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It is often thought that financial success comes with a certain level of financial freedom: the freedom to pursue passions, to take risks, to give back, and to make an even bigger impact. In the 2018 U.S. Trust Insights on Wealth and Worth® survey, the results revealed that only half of high-net-worth individuals have a plan to optimize the opportunities their wealth provides.

1031 Exchange, commonly known as like-kind exchange, can be a smart tax strategy for business owners who also own or invest in real estate.

Wealth brings with it some important considerations, including the obligation to have an approach to managing it. For families of significant wealth, it primarily revolves around the requirement to develop an investment strategy that ensures the wealth is maintained for future generations. It creates a shift in focus—one that takes an intergenerational approach and goes beyond the protection of capital in the short term.

In one way or another, every enterprise—and every investment—is impacted by gender, whether it be through the gender of those in leadership and governance positions, how employees experience workplace policies and practices, or how women are treated throughout the supply chain.

Corporate America is doing it, so why shouldn’t individual and institutional investors do it too? In this case, it refers to creating a so-called “fortress balance sheet” that provides protection and downside risk management by holding excess cash and cash alternatives to retain liquidity. The king of this conjectural fortress is cash—often thought of as the core foundation to a strong balance sheet due to the known and consistent outcome it delivers.

A growing trend among healthcare organizations is to evaluate and/or invest in private equity funds or directly in companies focusing on opportunities in the healthcare industry. This trend stems from the necessity of healthcare organizations to adapt to the changes within their industry in order to maintain key advantages and stay relevant. Each organization’s approach, objective, and expectation for success will differ when considering a strategic investment.

Impact investing has gone mainstream. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), which regulates single-employer and multi-employer private pension plans, now officially agrees. Recent regulatory guidance clarifies that ERISA fiduciaries may now consider ESG, impact, and other factors in their investment decisions.

Looking back over the first half of 2016, the FTSE 100 index increased by 6.7 percent when dividend payments are taken into account. However, this positive performance disguises the substantial equity market volatility seen in February, and again following the Brexit decision in June. The moves in the headline index are again misleading and market outlook is clouded in political maneuvering.

UK’s vote to leave the EU has escorted in what could be a long period of uncertainty and volatility in the market. There is also skepticism about the recent, liquidity-driven bounce in risky assets. Overall, global equities and bonds should be range bound during the remainder of 2016, although both are at the higher end of their prospective ranges. Volatility will persist due to global uncertainty, and there will most likely be a shift toward fiscal stimulus.

The 'leave' campaign, a victory for the pro-Brexit voters, was quite a surprise to markets and the world. The United Kingdom, based on a referendum of all eligible citizens, voted to leave the European Union (EU) and became the first country to do so. The effects of the referendum vote are already being felt in the political spectrum and the financial markets. However, the structural changes will take some time. Financial markets, on the other hand, have not and will not take years to digest this revolution.