Disclosures
Disclosures
What our numbers are, what they are not, and how we manage the conflicts of running an index, an advisory, and a ratings business on one dataset.
Last updated: [TO CONFIRM: date of publication] Applies to: okasen.art and all Okasen publications, indices, ratings, reports and advisory materials.
Okasen publishes numbers about an art market that has never had reliable public numbers. That is useful only if you know exactly what each number is, how it was produced, and what it cannot tell you. This page sets that out. It is written to be read.
1. Who we are
Okasen is operated by Okasen Technologies Limited, a company registered in [TO CONFIRM: jurisdiction] under number [TO CONFIRM: company number], with its registered office at [TO CONFIRM: registered address].
In these disclosures, "Okasen", "we" and "us" mean that entity.
2. What Okasen is not
We are not a licensed investment adviser, broker, or dealer, and we are not registered as such in any jurisdiction. Nothing published on this site or issued by us is investment advice, a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any asset, or an offer or solicitation to enter into any transaction.
We are not a credit rating agency. We are not registered under the EU Credit Rating Agencies Regulation (EC) 1060/2009, its UK equivalent, or as a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. An Okasen Rating is an opinion about the market characteristics of an asset — how deep its market is, how readily it trades, how stably it has been priced. It is not an opinion about any person's or entity's creditworthiness, solvency, or ability to repay an obligation.
We are not appraisers or valuers, and an Okasen figure is not a formal appraisal. We do not perform appraisals to USPAP, RICS Red Book or any equivalent professional valuation standard. Where you need a valuation for taxation, probate, insurance, litigation, or any purpose requiring a certified appraisal, instruct a qualified appraiser.
We are not an auction house, gallery, or dealer. We do not sell art, take consignments, or hold works.
3. What our numbers actually are
3.1 Index values
Okasen indices are statistical estimates computed from publicly sourced auction and gallery data, under a methodology we publish in full and do not vary for any individual or client.
Things you should know before citing one:
- The series is short. Our live indices are forward-built from launch, one point per month. Where we show pre-launch points, those are re-fitted on the current model from historical records; they are not a contemporaneous track record, and we label them as such wherever they appear.
- Coverage is partial, and unevenly so. The African art market is not fully observable. Private sales, most primary-market gallery sales, and a large share of regional auction activity are not publicly reported at all. Our indices describe the part of the market we can see, which is not the same as the market.
- Movement can be model movement. Particularly early in a series, a change in an index level may reflect changes in our data coverage or a model refit rather than a change in the market. Every published point carries an "as of" date and the number of underlying valuations; please read both.
- Confidence bands are part of the number. Where we publish a band, the band is the result. A point estimate quoted without it misrepresents our work.
3.2 Valuation estimates
A valuation estimate is a modelled figure, not an observed price and not an appraisal. It is what our published method produces from comparable recorded transactions. No one has offered that sum for the work, and no one is obliged to.
Our valuation model is subject to ongoing internal review. Where a model has not yet completed independent statistical review, we say so on the surfaces that use it.
3.3 Ratings
An Okasen Rating combines a valuation drawn from our published index method with a letter grade applied on top of it against separately published criteria.
The rule that governs this, and which we apply without exception:
The valuation inside a rating is computed by the same method, to the same result, regardless of who requested the rating or what outcome they would prefer. The grade is then applied to that fixed figure. The two steps are separate, in that order, and recorded.
A rating is an opinion as at its date, on the information available to us at that date. It is not a guarantee of value, of saleability, or of price. It is not a recommendation to lend, to borrow, or to transact, and it does not replace a lender's own due diligence, independent valuation, or credit assessment.
3.4 OKN Movers
OKN Movers is a ranked editorial list reflecting recent relative movement in the data we hold. It is not a valuation, not a rating, and not a quality judgment about any artist or their work. Inclusion, exclusion, or position on the list says nothing about artistic merit and is not a prediction of future prices.
3.5 Liquidity scores
A liquidity score reflects historical transaction frequency in our dataset only. Art is an illiquid asset class in all conditions. A high score does not mean a work can be sold quickly, at a particular price, or at all.
4. Past prices do not predict future value
Every figure we publish looks backwards. Art prices are volatile, thinly traded, sensitive to attribution, condition, provenance and fashion, and can fall as well as rise — sometimes to zero for work that turns out to be misattributed. Nothing in our data is a forecast, and no part of it should be read as one.
5. Reliance
General publication. Everything on this website is published for information. We do not accept liability to any person who acts on it without independent advice.
Third-party reliance on a Ratings report. Where a rating is commissioned, reliance is governed by the engagement letter for that instruction. Unless we have agreed in writing that a named third party may rely on a report — on the terms and subject to the limitations in that agreement — no third party may rely on it, and we accept no duty of care to any such person.
If you are a lender and a borrower has shown you an Okasen report, and you intend to rely on it, contact us before you do. We can usually put a reliance arrangement in place. What we cannot do is accept unlimited liability to people we have never met, on reports we did not know had been shared.
6. Conflicts of interest
Okasen operates three business lines — Index, Advisory and Ratings — on one valuation engine. That creates conflicts that we manage explicitly rather than deny.
The governing rule. The neutral valuation is computed the same way regardless of which business line consumes it. Only the packaging and judgment layered on top of that fixed figure is client-specific. No client, advertiser, data partner, gallery or artist can pay to influence an index level, a valuation, or the value component of a rating.
What follows from it:
- No issuer influence on grades. Where a rated party pays for a rating, the fee is agreed before the work begins, is not contingent on the grade, and is not refundable by reference to it.
- Advisory separation. Where Okasen Advisory has constructed or advised on a collection, we disclose that in any rating covering the same holding. [TO CONFIRM: whether the intended policy is disclosure, or outright refusal of the instruction. We recommend refusal where the advisory relationship is current — it is a cleaner position to hold and to explain.]
- Referral and success fees are disclosed. Where we receive any fee, commission or other benefit connected to a transaction we advised on, we disclose it to the client in writing, identifying the payer and the amount or basis, and we obtain the client's written consent before completing. We do not accept undisclosed commissions from any party.
- No trading on our own data. Okasen does not deal in art for its own account, [TO CONFIRM: and personnel are subject to a personal dealing policy — confirm whether one exists; if not, one should].
Where a material conflict cannot be managed, we decline the instruction.
7. Where our data comes from
Our data is compiled from publicly accessible sources — auction results, gallery listings, institutional records and published reference works — together with information supplied to us directly by partners.
Every record in our core store carries a source citation and a retrieval date. This is a hard constraint in our system, not a convention: a record with no source does not enter the database.
We publish factual data — prices, dates, dimensions, media, attributions — and cite the source. We do not republish third-party catalogue text or photographs.
Our data is not complete, and where a source becomes unavailable, restricts access, or proves unreliable, we remove it and note the effect on any affected series.
8. How we use AI
Okasen uses machine learning and large language models in defined parts of its work: extracting structured records from source pages, proposing entity matches, proposing style classifications, producing valuation estimates, and drafting editorial content.
Every one of these is a proposal, not a publication. Nothing reaches a published index, rating, valuation or article without human curator review, recorded against the reviewer and the decision. Editorial content is drafted with model assistance and published under the responsibility of Okasen's editorial team, which reviews and takes responsibility for every piece before it appears.
We say this plainly because we would rather you know it than discover it.
9. Corrections and right of reply
If you are an artist, gallery, estate, or collector and you believe a figure, ranking, attribution or statement we have published about you or your work is wrong, tell us.
Write to [TO CONFIRM: corrections@okasen.art] with the page or figure, and what you say is incorrect. We will acknowledge within [TO CONFIRM: 5] working days, review the underlying records, and tell you the outcome. Where we have made an error we correct it and note the correction on the page.
We take this seriously, and we would rather hear from you than not.
10. Forward-looking statements
Some of our editorial discusses expectations, trends or outlooks. Those are opinions as at the date of publication, based on information then available. They are not guarantees, we are often going to be wrong about some of them, and we do not undertake to update them.
11. Jurisdiction
Okasen's publications are not directed at any person in any jurisdiction where such publication would be contrary to law or would subject Okasen to a registration requirement. If you access this site from such a jurisdiction, you do so on your own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local law.
12. Contact
Okasen Technologies Limited [TO CONFIRM: registered address] General: [TO CONFIRM: hello@okasen.art] Corrections: [TO CONFIRM: corrections@okasen.art] Legal: [TO CONFIRM: legal@okasen.art]