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The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing recently on eight proposed tax agreements: tax treaties with Chile, Hungary and Poland, and protocols amending US tax treaties with Luxembourg, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Tax Affairs Robert Stack testified at the hearing, noting it had been over five years since the full Senate had last given its advice and consent to a tax treaty, and urging Senate action.

The SEC has issued a new risk alert on cybersecurity that registered broker-dealers and investment advisors need to follow closely. The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations pointed to six broad categories in the alert, which was released on September 15.

Squeeze, Freeze, and Burn. It sounds like an odd phrase, but it is actually a term used to describe a highly effective estate planning technique. It’s so effective, in fact, that as early as this September the IRS is expected to change some of the rules governing the “Squeeze” aspect—but more on that later.

Looking back on a calendar year in which the S&P 500 outperformed the rest of the world by nearly 18% percent, many U.S. investors are perhaps wondering why they should venture outside of their home market. Add recent headlines from abroad, including talk of geopolitical instability, a Greek exit from the Eurozone, and a stock market bubble in China, and you start to see investors clicking the heels of their ruby red slippers, hoping for a return home to Kansas.

Marriage, a new baby, a teen’s first car, a student going to college, retirement — many of life’s major events can affect not only your life insurance and estate plans but also your property and liability insurance. This article discusses several key life events and how those events impact insurance coverage.

Those in the public eye have both the blessing and burden of a complex lifestyle, and it’s imperative that they have the proper insurance program in place to protect what they’ve earned. This articles discusses the pros and cons of enhanced insurance coverage for a number of valuable assets, which includes yachts, art and even the identity of affluent individuals in the public eye.

Effective short selling enhances an investment portfolio’s risk-adjusted returns over time. All else equal, short positions lower market exposure when incorporated into a broader portfolio. Accordingly, the long/short approach generally reduces volatility and improves capital preservation over a full market cycle. The use of shorts in a portfolio typically gives long/short managers a competitive advantage over long-only investors, who are more dependent on rising markets to generate returns.

Doubts about the strength of the global expansion continue to preoccupy investors, most recently causing a meaningful but relatively normal market correction.Although the global economy has been growing for nearly six years, investors have been buffeted by a seemingly never-ending series of events, from Greece and Puerto Rico to China. Each round of news seems to bait investors to stockpile their savings under a mattress. The latest series of events recently culminated with a notable more-than-10-percent peak-to-trough correction.

Those who live in hurricane-prone regions know all too well that when August rolls around, along with end-of-season barbeques comes the possibility of inclement weather patterns. At this time each year, areas of the United States brace for potentially destructive storm systems. As we start the seventh year of a bull market, the calendar is signaling that the stock market may be nearing storm season. Based principally on continued global central bank easing and lower oil prices, we believe the bull will run for at least another year, if not longer.

Jeff Mortimer’s latest Investment Update discusses what branch of the road the market may take, how the market correction served to reset investors’ views on risk and return and how we’re managing the opportunities and/or risks.