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The “Recession 2020” talk is omnipresent in the financial press, but productivity developments—which are no longer a manufacturing phenomenon—may extend the party. After years of stagnation, the stage is set for a cyclical upturn in productivity that would restrain labor costs, limit inflation, and allow profit margins to remain elevated.

Benchmarking is a critical component of a successful investment program; however, measuring private investment performance vexes even the most sophisticated investors.

Today, a quarter of 65-year-olds will live past age 90, and one in 10 will live past age 95. Living longer has considerable benefits for individuals and their families, but living longer is also creating new challenges. Traditionally, managing wealth in preparation for the later stages of life is centered on estate planning and tax efficiency. As people live longer, this narrow focus is inadequate.

While trade finance is among the oldest forms of institutionalized credit, it has only recently become an accessible market for most institutional investors. Providing high liquidity, good return premiums over cash, and a predictable risk profile, it can play a valuable role in portfolio strategy. However, as a fairly new option for most investors, its characteristics are not well-known. In this report, we explain the nuances of trade finance, including its evolution, basic mechanics, typical features, available strategies, and portfolio allocation implications.

Many institutional investors have long sought to promote social equity through grant making and other philanthropic endeavors. With the field of impact investing maturing, these institutions are now increasingly seeking investment solutions to accomplish the same goal. Yet this effort raises important questions: What is social equity investing? What does it look like in practice? And how do social equity investments fit in a portfolio?

Massive data breaches, constant collection of personal data—it may seem like privacy is dead in the digital age. But privacy, security, and trust are increasingly vital and intertwined in a data-driven society. For CEOs and boards, the existential question is less about the future of privacy and more about the future of their own organization, including if their company can muster the will and imagination needed to jolt stalled privacy risk management into action and become a trusted brand for responsible innovation and data usage.

How can risk executives embrace innovation while preparing for unknown risks such as a self-driving car commandeered by hackers, data analytics software that unintentionally reflects biases, or autonomous weapons that cause accidental casualties? This challenge was explored in the Risk in Review Study of more than 1,500 senior risk executives globally. Adapters—those with programs that tackle innovation-related risks somewhat or very effectively—practice five actions that set them apart. And their programs exert much more influence over decisions about innovation.

Tax reform has created major changes and opportunities for high-net-worth taxpayers, particularly those who are real estate investors and developers.

Investors generally dislike uncertainty, and Trump’s unpredictability would seem to be a depressant on investor optimism.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently ruled that a ballot initiative that would have had Bay Staters vote this November to raise the state income on its wealthiest residents is unconstitutional. The Fair Share Amendment proposal, dubbed by some the “Millionaire's Tax,” will no longer appear on the November ballot.