“The poet Oscar Wilde once said that when bankers dine together, they discuss art; and when artists dine together, they discuss money. So I’m going to try to talk about both of those things,” Caroline Norbury said in her keynote speech at the 16th edition of the Deloitte Private Art & Finance Conference in Luxembourg on 22 October 2024.
Norbury is the chief executive of Creative UK, a not-for-profit organisation for the United Kingdom’s cultural and creative industries that brings together players from the government, public sector, industry, private businesses, arts and cultural organisations, and investors--and, as a venture capitalist, also invests its own funds into creative businesses. “We use the returns to invest back into the creative sector to develop the next generation of talent,” she explained.
$4trn and 50 million people
But why should we care about the cultural and creative industries in the first place? Isn’t it just something that’s nice-to-have?
Looking at the numbers, “the creative industries globally generate $4trn and employ over 50 million people,” said Norbury. That’s about 80 times the population of Luxembourg, she noted. “But the sector does much more than that. It’s multi-dimensional, improving wellbeing and happiness, making places more pleasant to live in, increasing harmony and social cohesion. Many of these contribute to global sustainable development goals, generating jobs and economic growth while reducing disparities and combating things like loneliness and isolation.” Social impact investment, she added, is becoming more and more important amongst younger people. Two-thirds of the next generation are interested in social impact investment, found Deloitte’s most recent art & finance report. “The purpose motive is reaching parity with the profit motive, and the cultural and creative industries are a major engine for sustainable, socio-economic rebirth and regeneration.”
Key challenges
Investing in the cultural and creative industries is key, but the ecosystem today faces two key challenges.
“The first [challenge] is that the worlds of finance and cultural and creative industries don’t speak the same language, which, in turn, means that the funding that should be in place and making a return isn’t,” argued Norbury. One in three creative sector businesses don’t know where they can get finance or are unsure of how to get investment, she continued, referring to research soon to be published by Creative UK. “This disconnect isn’t just leaving money on he table. It’s actively stifling innovation.”
As an asset class, the cultural and creative industries are not being taken seriously as a real investment opportunity
“The second big challenge is that long-term public funding--which has historically underwritten experimentation and innovation, the most exciting aspect of the global creative ecosystem--is sadly declining across the board. Governments, for the most part, have taken a piecemeal and short-term approach,” she argued. “Both challenges mean that as an asset class, the cultural and creative industries are not being taken seriously as a real investment opportunity.”
“There’s a prevailing sense that cultural and creative industry businesses are generally, frankly, a bit fluffy and not run by serious business-minded people who generate hard and soft impact.” Don’t forget that $4trn figure, Norbury reminded the audience. The UK’s “cultural and creative industries have grown faster than the economy as a whole for nearly two decades.”
“There’s a huge growth opportunity to be had in backing the cultural and creative industries--and in doing so, not just making a return on investment, but also making a difference to people’s lives and circumstances, driving real social change,” she continued. “At the heart of our sector is talent, and talent is everywhere. It just needs the right conditions and opportunities to flourish.”
The case for creativity banks
The priorities of the next generation have shifted, Norbury argued. “They want more than mere financial transactions. They demand a radical authenticity, both in their investments and in their creative expression and in their consumption patterns. So investment decisions need to reflect these trends… Investment approaches have to evolve to keep pace, and that includes how impact investors and family offices think and act, because the ripple effects are undeniable.”
That’s where Norbury’s case for “creativity banks” comes into play. “What I am proposing today is more than making new institutions. It’s about reshaping the entire investment ecosystem of the creative economy.”
It’s not just capital; it’s transformation
To be clear, “I’m not calling for the establishment of an actual financial institution,” she added, but “rather the development of an interface that operates nationally and internationally--a single front door, if you like, to the right sort of money for the cultural and creative industries, similar to that which exists in some other sectors, such as in climate finance, where family offices and impact investors already function so effectively.”
The financial performance of the creative and cultural industries has been “solid,” she argued. But beyond that--these investments also generate social and cultural benefits. It’s not just an economic proposition; it’s a social and moral one as well. “The time has come to embrace a new model that values creativity as both a cultural and a financial asset,” said Norbury. “A bank of creativity would provide a structured approach to channel those investments by building a platform to connect with cultural institutions and creative entrepreneurs.”
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This “bank of creativity” would “tap into the power of long-term patient capital.” “We need to build something tailor-made for the unique cash flows and innovation cycles of creative organisations, something which recognises the risk profile and doesn’t punish visionaries for the ambition and creativity that is inherent in their existence.” It’s about “bridging the gap between impact-driven investors and cultural and creative innovators and entrepreneurs.” An intermediary like this creativity bank--specifically designed to understand the needs of the industry--could connect entrepreneurs to mentors and resources and make sure they’re ready for investment. “It’s not just capital; it’s transformation. Family offices, pension funds, other institutional investors could be powerful partners in supporting the creativity bank’s mission while reaping solid returns.”
“We need collaboration and commitment. We need insight and buy-in from investors, cultural leaders and policy-makers alike,” she concluded. “Let’s move past the rather outmoded and incoherent opinion that cultural and creative industries are something nice and fluffy, and instead affirm their central position as a reliable driver of socio-economic growth.”