as financial arrangements with brokers are still underway. While its pilot auction will be held with Bonhams, aShareX said it will partner with several other auction houses.

“From (the auction house’s) perspective … we’re giving all of their existing client base an opportunity to participate in some of these new assets that they haven’t, so we’re bringing value to those auction houses,” Snyder said.

The company’s platform also offers a free tool called Test Drive An Auction, which allows users to participate in a mock auction against computer-generated bidders to get an idea of how an auction works.

“I love the fact that we’re giving people the ability to participate in assets that have generally performed very well, and are terrific diversification for any investment portfolio,” Snyder said.