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This paper addresses the options families have for investment education and offers basic direction for getting a true junior investment club off the ground. Contents include: --Five questions for families considering a junior investment club --Developmental options for investment education --Alternatives to true investment clubs --What is a jun...

Private equity investing is not without its challenges. However, long-term returns argue for exposure to this asset class for sophisticated investors. The most important considerations are structure of the investment program, access to top-tier performers, and knowledge about emerging private equity firms.

While political upheaval in the region is a legitimate concern for investors, the tumult provides an entry point into what may become an increasingly important market. Economic fundamentals are strong, the regional GDP is improving, and governments are supporting programs and infrastructure to facilitate growth.

Frontier markets are considered to be low-liquidity outsiders beyond developed and emerging markets. They offer the potential for strong long-term returns and diversification benefits at a reasonable level of volatility. However, they come with significant risks that need to be factored into an investment strategy.

Commodity allocations in model portfolios have moved from being exotic to commonplace. The benefits being sought by such allocations typically include protection against inflation and diversification. While commodity allocations can serve both of these roles handily, the manner in which some clients implement these strategies potentially reduces th...

Most investors believe an index-based ETF, ETN or swap will give them an experience similar to the equity markets, where an index-based product represents an unbiased view of the market portfolio, using market capitalization as weights. Unfortunately, this intuition proves misguided due to important differences in how these indexes are constructed.

Research shows investment managers are far too willing to incur a large negative tax alpha for taxable clients while pursuing a pretax alpha. The result is that most investment management products offer a combined alpha that is negative: pretax alpha, whether good or bad, less a relentlessly negative tax alpha.

The authors discuss their criteria for choosing alternative investments, the number of these investments to include in a portfolio, how to allocate strategically and when to change that allocation, and the practical challenges for implementation.

Properly evaluating alternative investments requires more time and specialized experience than many advisors have. Often, the best option for them is to find a fully outsourced due diligence provider, say the authors, who offer guidance in finding such a provider.

The author examines why investors often embrace misperceptions preventing them from making corrective portfolio reallocations at critical junctures, attempts to put the recent 30-year fixed-income bull market into historical perspective, identifies underlying changes in long-term trends, and discusses how prime consumer lending may help reduce over...

The SEC recently adopted Rule 13h-1, which imposes registration and reporting obligations on large traders. Private funds, family offices, investment advisors, and individuals all could qualify, depending on how actively they trade certain types of securities. The rule went into effect October 3, and large traders must identify themselves by Decemb...

Recent economic reports have presented relatively good news, but investors seem unwilling to buy in to optimism. Although recent price declines have pushed stocks into bear market territory, stocks remain a good choice vs. cash for long-term investors. In 10 years, stock earnings and valuations are likely to be higher than today.

During the recent market turbulence, corporate earnings results have continued to be strong, despite fears that slower economic growth could cause corrections. But given the unique developments in this market environment, guarded optimism seems in order because current earnings levels do not seem out of line.

The world's short-term risks are real but appear manageable. The United States, Japan, and Europe will have economic growth capped by the need to repay debt through austerity measures. Emerging market countries generally have better fiscal balances and should not face such austerity measures. And current equity valuations are only pricing in modest...

Based on third-quarter events, the probability of more vulnerable markets has risen. Minor policy mistakes may have more severe impact. Yet, with expectations so low, a "less-bad" economic report, a credible policy initiative from the Obama administration or an important move by the Europeans or Chinese could trigger a meaningful global equity rall...