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Before executing a commercial property lease or sales contract, the parties may prepare a letter of intent or an agreement in principle. The letter of intent or a similar document (the “LOIs”) generally signals that the parties have agreed on the outline of a deal, but not on all of its provisions or details. While LOIs can serve differ...

Each year fraudsters are stealing millions of dollars through sophisticated fraudulent use of Email Compromise Scams targeted at individuals and employees who regularly perform wire transfers. The scam involves a fraudster creating a false email or alternatively, hacking into a real email account of an executive, business partner, employee or finan...

All businesses face cyber threats. Almost every company has some kind of network, database or online presence that puts it at risk for a cyber breach. Smaller businesses can be more vulnerable than larger ones as they often use third-party hosting and information processing that can be an entry point for cyber attacks. By following various proactiv...

Identity theft is a risk that continues to grow and change daily. Due to the many forms identity theft can take, including medical, credit, and financial, the threat remains prevalent and affects millions of people every year. Keeping up-to-date with the latest prevention methods is the surest way to protect the assets and identity. There are a num...

Ample capacity and insurer competition generally put downward pressure on rates in most coverage lines in 2015, a trend expected to continue in 2016, barring unforeseen changes in condition. Other significant developments that bear watching throughout 2016 include demand for cybersecurity coverage across all industries, large-scale mergers and acqu...

Overall, the insurance market in Asia remained competitive in 2015, with rates remaining stable or decreasing in most lines of insurance. However, certain lines did experience rate increases and these were generally driven by loss experience, as in the case of the Tianjin explosion in August and its impact on property catastrophe-exposed coverage, ...

Cybersecurity continues to heat up alongside consumer’s growing dependence on devices and the growth of the Internet of Things. Hacking has evolved from the teenager attempting to modify a high school report card to a highly profitable business run by sophisticated groups. As a result, more and more cybersecurity companies are being founded a...

Successful family offices combine financial, philanthropic, legal, and administrative operations and help ensure that family objectives are achieved from generation to generation. These responsibilities create a range of liability risks for the family office entity and its executive and professional staff. With these risks, it is important for fami...

The term “passion investments” has gained currency within the wealth management arena to describe high-end collectibles and other luxury possessions that hold emotional as well as financial value for their owners. When considering that this new asset class has generated noticeable returns, it’s no surprise that owners want to protect their high-val...

Indexed universal life insurance provides a crediting rate tied to the growth of an equity index. With the potential for an enhanced yield and a guaranteed minimum crediting rate, indexed universal life may be an attractive life insurance option, particularly in the current low interest rate environment.

Whole life and universal life insurance have been hit especially hard by continued low interest rates. As a result, carriers are introducing products that increasingly shift the risk of future product performance to the consumer. Because of these risks, consumers must make the effort to understand what is behind the assumptions presented by insurer...

An annual inventory of belongings in the home is vital as a safeguard, should loss occur. Yet many families ignore this need. Some inventory options include hiring a firm that specializes in this, going room by room with a movie camera, and keeping a photo log of items. Make sure fine art, jewelry and silver are scheduled on a personal property pol...

The key to identifying the status of any insurance contract is consistent, periodic review with a comparison to the original model, the last review and current market benchmarks. This systematic approach will show the impact of reductions or increases in the crediting rate, in policy charges and of the position of the product itself in the market.

While we believe the scale and scope of current market risks are not enough to topple the markets, we feel a correction of some magnitude is warranted given how a confluence of risk factors could adjust global growth expectations. As such, we are recommending a modestly more defensive posture despite seemingly attractive valuations.

Not all master limited partnerships offer the same level of stability and predictably of current income or growth, and the impact when distributions are materially cut are catastrophic to investment values. Investors who are attracted to the core value proposition of MLPs – income and stability – will most likely benefit from taking a high-quality ...