DIG IQ 91 High Alpha

Performative provenance, auction-verified documentation, and 24-year holding data place this collection at the apex of the DIG IQ scale.

Portfolio Summary

Current Value
$68.0M
↑ From $25.0M cost basis
Total Return
+172%
+$43.0M net gain
Avg Hold Period
9.1 yrs
Average entry year: ~2014
Portfolio CAGR
11.9%
vs. S&P 500 ~12.8%
Alpha Driver

Jazz instruments punched well above their weight

Miles Davis and John Coltrane pieces held for just 4 years produced CAGRs of 50% and 36% respectively — outperforming even the trophy guitar lots on a risk-adjusted basis. Short post-2020 windows dramatically outperform the long-dated pre-2015 book.

+50.1%
Davis trumpet CAGR · 4yr hold
Investment Signal

Performative provenance is the pricing variable that matters

Every lot in the top-quartile CAGR tier shares one attribute: the instrument was physically used at a culturally defining moment. Lots without this "touch" story — film scripts, personal jewellery, awards — underperform structurally regardless of artist fame.

+20.2%
Avg CAGR, played instruments
Concentration Risk

76.8% of value sits in a single sub-category

Guitars represent $52.2M of the $68M current value. While the category has delivered +205% total return, the illiquidity profile and insurance cost of this concentration is material. Instruments and lyrics diversify the return base but remain underweight by allocation.

76.8%
Guitar weight by current value
D-Score Signal

The market systematically underpriced performative provenance

Christie's pre-sale estimates reflected comp-based valuation. Realised prices told a different story. Ten lots exceeded 5× their low estimate, with the Miles Davis trumpet realising 16.5×. Every lot in the top-10 delta tier shares one attribute: the object was the primary tool at a culturally defining moment. The estimate-to-realised delta is the clearest quantitative signal for the D-Score.

16.5×
Miles Davis trumpet · highest estimate delta
CAGR measures what the market learned over time. The estimate delta measures what it hadn't yet priced in. The Irsay Collection demonstrates that performative provenance remains the single most undervalued variable in cultural asset pricing — instruments tied to defining moments command scarcity premiums that no comp model can anticipate. DIG Intelligence Research · March 2026

Sector Analysis & Allocation

Sector Performance

Sector CAGR Return Rating
Instruments
+20.2% +103% Buy
Guitars
+15.9% +206% Buy
Costumes
+11.0% +248% Hold
Autographs
+7.4% +239% Hold
Awards
+7.9% +131% Hold
Lyrics
+9.8% +109% Hold
Film MSS
+3.0% +16%
Personal Items
+1.2% +14%

Value Concentration

Guitars 76.8%
Instruments 15.7%
Lyrics 5.6%
Other 1.9%

Holding Period Mix

Risk / Return Analysis

CAGR vs Hold Period (All 35 Lots)

Magnitude vs. Delta

Absolute realised price (Y) vs. estimate multiplier (X). Bubble size = D-Score intensity. The top-right quadrant contains lots with both high magnitude and extreme estimate-beating performance.

Lot-Level Performance

Top & Bottom Performers

Lot Acq. Cost Basis 2026 Value Total Return CAGR Est. Delta Contribution Rating

Estimate Smashers

CAGR measures what the market learned over time. The estimate delta measures what it hadn't yet priced in. Christie's pre-sale estimates reflect comp-based valuation — the consensus view of what an object should fetch. When realised prices obliterate those estimates, the excess return is attributable to performative provenance: the narrative gravity of an object's role at a culturally defining moment. This is the D-Score made visible.

# Lot Christie's Low Est. Realised Multiplier Delta
DIG IQ Score Irsay Collection · Implied Rating
91 High Alpha
P-Score
100
Defining Moment
V-Score
100
Definitive
L-Score
60
Established Demand
D-Score
100
Rare

The Irsay Collection sits at the apex of cultural investing. Woodstock and Monterey-verified instruments with direct artist provenance, auction house documentation, and 24-year holding data produce a DIG IQ Score that decouples entirely from equity market conditions. The 380% aggregate return on cost reflects assets that were never purely financial instruments — they were cultural artefacts that happened to appreciate.

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