Once an investor decides to allocate to metals, questions often arise concerning “How do I buy gold and what are the best practices around ownership?” Several steps will lead to an informed decision and illuminate how best to tailor a strategy to meet your needs and protect your wealth.
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Investing strategies encompassing responsible investing are expanding rapidly amid greater interest from asset managers, pension plans, endowments and foundations, and plan participants. The primary challenge remains educating market participants on the different types of approaches and products. At the same time, there is rising demand among investors to align their financial objectives and investment goals with their value systems and beliefs. As a result, assets under management that were “responsibly invested” grew to $59 trillion in 2015, from $4 trillion in 2006.
The nascent market for green bonds saw a growth spurt in 2014 with issuance tripling from a year earlier, surpassing $38 billion. The growth in green bonds comes amid greater awareness of climate change and expanding investor appetite for environmentally-aware investment products. The prevalence of these securities is likely to rise as they allow issuers and investors alike to demonstrate their commitment to environmentally focused initiatives.
Corporate America is doing it, so why shouldn’t individual and institutional investors do it too? In this case, it refers to creating a so-called “fortress balance sheet” that provides protection and downside risk management by holding excess cash and cash alternatives to retain liquidity. The king of this conjectural fortress is cash—often thought of as the core foundation to a strong balance sheet due to the known and consistent outcome it delivers.
A growing trend among healthcare organizations is to evaluate and/or invest in private equity funds or directly in companies focusing on opportunities in the healthcare industry. This trend stems from the necessity of healthcare organizations to adapt to the changes within their industry in order to maintain key advantages and stay relevant. Each organization’s approach, objective, and expectation for success will differ when considering a strategic investment.
Impact investing has gone mainstream. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), which regulates single-employer and multi-employer private pension plans, now officially agrees. Recent regulatory guidance clarifies that ERISA fiduciaries may now consider ESG, impact, and other factors in their investment decisions.
Looking back over the first half of 2016, the FTSE 100 index increased by 6.7 percent when dividend payments are taken into account. However, this positive performance disguises the substantial equity market volatility seen in February, and again following the Brexit decision in June. The moves in the headline index are again misleading and market outlook is clouded in political maneuvering.
One of the main components of investment management is an Investment Policy Statement (the IPS) that serves as a strategic guide to the planning and implementation of an investment program. It is a road map that defines roles and responsibilities and lays out directives for keeping investments aligned with a stated purpose. A good IPS includes several key components, customized to each individual, family or institution. It’s simple enough, yet often overlooked.
UK’s vote to leave the EU has escorted in what could be a long period of uncertainty and volatility in the market. There is also skepticism about the recent, liquidity-driven bounce in risky assets. Overall, global equities and bonds should be range bound during the remainder of 2016, although both are at the higher end of their prospective ranges. Volatility will persist due to global uncertainty, and there will most likely be a shift toward fiscal stimulus.
The 'leave' campaign, a victory for the pro-Brexit voters, was quite a surprise to markets and the world. The United Kingdom, based on a referendum of all eligible citizens, voted to leave the European Union (EU) and became the first country to do so. The effects of the referendum vote are already being felt in the political spectrum and the financial markets. However, the structural changes will take some time. Financial markets, on the other hand, have not and will not take years to digest this revolution.