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A foundation is a powerful platform through which families can address the challenges in society about which they care about most. Yet, most families only use a small portion of their foundation assets to pursue their philanthropic missions. As families grapple with the scale of funding solutions to the world’s toughest challenges, many are turning to impact investing as a powerful tool for maximizing a foundation’s assets for good.

The time has arrived when you are about to retire or transition your business, bringing a reliable source of income to an end. Do you have adequate sources of funds available to replace that income so that you can maintain your current lifestyle? This is a common planning question among the millions of Americans approaching retirement, regardless of age or overall net worth. If properly executed, a detailed approach to planning and investing can result in a longer time horizon for your financial resources during retirement.

Interest in environmentally focused investment strategies is growing. For example, the Low Carbon Investment Registry launched in 2014 has shown that total investments have increased from $24bn in 2014 to $57bn through March 2017. Among the plethora of strategies aimed at addressing climate change risk, divestment—electing not to invest in companies owning fossil fuel reserves—is a popular choice. This momentum has encouraged investors to think about their role in the transition to a low carbon economy and to search for possible solutions in the area of responsible finance.

For many wealthy individuals, meeting their annual lifestyle needs is their top priority. Having a Portfolio Reserve—a mix of risk-control assets and high-quality bonds—helps fund the core lifestyle while protecting the spending during times of market distress. Deciding when to activate it is a personal decision that, in part, depends the risk preference and willingness to make potential trade-offs.

Now is a good time to review the developments in the economy and financial markets. In some areas, we are very encouraged by developments that further embolden our initial views, whereas we have been surprised in other areas and have adjusted portfolios accordingly. Overall we remain comfortable with our overweight to risk assets and underweight to core fixed income. It’s the details of the risk overweight that have changed the most. And emerging markets could present the greatest opportunities for total return on a risk-adjusted basis.

OPEC recently met in Vienna to assess the impact of its production cut agreement over the last six months and agreed to extend the deal for nine months. The extension is an effort to reduce global oil supply and boost prices. Tariq Zahir, Managing Member of Tyche Capital Advisors discusses the OPEC decision and how it affects the markets, including an analysis of the big four—Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, and Russia—and how Saudi Arabia is the main driver of complying with the already agreed quota, picking up slack of the other members.

Shareholders of publicly-traded companies have a powerful voice in improving business practices and enhancing the financial performance of the companies in which they are invested. As the business case grows for sound social and environmental practices, investors are increasingly using a shareholder engagement to drive strategic and positive changes in corporations—and society at large. Further, wealth advisors and family offices are in a unique position to facilitate individual investor involvement in shareholder engagement initiatives by enabling and simplifying the process.

In the U.S. the first quarter GDP growth fell short of the consensus forecast; however, stocks have remained surprisingly resilient, currently sitting just below all-time highs. Overall, Energy, Financials, and Information Technology have been the primary growth drivers. In Europe, Independent centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron defeated populist/Eurosceptic candidate Marine Le Pen, shifting investors’ focus to improving economic data. In China, the pace of expansion is expected to ease as the government continues to tighten policy and target areas of excess.