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With interest rates at historic lows, investment strategies that worked in the past may be inadequate for the future. Although the prospects for traditional investments might seem impaired if rates reverse course, other sources of return may be available if one also considers managers versed in long/short investing across multiple asset classes.

While global investors have been curbing their home country biases, most remain too heavily invested in their local markets. The authors believe the lowest risk strategy to realize the global equity risk premium is through a market capitalization weighted approach, which eliminates the risk of overweighting a poor performing region.

Goals change over time, both in their definition and their priority. Financial markets also change over time, requiring investors to periodically revise their family goal matrix and re-examine their choice of ideal portfolios to fund family goals. Like all long-lasting marriages, flexibility is required to keep the investment portfolio in close compatibility with changing goals, needs and circumstances.

For the past 30 years, inflation has been a benign tiger. However, many signs point to its likely increase. And make no mistake – it can be a fearsome and stealthy force. Individuals can’t prevent inflation, but they can prepare for it, defend against it and, perhaps, profit from it.

Active investment management is best rewarded in less efficient asset classes. Dispersions of returns in relatively inefficient asset classes, such as private equity, opportunistic real estate and natural resources, are significantly wider than in traditional long-only asset classes, making the rewards for success far more meaningful.

When carried interest is transferred early in a fund’s life, it can have a very low value relative to its potential value at payout. It’s this payout potential that makes it an ideal asset to be used in estate tax-reduction planning, especially when used in combination with a grantor trust allowing for that appreciation to compound on an income tax-free basis.

Many, if not most, consumers of water are not aware of the inevitability of shortages, do not notice the impact of pollution on supplies and are oblivious to the fact that future prices will be dramatically influenced by these and other factors. Yet, there are realists who are well aware of their water footprint and are intent on making changes.

This paper examines how good active managers and hedge funds need to be to outperform passive index funds on an after-tax basis using over 40 years of data. The authors note that while many studies look at the impact of fees on active manager performance they are not aware of any studies that incorporate the impact of taxes over long periods of time.

The word concentrated is defined as “to direct toward one point” or “to intensify.” For wealth preservation, that’s not necessarily a good strategy. Here’s what individuals need to know about concentrated holdings and whether they should sell, hedge, exchange, donate or transfer.

The authors discuss the Risk Parity approach to investing - equalizing risk by allocating funds to a wider range of categories such as stocks, government bonds, credit-related securities and inflation hedges (including real assets, commodities, real estate and inflation-protected bonds) while maximizing gains through financial leveraging.