The start of 2017 was a stark but welcomed contrast to the prior year. In January 2016, U.S. markets experienced one of their worst starts in history―hampered by concerns of slowing global growth, bottoming oil prices, and an impending election season. This January, these worries seemed far from investors’ minds. Domestic and international markets took economic and political news in stride, shrugging off uncertainty as most regions, asset classes, and sectors generated positive returns for the quarter.
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It is widely accepted that asset allocation is the most important investment decision for a portfolio yet, in recent years, many Chief Investment Officers at large institutions are questioning the mainstream asset allocation frameworks. These CIOs recognize that investment portfolios today face an elevated risk of bad investment outcomes, but existing frameworks may not be helpful to avoid big losses without lowering expected portfolio returns.
Real estate investing always involves the underwriting, pricing, and management of a number of risks. Many of these are local and asset-specific. But understanding the impact of macroeconomic, capital market, and demographic risks are also critical to successful property investment. There are times when economic and capital market trends seem relatively benign if not predictable. This is not one of those times.
This session will discuss one family office executive's experience running a significant trading portfolio targeting a double-digit return with minimal drawdown. The speaker will share some surprising observations as to what market opportunities family offices should be pursuing, and how they can best exploit their distinct “edge” in the pursuit of returns.
The session will present the investment and allocation practices from institutional investors but incorporate the critical element of tax management in seeking an optimal after-tax asset allocation. The session will analyze the approach used by the Yale Endowment through the lens of a taxable investor.
Investors have been moving significant capital out of active long-only strategies, driven by the relatively low number that outperform the passive benchmark over time, especially relative to their fees.
This annual FOX survey of investor attitudes and behaviors provides readers with peer perspective from 118 family offices on a wide range of topics, including asset allocation and investment performance, passive versus active investing in long-only equity, 2017 investment trends, benchmarking a multi-asset portfolio, current economic outlook, investment opportunities and financial challenges for 2017.Webinar
Rising interest rates late in 2016 took a toll on bond prices, and were the catalyst for one of the worst quarters for bonds in recent decades. Current expectations are for interest rates to move gradually higher in 2017. While rising rates can be a headwind to bond performance in the near term, they don’t impact the coupon rate or cash flow associated with most bonds over time. Over the long-term, higher yields are actually a positive for investors.
The start of the year is always a good time to focus on personal improvements with resolutions. Sharing in the same spirit with an investment outlook in mind, there are ten temptations to resist in 2017, including resisting the macro and political developments, investing while looking through the rearview mirror, and sticking with a strategy designed to work only in a falling rate environment.
Given the expectation for the U.S. economy to grow at a modest pace for the eighth year in a row, the risk of the U.S. economy or inflation becoming “overheated” in 2017 remains low. The Fed will likely move the federal funds rate higher twice in 2017, once in the first half and again late in the year. There are still important headwinds to consider, like a stronger dollar that will hamper trade for large multinational companies and continued geopolitical risk.