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Investors face choices about how much to allocate across the liquidity spectrum of public equity, hedge funds, and private markets. The author outlines the benefits and costs in providing a framework for allocating across those three levels of liquidity when investing in equity markets for commodity producers.

This paper considers some of the key risks warranting board of directors' attention in the next year and proposes practical steps to take in response to political risk and the role of emerging economies, supply chain risk and business resiliency, capital investment and project-related risk, cyber risk, and compliance and regulatory risk.

By making charitable contributions from within the family's closely held business, the potential donor can maximize the benefits of a charitable contribution and the value of the assets being contributed, structure the gift transaction to supplement the business owner's finances after the gift, and coordinate with succession planning for the business.

To achieve lower borrowing costs and longer payment schedules for bond-issuing eurozone countries, bond alchemists (or policymakers) must ensure that the banks holding periphery bonds don't suffer significant losses, that the issuing countries can return to the markets, and that investors are confident the countries won't default.

Investors buy gold out of fear that the economic and political infrastructure we count on when we buy stocks and bonds is degrading. And gold booms inevitably end with a bust. The better strategy may be to build a reasonably sized position in diversified commodities, including gold; play close attention to sound entry points; and rebalance religiously.

Concerns about excess government debt and inflation have increased interest in gold and raised its price. Gold is a commodity that behaves more like a currency, providing no investment return beyond price fluctuation. Gold's high price undermines its protective characteristics, making it more vulnerable to declines as monetary policy normalizes.

India is the second-fastest-growing economy in the world and set to overtake China as the fastest-growing one by 2015. The key to hedging risks may lie in leveraging economies such as India's, which has had massive investment in the development of economic and financial infrastructures and offers strong, domestic consumption-led growth.

Families of wealth need to work diligently to maintain online privacy to avoid having personal information go astray or be used against them. This includes discussing the appropriate level of privacy as a family, using network privacy settings, limiting personal information available online, and monitoring children's use of social networks.

Even firms without official Facebook pages and company blogs need policies in place to address potential issues, such as employees' personal use of social media or maintenance of the firm's website. Ignoring social media-related compliance issues can expose a firm to SEC administrative penalties, a damaged reputation, or worse.

Long-term care insurance can help wealthy families with a number of issues when a family member needs extended care. These include privacy through care coordination and staff training; improved family relationships with a written plan of care; liquidity and tax issues, and estate planning by allowing gifts as planned despite medical costs.