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A privately structured stock pledge and loan agreement may work well for ultra-wealthy investors looking to minimize risk in equity and fixed-income portfolios or to monetize the securities in their portfolios. In this article, LBS Financial Services describes the benefits and explains the steps in creating this agreement, which can protect and monetize portfolios without the use of derivatives or hedging.

Changes in tax law on estates and gifts provide lower valuations, which makes this a good time to focus on estate planning. An advisory from Rothstein Kass offers suggestions on beginning the process as well as pointers on taking advantage of current and proposed tax laws so that families can transfer as large an estate as possible to future generations.

The new administration has turned 2009 into a year of changes in state, gift and income tax laws – and more changes are expected before the year ends. Credit Suisse Securities (USA) provides an update on the extension of the IRA charitable rollover as well as changes to the gift tax annual exclusion, the generation-skipping transfer tax, and family partnerships and valuation discounts.

The Internal Revenue Service has increased its scrutiny of multinational corporations and ultra-wealthy investors who try to minimize their taxes inappropriately through foreign investments. PricewaterhouseCoopers offers a checklist that U.S. investors can use to make sure they comply with international tax-reporting requirements.

Charities submit grant proposals; funders read the proposals and decide where to make their contributions. Both groups benefit when grants are structured to create the greatest positive impact and make prudent use of available funds. In this paper, New Philanthropy Capital looks at what makes grants successful and how they can be structured best.

Bank of America's 2008 study of philanthropy offers a closer look at giving, including reasons why ultra-wealthy families give to charity and how much they give, why families stop giving, how they transmit charitable values to their children and the types of philanthropic advice they seek from advisors.

An economic downturn increases crime and potential risk for ultra-wealthy families. This research paper from Insite Security notes evidence of criminal action against wealthy employers by their staffs during hard times and offers tips on what families can do to reduce the likelihood of being victimized.

Insurance companies face the same economic challenges as other businesses, so policyholders and advisors may be wondering what to expect if an insurer becomes insolvent. This article from the M Financial Group provides answers about what happens when an insurer is sold or goes into receivership.

Emerging market local currency-denominated debt is a relatively new asset class that offers the potential for strong returns with low correlation to the returns of other asset classes. BNY Mellon Asset Management provides answers to a dozen common questions about this type of debt.

No asset class, except government bonds, has protected investors from the credit crisis. But that does not mean diversification has failed investors, according to this analysis by Barclays Global Investors. The authors explore investors' flight to quality as a risk factor affecting current returns and explain why investors should diversify across types of risk as well as across asset classes.