Investors are looking at art for more than their aesthetic qualities. It can also serve as an important portfolio diversifier beyond traditional asset classes like stocks, bonds, and cash.
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Because disasters—hurricanes, earthquakes, wild fires, epidemics, large-scale acts of terrorism—touch every facet of life, and all corners of the world, all donors have opportunities to respond to extraordinary events with compassion in a way that aligns with their values and giving priorities. And there is a particularly important role for private philanthropy in responding to disasters, as private funding is more flexible and can often reach on-the-ground responders more rapidly than governmental funds can.
Financial reports and other real-time operational data are often lagging indicators of performance. These metrics, although perhaps lacking precision, may have been sufficiently effective in the past; however, they are less so now because they lag the current cadence of information dissemination and business volatility today. The challenge for many finance functions is to try to keep pace with all the modern sources of insight and analysis that internal and external stakeholders are receiving.
Many powerful trends are taking place in 2017. While much is still unknown in regard to what actions the new Trump administration and GOP-led congress will take towards the estate tax, planners have many opportunities to provide clients structures for both the short and long term. Additionally, planners will need to continue to factor in the recent development by the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. Lastly, international families continue to establish trusts in the United States at a record pace, both with and without family members and/or assets in the United States.
For American companies who do business in Europe or who process the personal data of EU residents, the world of data privacy and security is about to get much more complicated. While U.S. privacy law is unsettled, with rapidly proliferating state and federal laws and regulations and uncertainty as to how strictly they will be enforced, the rules in the European Union are tough and about to get much tougher.
The private equity secondary market has become a very mature marketplace with billions of dollars sloshing around in it. Secondary interests in well-known firms are very efficiently priced, often at par or just below par. Furthermore, leverage is being used by secondary firms to nudge their internal pricing models to predict something better than a public equity return. While there are some niche secondary strategies that can deliver outstanding returns in this marketplace, a big Wall Street secondary fund is not likely one of them.
Every fine art collector who has worked to build and enrich his or her collection usually has a special work of art or piece that has significant meaning. It might even be the very object that prompted grandma to begin collecting her porcelain rabbits, energizing her desire to graduate to fine art. Or it could be a priceless work, pièce de résistance, of a lifetime of collecting that reveals a fascinating historical account when hearing the real tales behind the acquisitions that family members hold dear.
The White House joined Congressional Republican leaders in announcing a new framework for tax reform, which they hope to enact before the end of 2017.
The U.S. Department of State estimates that more than 8,000 Americans die in a foreign country each year. While some of those are permanent residents and long-time expatriates, thousands more are tourists or individuals traveling for business. For families and their enterprises receiving that unexpected news, the first inclination may be panic. Having a journey management plan that addresses specific protocols to be followed in the event of death while traveling abroad can help alleviate the stress that is compounded by barriers of foreign language, law and culture.
Trusts have grown enormously in popularity since the mid-1990s as a result of the development of modern trust laws, the dramatic increase in wealth and evolving family needs and goals.