There exists this notion that over 70 percent of outstanding municipal securities are held by individual investors through mutual funds or individual holdings. It has been reported that over 50 percent of those mutual funds have some level of exposure to Puerto Rico or its public corporations.This commentary and outlook tackles the possibility that...
This strategic article forecasts what the global economy will look like in the next 12 months. Key market drivers include an expected disruption of official rates and the very first interest-rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
Successfully transferring wealth to your heirs is a challenging but priceless undertaking. It is the result of careful, thoughtful planning and should not be taken lightly. The following article discusses some of the more important things to consider while making these valuable decisions.
Everybody knows that people will live a lot longer in the future. But most of us don’t know exactly what we mean by a lot longer. Brace yourself, because the truth will surprise you. According to the Census Bureau, in 50 years more than 1 million Americans will live past the age of 102! The trend continues in Canada and across the globe. This...
This white paper explores key themes that are expected to influence M&A activity in 2015 across global banking and capital markets, insurance and wealth and asset management. Some themes include:Demand in the US for income generation and real asset strategiesAccess to non-domestic markets and new investors in the USWealth management continues t...
Greek voters sent a clear message by voting “no” to European creditor proposals. Greece’s Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, responded by stating, “I am fully aware that the mandate here is not one to break with Europe, but a mandate to strengthen our negotiation position to seek a viable solution”. Moreover, Gr...
Americans are very charitable people; private philanthropy is growing at approximately 29 percent each year. Millions of dollars are given for human and environmental needs, medical research and facilities, as well as scholarships and endowments for education. The private family foundation is an excellent way for a family to take par...
Succession planning’s goal is to provide the least amount of disruption to your business and to give you the widest possible choice of qualified candidates before you make that decision. While the process may consider candidates from outside the family and the company, in many cases it focuses on managers who are already with the company. Thi...
Greece has entered the second episode in its fiscal tragedy. As of July 6th., tensions mounted as Eurozone members debated what to do with the country and its expiring debt. This news comes just a day after the Greeks voted “no” in a bizarre referendum to a bailout that was in fact no longer available to them. This means that such a vot...
The imposition of capital controls in Greece follows yet another failure to reach a compromise with the IMF, the ECB and the European Union. Eurozone finance ministers refused to let Greece extend the bailout program and as a result the ECB has halted its emergency loan program for Greece.This commentary discusses the impact a negative vote may hav...
Wealthy American investors should welcome a rational conversation on the real benefit of gold as foreigners understand, particularly in China, Asia, the Mideast, Russia and most of the developing world. Gold is beautifully uncorrelated to the dollar. This is tough to argue against as not even Wall Street’s biggest bull would suggest the ...
This presentation for 2015 provides an overview of the private equity market that includes: Private Equity overview: Secondaries in perspectiveHow the seller universe has evolved from financial institutions to include pension funds, family offices and high net worth individualsLife cycle of investment in Private EquityCharacteristics of ...
In response to an ever-growing number of malicious and costly cyber-attacks on U.S. companies, both the Cybersecurity Unit of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Division of Investment Management of the Securities and Exchange Commission recently published reports providing guidance on how ...
Many people think of home care as something that applies only to frail elders; however, at least 65% of people who require home care receive this care after being discharged from an inpatient hospital stay. Home care recipients can be people of any age who are suffering from a chronic or an acute disease, as well as people&...
Spring and summer are typically filled with celebrations of life’s milestones, graduations, and weddings to name just a few. These and other life events are all occasions when we may wish to bestow meaningful gifts on those we care about. Thoughtful gifting strategies can help families transfer wealth from one generation to another, soft...