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Be sure that your heirs have the information they need to access your online accounts.

Even with the recently enacted financial industry reform legislation, prudent investors should evaluate whether their advisors are truly acting in their best interest by examining nine areas in which a conflict of interest could exist.

Understanding the family history can help to create a family legacy, establish sound strategy to keep future generations interested in a family business and develop philanthropic missions for these future generations.

Due to new money market regulations and other structural changes in the cash markets, institutional and retail investors are reviewing their short-term investment options and liquidity needs. This paper provides an overview of money market funds, the recent changes in 2a-7 money market regulations, and our view of the impact on money markets.

In the post-Madoff era, the foundation and non-profit sector continues to struggle with how to invest philanthropic assets most appropriately and how to ensure that boards and staff are managing investments prudently.

This white paper describes what CLOs are and how they fit into the broader basket of financial structured products. Keeping in mind that the arena of structured credit has changed much over the past couple of years, this paper refers to a 2006 CLO structure to describe the essentials of CLO structures. Bank loans are briefly described, followed by a section on how CLOs are managed. A brief history of CLOs is introduced with a section on the changing investor profile over the past few years, dovetailing into the role of rating agencies in the CLO market.

Families who employ private staff are wise to conduct periodic audits and adjustments of their hiring processes, says a new paper from Mahler Private Staffing. A close examination of hiring protocols may reveal gaps that should be closed to protect employers and employees as well as to optimize the search process.

A Private Family Trust Company (PFTC) is typically a family owned LLC (i.e. pass through entity or corporation), authorized by a state’s Division of Banking to be a PFTC and serve as the trustee for the family’s trusts. This article outlines key considerations in establishing a PFTC and two alternatives: a Directed Trust and a Directed Trust combined with a Special Purpose LLC.

While oil prices are likely to be range-bound across the next few years, natural gas prices are establishing new, higher support levels after experiencing multi-year lows. Natural gas prices are likely to get a boost from politics as well as the weather and speculation.

Nearly all states have “delegated” trust statutes, but only a few states, such as South Dakota, have “directed” trust statutes, which provide families with maximum flexibility and control regarding a trust’s asset allocation, diversification, investment management and distributions.