An increasing number of private clients are contemplating scaling back or exiting their fossil fuel-concentrated holdings as governments around the world fortify plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions amid heightened awareness around the negative effects of carbon discharges on global warming. Even as many investors have committed to the movement that is broadly referred to as fossil fuel divestment, many more have researched and decided to not pursue divestment at this time. Private clients should weigh all factors prior to making any decisions regarding divestment.
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The ETF Correlation Bubble: A Powder Keg?
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This session will discuss how traditional asset allocation has been impacted by the phenomenal growth of indexed products and share Mr. Bregman’s view that investors who believe they are appropriately diversified—by traditional standards—may be exposed to systemic and valuation risk.
BREAKOUT 2: Family Offices and Direct Investments: Due Diligence Best Practices and Costly Mistakes to Avoid
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What do families tend to underestimate or overlook in the due diligence process? A single misstep in understanding the market of the target business, in evaluating the sustainability of product-line and customer-level profitability, or in assessing and motivating the management team, can wipe out a generation of wealth.
Investors have been moving significant capital out of active long-only strategies due to the relatively small number of active managers that outperform the passive benchmark over time, especially relative to their fees.
It’s a big wide world, full of perils for investors and, for that very reason, replete with opportunities, especially for those who have carefully pondered whether and to what extent the past is a reliable prologue to the future. This session will outline a framework for assessing boundary conditions confronting long-term investors circa 2017, and suggest specific strategies and tactics for preserving and enhancing real wealth in coming years.
Venture Capital: Frothy Markets?
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With the impact of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain imminent, and innovations in healthcare and energy continuing to reshape our lives, many view these trends as promising opportunities to invest through venture capital. At the same time that there is great interest in venture-backed innovation, valuations are very high and there are few exits. In this session, David York of Top Tier Capital Partners provided an update on the state of the venture capital market and covered performance, fundraising, v
Impact Investing: A Primer for Family Foundations
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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.
Invest in Your Retirement
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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.
Climate Change is Heating Up
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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.
Activating Your Portfolio Reserve
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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.