Resource Search

While several key provisions of the ACA take effect in 2013, the broader market impact is likely muted in the near term. Markets are forward-looking, and stocks have had ample time to digest the legislation since it was passed in 2010. Equities showed little movement when the Supreme Court upheld its constitutionality in June, and though the recent election inspired much chatter, it was likely never a game-changer.

A business development company or BDC is a type of investment enterprise that typically lends debt capital to and/or invests in the equity securities of small to mid-size private businesses. This White Paper provides an in-depth introduction to BDCs, including their history, common practices, and risks.

While private equity serves as a compelling addition to a well-structured portfolio, it presents investors with unique challenges in the areas of cash flow management, diversification and liquidity. Implementing private equity secondary funds can help offset some of these challenges while presenting investors with favorable return characteristics.

Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) offer a unique combination of liquidity and cash flow to investors while serving as preferred access vehicles to capital markets. MLPs trade on major exchanges, like most publicly traded corporations. As partnerships, they avoid corporate income tax at the entity level, affording them a distinct cost of capital advantage over corporations. They predominately invest in energy infrastructure and touch many parts of the domestic energy supply chain, serving as a critical component of the general economy.

This article, originally published in Worth magazine, looks at some do's and don'ts for increasing cash flow in today's low-interest rate environment.

Altair's Jason Laurie details the dangers (and common practice) of chasing higher-yield investments in this Worth magazine article.

For wealthy families, 529s may not be the optimal way to save and pay for education. Altair's Rebekah Kohmescher explains in this Worth magazine article.

A study by Morningstar for the decade beginning in 2000 suggests that average investors underperformed the mutual funds they invested in by 1.5 percent per year due to investing near highs and exiting near lows. The fear of making a mistake is especially heightened in those who retire or sell a business. They are faced with investing the majority of their wealth for the first time—and in a very turbulent market.

Ultra-short-duration bond funds seek to improve on the strategy underlying money market funds. By holding a variety of fixed income instruments with very short average durations in a fund structure, investors may be able to achieve higher yields from the current market environment than they typically could in a money market fund, albeit with little additional volatility and limited sacrifice of liquidity.

This issue of Eton's Investment Outlook explores the concept of confidence level, using the familiar example of airline travel to illustrate our need for higher confidence levels in certain activities than in others. An investor’s level of confidence, both desired and actual, is a key driver in the Goals-Based Investing framework. This article describe how confidence levels are a function of our priorities, our time horizon, and the amount of portfolio risk we assume when investing.