Shareholders of publicly-traded companies have a powerful voice in improving business practices and enhancing the financial performance of the companies in which they are invested. As the business case grows for sound social and environmental practices, investors are increasingly using a shareholder engagement to drive strategic and positive changes in corporations—and society at large. Further, wealth advisors and family offices are in a unique position to facilitate individual investor involvement in shareholder engagement initiatives by enabling and simplifying the process.
Investment Management
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In the U.S. the first quarter GDP growth fell short of the consensus forecast; however, stocks have remained surprisingly resilient, currently sitting just below all-time highs. Overall, Energy, Financials, and Information Technology have been the primary growth drivers. In Europe, Independent centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron defeated populist/Eurosceptic candidate Marine Le Pen, shifting investors’ focus to improving economic data. In China, the pace of expansion is expected to ease as the government continues to tighten policy and target areas of excess.
The Quarterly Statement: 2017 Q1
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The start of 2017 was a stark but welcomed contrast to the prior year. In January 2016, U.S. markets experienced one of their worst starts in history―hampered by concerns of slowing global growth, bottoming oil prices, and an impending election season. This January, these worries seemed far from investors’ minds. Domestic and international markets took economic and political news in stride, shrugging off uncertainty as most regions, asset classes, and sectors generated positive returns for the quarter.
It is widely accepted that asset allocation is the most important investment decision for a portfolio yet, in recent years, many Chief Investment Officers at large institutions are questioning the mainstream asset allocation frameworks. These CIOs recognize that investment portfolios today face an elevated risk of bad investment outcomes, but existing frameworks may not be helpful to avoid big losses without lowering expected portfolio returns.
Known Knowns, Known Unknowns, Unknown Unknowns: Real Estate Investing in a Time of Uncertainty
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Real estate investing always involves the underwriting, pricing, and management of a number of risks. Many of these are local and asset-specific. But understanding the impact of macroeconomic, capital market, and demographic risks are also critical to successful property investment. There are times when economic and capital market trends seem relatively benign if not predictable. This is not one of those times.
Chasing Yale with a Vengeance
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This session will discuss one family office executive's experience running a significant trading portfolio targeting a double-digit return with minimal drawdown. The speaker will share some surprising observations as to what market opportunities family offices should be pursuing, and how they can best exploit their distinct “edge” in the pursuit of returns.
Breakout #2: What Would Yale Do if it Were Taxable?
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The session will present the investment and allocation practices from institutional investors but incorporate the critical element of tax management in seeking an optimal after-tax asset allocation. The session will analyze the approach used by the Yale Endowment through the lens of a taxable investor.
Investors have been moving significant capital out of active long-only strategies, driven by the relatively low number that outperform the passive benchmark over time, especially relative to their fees.
2017 FOX Global Investment Survey
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This annual FOX survey of investor attitudes and behaviors provides readers with peer perspective from 118 family offices on a wide range of topics, including asset allocation and investment performance, passive versus active investing in long-only equity, 2017 investment trends, benchmarking a multi-asset portfolio, current economic outlook, investment opportunities and financial challenges for 2017.Webinar
Rising Rates and Bond Portfolios
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Rising interest rates late in 2016 took a toll on bond prices, and were the catalyst for one of the worst quarters for bonds in recent decades. Current expectations are for interest rates to move gradually higher in 2017. While rising rates can be a headwind to bond performance in the near term, they don’t impact the coupon rate or cash flow associated with most bonds over time. Over the long-term, higher yields are actually a positive for investors.