Many institutional investors have long sought to promote social equity through grant making and other philanthropic endeavors. With the field of impact investing maturing, these institutions are now increasingly seeking investment solutions to accomplish the same goal. Yet this effort raises important questions: What is social equity investing? What does it look like in practice? And how do social equity investments fit in a portfolio?
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The 2018 U.S. Trust Insights on Wealth and Worth® study asked nearly one thousand high-net-worth individuals about their approach to building wealth and the extent to which they are using it to achieve their goals and support the causes they care about most. The study found that while wealth provides the freedom to do more, it also brings increased obligations, expectations and demands.
Massive data breaches, constant collection of personal data—it may seem like privacy is dead in the digital age. But privacy, security, and trust are increasingly vital and intertwined in a data-driven society. For CEOs and boards, the existential question is less about the future of privacy and more about the future of their own organization, including if their company can muster the will and imagination needed to jolt stalled privacy risk management into action and become a trusted brand for responsible innovation and data usage.
How can risk executives embrace innovation while preparing for unknown risks such as a self-driving car commandeered by hackers, data analytics software that unintentionally reflects biases, or autonomous weapons that cause accidental casualties? This challenge was explored in the Risk in Review Study of more than 1,500 senior risk executives globally. Adapters—those with programs that tackle innovation-related risks somewhat or very effectively—practice five actions that set them apart. And their programs exert much more influence over decisions about innovation.
Investors generally dislike uncertainty, and Trump’s unpredictability would seem to be a depressant on investor optimism.
Tax reform has created major changes and opportunities for high-net-worth taxpayers, particularly those who are real estate investors and developers.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently ruled that a ballot initiative that would have had Bay Staters vote this November to raise the state income on its wealthiest residents is unconstitutional. The Fair Share Amendment proposal, dubbed by some the “Millionaire's Tax,” will no longer appear on the November ballot.
It is normal for different individuals or institutions to make varying assessments of a particular situation. In a sense, this is a fundamental driver of financial markets, making it possible for there to be both willing buyers and willing sellers simultaneously. Differing perceptions may also help prevent, through restraining the growth of a herd mentality, extreme market swings. With a number of caveats, one can argue for tempered optimism with a glass half full.
Under the new ASC 606 revenue recognition standard, contracts are the basis of how organizations must recognize revenue. This places significant pressure on your accounting system and financial reporting. In addition to handling contract-related data, it must support revenue recognition and allocation, revenue reallocation, and expense amortization.
It’s not news that revenue is the key indicator of a company’s financial performance and health. What is news is the accounting rules around the recognition and reporting on that revenue is about to change under ASC 606, particularly if you have a subscription-based business that derives revenue from contracts with customers. What’s the big deal? For starters, the impact of the change extends beyond a mere tweak to your accounting methods.