With President Trump often communicating policy via Twitter, investors are once again finding messaging can be costly—one mere tweet from Trump blasting the pricing of an F-35 fighter jet caused Lockheed Martin to shed $2 billion of market value within minutes. Since the likely market outcome usually lies somewhere in between extreme bullish and bearish views, this edition of Global Foresight focuses on the prospects of President Trump’s legislative agenda and market valuations, as well as highlights some of the important developments outside of the U.S.
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In the healthcare industry, a multitude of factors have driven a transition from a fee-for-service model toward a fee-for-value approach, which emphasizes the quality and outcome of care delivered. This emerging trend could present interesting investment opportunities that is also in alignment with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal of good health and well-being. Beyond the steady rise in healthcare costs and increasing burden placed on consumers, three factors are believed to have advanced the adoption of a fee-for-value model.
The stock market abounds with colorful sayings that reflect the collective wisdom of decades of investment experience. For professional investors, these time-worn adages are reminders of sometimes-painful past market episodes and the unending challenge of getting the future right. But at the end of the day, can these slogans actually be useful in making investment decisions? Yes, but the best investment strategy is one that incorporates reasonable expectations for future market returns and establishes guardrails to avoid being swept up by the emotion that inhibits investment success.
Nearly all investment professionals rely upon portfolio optimization techniques grounded in Modern Portfolio Theory to structure investment portfolios for individual investors. Using statistical techniques and computer-assisted modeling, investment advisers are able to combine different types of assets such as stocks, bonds, cash, real estate, and hedge funds to create portfolios that claim to offer the best possible return for specified level of risk, or to minimize the amount of risk an investor must assume to achieve a specified amount of return.
Impact investing uses investment capital to solve social or environmental problems. Such investments often promote renewable energy, food, water, health, and economic development. While once of interest to a relative few, impact investing has gone mainstream and, according to US SIF, now accounts for more than one out of every six dollars under professional management in the United States.
What do people really mean when they talk about “impact investing?” Why do people make impact investments, and how do they do it? What counts, and what doesn’t? This primer provides family enterprises with clear explanations of the “why,” “how,” and “what” of impact investing. Whether families are just dipping their toes in the water, or ready to dive in, families can make more impact investments more effectively.
Fixed income is a cornerstone of traditionally balanced investment portfolios, offering stable income, varying liquidity, and a relatively low-risk profile. Given the prevalence and diversity of fixed income investment opportunities, families who wish to create or expand an impact investment portfolio may find fixed income to be a good place to start. Families can align their investments with their values (or philanthropic mission) by incorporating social and environmental factors into their fixed income investment decisions.
For decades, asset owners have worked to align their public equity investments with their values. Today, many investors in public equity consider social and environmental issues in their investment selection processes. Given the diversity and demonstrable track records of these strategies, families may find public equity to be an accessible asset class as they develop impact investment portfolios. Families can make public equity impact investment in several ways to achieve their overall impact and financial objectives.
Amidst headwinds such as economic weakness in China and emerging markets, financial and stock market volatility, falling oil prices and a stronger dollar, the U.S. economy weakened to end 2015. Despite these impediments to growth, several economic indicators were encouraging. During the 4th Quarter 2015, leading indices showed that consumer confidence increased, the labor market strengthened, and the unemployment rate ended at a year low at 5.0 percent.
Before executing a commercial property lease or sales contract, the parties may prepare a letter of intent or an agreement in principle. The letter of intent or a similar document (the “LOIs”) generally signals that the parties have agreed on the outline of a deal, but not on all of its provisions or details.