SmartLife Funding dynamically manages life insurance by aligning the funding strategy with the insureds health profile to target the optimum period of coverage.
The “Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance & Job Creation Act of 2010” (TRA 2010) reunified the gift and estate tax systems and increased the amount a person can transfer to children and future generations during lifetime or at death to $5,000,000. As of the beginning of 2012, indexing puts that number at $5,120,000. The window on this opportunity to fully fund a generational legacy of over $10 million per couple will close on December 31, 2012. Beginning January 1, 2013, the amount passing free of gift and estate tax is back to an indexed $1,000,000.
Emerging markets have been recognized for quite a while as a place where investors can earn greater returns than in developed economies due to higher economic growth, strong balance sheets and more attractive demographics. Although investing in emerging markets remains an area of opportunity for investors, navigating an emerging market economy is challenging.
This paper examines several factors impacting investors' commodities exposure and the current sentiment on downside risks.
This paper identifies four channels through which the shock of a Greek default could spread across the Eurozone and the global economy.
Market turmoil has brought the topic of Minimum Variance Portfolios (MVP) to the forefront. But examined within a broad U.S. universe alongside the closely related Low Volatility Portfolio (LVP) counterpart are investors who employ an MVP strategy appropriately compensated for the relative risk they assume?
The national economy is showing signs of life, state and local tax receipts are on the rise, local budgets are returning to balance. Nevertheless, Moody’s and S&P are downgrading more tax-supported credits than they are upgrading. On the surface such rating actions may seem incongruous with the economic conditions. But, in fact, they are all too predictable for those familiar with the municipal market. Ratings assigned by the major public ratings companies are a backward-looking indicator of an issuer’s credit worthiness.
With interest rates at historically low levels, fixed income investors have become increasingly concerned about rising rates and how their portfolios might be affected. However, rising rates do not necessarily mean negative total returns for fixed-income investments. This paper examines the factors that can affect interest rates, as well as how fixed-income investments can respond as rates rise.
Of course, we’ve all heard the term “globalization.” It’s quickly become one of the most fashionable buzzwords of contemporary political and economic debates. Just as trade has been increasing and manufacturing has moved abroad, the capital markets have been “globalizing.” By expanding your fixed income investment horizon to include the world, you can substantially enhance your opportunity set.
This paper explores the concept of Volatility harvesting (using Volatility as an asset within your portfolio), or the extra growth generated from systematically diversifying and rebalancing.