This case study walks through the estate planning The Blum Firm, P.C. did for a client who sold their billion-dollar company several years ago. The planning occurred in five stages and exemplifies planning which saves taxes, provides asset protection, and structures an inheritance for future generations.
A 678 Trust is a unique vehicle that (i) eliminates estate tax on trust assets, (ii) protects trust assets from creditors, (iii) allows the client to stay in control of the assets, (iv) allows the client to direct where the assets pass at death, and (v) has multi-generational “dynasty” benefits—protecting heirs from creditors, div...
The white paper, “Sudden Wealth: Managing the Transition,” provides helpful guideposts for handling new wealth, regardless of the circumstances – whether the wealth represents a recent windfall (the immigrant experience) or having control of a large amount of money for the first time (the inheritor’s experience). The p...
Wealth transfer to younger generations is one of the biggest concerns for families today. Many families feel that the younger generations aren’t ready to handle the wealth they’ll receive; in fact, only one-third of wealthy parents have fully disclosed their wealth to their children. The perceived unpreparedness, along with a concern fo...
Every battle is won before it’s fought,Sun Tzu wrote in “The Art of War.” As the legendary Chinese military strategist observed more than 2,500 years ago, understanding the terrain in which a battle will be waged is critical for those who want to prevail That’s as true for 21st century investment managers as it has been for ...
The phrase “private equity liquidity” once felt like an oxymoron, but the picture is rapidly changing.Liquidity has traditionally meant something very different for private equity than it has for other types of investments. While investors in other vehicles could trade their positions quarterly, monthly, or daily, those in closed-end pr...
This specialist white paper provides detailed insight into the current credit markets, and an international view of mid-market Mergers and Acquisitions deal activity and developments on a per country basis from 2014 to Q1 2015.
The positive supply shock to the economy created by the increase in U.S. oil production has policymakers reconsidering this country's four-decade-old oil ban on exports. From a pure economics standpoint, exporting domestically-produced oil would benefit both producers and consumers and increase overall efficiencies in the domestic energy market...
With the ever-evolving nature of international tax, the non-U.S. resident or non-U.S. citizen with activities in the United States (referred to as “inbound” activities) and their U.S. advisors should become aware of fundamental, international tax principles to avoid the unintended application of U.S. tax. This guide serves as a res...
Rapid expansion across the emerging markets is perhaps the most important development for the Private Equity industry. Interest in Africa has never been higher and it continues to see strong interest from investors. Fundraising trended higher in 2014, and the value of transactions nearly doubled during the year. Private Equity's impact in the r...
Most market watchers seem to be missing the point about the Fed’s impending rate hike cycle. It’s not about the when, it’s about the how. For months the Federal Reserve has been expressing its desire to begin policy normalization by raising interest rates, moving away from the zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) that has b...
U.S. stock market activity has been unusually volatile in the last couple days, with the S&P falling roughly 3.2% Friday and 3.9% Monday before rebounding about 2% in early Tuesday trading.Lower-quality credit markets has also suffered while treasuries and high-grade debt have rallied. This market commentary discusses where the global market st...
At a Daily Journal annual meeting in Los Angeles earlier this year, Charlie Munger – the 91-yearold Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway – shared his opinion on the investment landscape when asked about negative interest rates in Europe and persistently low rates in the United States:"This has basically never happened before in my w...
Though the IRS issued the final regulations for section 67 in May 2014 to require the unbundling of a fiduciary's integrated fee, corporate fiduciaries and tax planners continue to struggle with designing and implementing procedures to ensure that the directive is properly accounted for on returns during the upcoming tax filing season.While mos...
On August 19, the Federal Reserve released the minutes from its July 28-29 Federal Open Market Committee meeting, which showed the Fed’s concern about China’s economic growth and market turmoil, as well as broader weakening in emerging market economies. The minutes also indicated the Fed’s view that a weakening global economy has ...