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The metaphorical glass slipper represents the combined interpersonal dynamics of your family and loved ones, your individual passions, goals, hopes and dreams, along with the complexity of your family’s estate plan. When combining the characteristics of your family with the complexity of your estate plan, the result is a unique dynamic with special needs—requiring a trustee with a complementary skillset. What skillset and qualifications should your trustee have?

Equities ended the first half of the year wildly positive and remarkably resilient, with the S&P 500 having endured an approximate 10 percent decline in January and February to end the first half up 2.7 percent. The S&P 500 Index then reached a new all-time high on July 11. To a large degree, equities have begun the second half of the year priced to perfection. While the near-term risk profile of equities is elevated, the fundamental and macro backdrops appear supportive of equity prices.

Real estate has long been recognized as a diversification vehicle within investment portfolios and often is held in one of two ways: physical real estate and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). Although REITs were first created in the early 1960s and have played a notable role for investors since the 1990s, they have not always been a requirement within portfolios for traditional equity investment managers.

Any investors who were too preoccupied to track the markets in the first three months of 2016 might conclude from their quarterly statement that not much of consequence happened. They may have missed the mad dash to safe harbors followed by a speedy return to risk. The extreme moves in opposite directions nearly offset each other. The primary cause was a reversal every bit as abrupt—the Federal Reserve backtracking on its plan to raise a key interest rate by 1 percent this year, in four installments

Heading down the backstretch of 2016, the status quo brings to mind the title of the old comedy routine “Everything You Know is Wrong.” It seems that the capital markets have adopted their own version of augmented reality in a topsy-turvy year. Bouts of volatility are likely in the second half, and risks appear elevated in a world of slowing growth, structural cracks and political fissures. Five topics of note contain further views on Brexit, the election, and surprising market trends.

Just as every successful company has a well-conceived business plan, it should have an equally well-conceived information technology strategy. And the two should link directly with each other. At its most fundamental level, an IT strategy allows a company to support and improve its key business capabilities by better enabling the functions that underlie those capabilities. These functions range from growth-focused ones to operational efficiencies and include human capital, finance, regulatory compliance, and the digital delivery of services, to name just a handful of functional areas.

One of the main components of investment management is an Investment Policy Statement (the IPS) that serves as a strategic guide to the planning and implementation of an investment program. It is a road map that defines roles and responsibilities and lays out directives for keeping investments aligned with a stated purpose. A good IPS includes several key components, customized to each individual, family or institution. It’s simple enough, yet often overlooked.

For the fourth consecutive quarter, financial markets suffered a bout of sudden and dramatic volatility. This time it was the Brexit vote which triggered negative market reaction. After the UK's surprising election results were announced on June 24, global equity markets sold off, the British Pound fell to a 30-year low, and worries re-emerged over the health of various European banks and the EU itself. Financial markets quickly absorbed the surprise outcome of the U.K.

UK economic growth had already slowed from around 3 percent in 2014 to around 2 percent before the EU referendum due to slower global growth, but the vote to leave the EU is likely to lead to a significant further slowdown. UK growth is now projected to slow to around 1.6 percent in 2016 and 0.6 percent in 2017. The main reason for the slowdown will be a decline in business investment, particularly from overseas in areas like commercial property.

Based on a FOX Research, the average family office spends about 32 percent of its time on financial administration and reporting. That’s almost 17 weeks a year spent on collecting, verifying, analyzing, and consolidating financial information. For some family offices, these jobs took up as much as 75 percent of their time, which left them with little time to contribute to the true strategic objectives of a family office. The good news is that there is a better way, but first it's important to examine where family offices are going wrong.