OUR MISSION
To create an environment where collectors can access the financial value of their art
Our mission is to enable our institutional and retail clients to consider art as a financial asset, with transparency and confidence.
To do this we need to build trust among lenders and insurers around the world, transforming fine art into a stable asset class of its own.
We are active across the USA, Europe, and Asia, and are working with a deep network of lenders, auction houses and insurers.
POWERED BY RELIABLE DATA MODELS
Overstone’s data team experience covers everything from data engineering to serving AI models.
Overstone’s award winning models are trained on a broad range of data, importantly, they incorporate art market expertise through the use of Bayesian modelling and feature engineering, making them able to predict the liquidity of a work and highlight significant changes in value of works with very high accuracy.
Overstone’s data is subject to extensive quality checks and we operate a human-in-the-loop data pipeline, combining the speed and efficiency of machine learning-augmented automation with the exceptionally high-quality of expert human review. The breadth and richness of the data we gather is the foundation from which our powerful models and analytics are built.
Who we are
We are a team of experts across finance, the art market and data science. We are pioneers in the use of proven technology in the valuation of art
harco van den oever
Founder & CEO
Harco served 12 years at Christie’s as Continental European Head and Global Managing Director of the Impressionist and Modern Art Department prior to founding Overstone Art Services. With 12 years in debt capital markets under his belt at Paribas, Bankers Trust, and Credit Suisse First Boston, Harco also founded Fredfinds.com, the UK's first online mortgage brokerage business, acquired in 2001 by Netwindfall Ltd.
Harco has an MBA from University of Hartford and is an INSEAD alumnus.
Claude Cochin de Billy
Chairman
Claude began his 35 year banking career at Bankers Trust heading credit trading and capital markets. He then headed Deutsche Bank’s European consumer, retail & luxury investment banking division, and built and led their family office group. In 2007 Claude joined UBS as co-head of their global family office group, moving to Kleinwort Benson in 2013 as a member of the executive committee. Following KB's sale, Claude became Managing Partner of Global Family Partners, a multi-family office focused on direct investments.
Matthew Grant
Advisor
Matthew Grant has been building and advising companies on the innovative use of technology, data and analytics for over 30 years. With a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Matthew has been involved in the entire cycle of risk management, insurance and capital management. He was responsible for launching catastrophe modelling into Europe in 1992 and was on the executive team of Risk Management Solutions (RMS is now part of Moody’s). Since 2017, Matthew has been CEO and co-owner of InsTech. InsTech has worked with over 200 insurers and technology companies that are supporting innovation in insurance and risk management.
CHEN CHOWERS
Head of Operations
Chen has 10 year’s experience in institutional museums and the art market. Beginning as Museum Educator at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Chen was later Deputy Curator at Israel’s largest corporate collection with Discount Bank. In 2015, she joined Christie’s London Impressionist and Modern Art team. Chen has also led projects for various galleries and museums, including Sommer Contemporary Art and the Louvre-Paris.
Chen holds a Masters in Art History & Archaeology with Distinction from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an MBA from INSEAD, and is a patron of the Serpentine Gallery.
Christopher Mann
Head of Data Science
Chris has nearly a decade of experience in data science and advanced analytics, working for organisations including Rolls-Royce, BMW, Unilever, Network Rail and the Home Office. Most recently he has led a team of data scientists to develop a state-of-the-art demand forecasting capability for Deloitte.
Chris brings expertise in a wide range of areas, including frequentist and Bayesian statistics, optimisation, data mining, agile and software development. Chris holds a BSc in Physics, an MSc in Nuclear Technology (specialising in probabilistic modelling of uncertainty) and is a chartered engineer and member of the Institute of Physics and Institution of Engineering Technology.
John Jessen
Head of Business Development
John has 35 years of international experience in client coverage and in building businesses. His career began in London at Goldman Sachs and Paribas Capital Markets Group. John also worked for the Jebsen Group in Hamburg, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Bangkok. He later worked for 15 years in Executive Search, founding a consultancy specialised in Capital Markets and Investment Banking, which grew to 7 offices straddling EMEA and APAC. Before joining Ovestone Associates, John worked in Marbella’s prime real estate sector, while also co-founding a used tyre trading and recycling company in Germany.
John graduated from the European Business School in London, Paris and Schloβ Reichartshausen. He is a certified MBTI practitioner and has lectured at the National University of Singapore. He is fluent in English, Danish, German, French and Spanish.
Yoav Shafir
Head of Technology
10-year career in software engineering and system architecture, leading large scale end-to-end technology projects, most recently for the FT. Experience in leading start-ups from early stage to international enterprise such as for real estate analytics and trading platform, Compit.
Victoria Kleiner
Head of Art Due Diligence and Digital Art Expertise
Victoria has more than a decade experience as an art market professional, having started working at Sotheby’s in 2011 where she was part of the specialist team for the Contemporary Art Evening Sale before moving to the Impressionist and Modern Art department. In 2019 she joined MacDougall’s, a London based auction house specialising in Russian art, where she was Acting Company Head.
Victoria holds an MA in Art History from Trinity College, Cambridge, as well as an MA in Twentieth Century Russian Art from The Courtauld Institute. In 2021 she became co-chair of the V&A Young Patrons’ Circle.
Victoria is a member of the International Society of Appraisers and completed her most up to date USPAP training in February 2023.
Olivia Faure romanelli
Legal & Compliance
Olivia is a qualified solicitor in both France and the US, and is a member of the Paris and New York Bars. Following 4 years of private practice with Hogan Lovells in Intellectual Property law, Olivia spent 8 years with Sotheby’s in-house legal department as Associate General Legal Counsel before joining Overstone.
Olivia has a post graduate degree from Paris University of Law and is a New York University Law School alumnus.
Tarabella Frazer
Research Associate and Client Success Manager
Tara has nearly 10 years of experience in the art market as a researcher and cataloguer at Sotheby’s and MacDougall’s and galleries in London. In addition, she has a strong background in customer service, supporting and collaborating closely with clients to ensure they have the essential tools and unwavering support to achieve their goals.
Tara holds an MA in Twentieth Century Russian Art from the Courtauld Institute of Art and a BA in History of Art and Russian from the University of Bristol.
Shone Sonawane
Senior Data Engineer
Shone is a highly skilled software engineer with six years of experience building scalable solutions from scratch, primarily in startup environments. He specializes in backend development, system design, and data engineering, with a strong focus on performance optimization and scalability. Shone brings deep expertise in Python, web applications, distributed systems, and web scraping.
He has a strong foundation in software architecture, with a keen interest in low-level design, concurrency, and advanced Python concepts.
Shone holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and excels at architecting efficient, high-performance systems tailored to dynamic and evolving business needs to time, cost and quality.
Siva Karanam
Senior Data Engineer
Siva is a highly skilled Senior Software Engineer with over 9 years of experience in software development. His expertise spans large-scale web scraping, backend development, data engineering, and cloud computing. Siva has a strong command of Python leveraging frameworks such as FastAPI, and Scrapy to build scalable and efficient solutions.
Siva has played a key role in developing and maintaining data-intensive applications, including an auction scraper that processes volumes of data daily. He has also contributed to building internal tools and automation systems that enhance operational efficiency. With deep experience in integrating third-party APIs, designing RESTful services, and optimizing data pipelines, he excels at architecting high-performance solutions.
Beyond his technical contributions, Siva is a mentor and leader, guiding junior developers and fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation. His passion for problem-solving and continuous learning makes him an invaluable asset.
Our Representatives
Sophie Brown
International Team, Singapore
Sophie trained as a Chartered Accountant with PwC in London in 1999 before moving on to work in industry focusing on M&A and debt structuring. She has worked for private equity-owned, family-owned and FTSE 250 businesses and been Finance Director of several companies. She brings an extensive network of High Net Worth Individuals, Family Offices and established Financial Institutions.
WHY YOU SHOULD USE US
A Proven Track Record
Case studies
Global Private Bank
Designed art-secured lending product and internal processes.
European Private Bank
Advised risk department on collateral-related risks.
Auction House
Advised on liquidity profile and risk of lead works ahead of auctions.
North american Private Bank
Market research and opportunity sizing.
North American Insurance Underwriter
Developed a cost-benefit analysis for a hybrid, data-driven approach to valuation and concentration risk.
Art Insurance Underwriter
Held workshops to identify key market challenges and opportunities using existing internal data.
European Private Bank
Wrote art-secured lending policy.
Passionate innovators
We have grown Overstone by continuously evolving to respond to the needs of our clients, and the changing markets. Our test and learn approach, combined with financial and scientific rigour, makes us leaders in the art as financial asset space’
Pioneers in the use of data and technology in the valuation of art
Leading the understanding and implementation of risk metrics for art
Development of an independent, secure platform for the financial monitoring of art
Creation of API integrations to incorporate fine art into the broader financial industry
Investment in blockchain technology to increase the security of our platform
Innovation award winners
Environmental, Social and Governance commitments
We embrace responsible commercial practices. We believe that we perform better for our clients and stakeholders because we pay attention to our people, as well as our social and environmental impact.
Certifications
Inspiring trust for our clients
ISO27001 CERTIFIED
Our Collection Management Platform employs best-practice security protocols and policies to protect its data.
Member of the International Society of Appraisers
FCA
Since 2012, Overstone is an appointed representative of Laven Advisors LLP, which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, 50% of our team have undergone Anti-Money Laundering training.
Who’s talking about us?“The winning firm offers access to a new and burgeoning asset class”
