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The familiar cliché that hindsight is 20/20 seems particularly apt as we step into the year 2020 and look back on the decade of the 2010s. Throughout the past 10 years, we returned time and time again to principles and themes that we considered vital for success not just in this decade, but any decade. Revisiting the core principles and themes, while also highlighting the market’s lessons, will serve wealthy families well in the decade to come.

In 2020, we see a slightly better economic growth environment but modest capital market returns relative to the stellar gains of 2019. The global economy and markets will take two steps forward as stimulus measures lead to firming global growth, but policy uncertainty will cause markets to periodically take a step back. The U.S. election will come into focus, and markets will ebb and flow with the changing dynamics of the race. Equities should outperform fixed income. The push and pull interest rate environments is set to continue.

As technological advances are disrupting and transforming companies in every sector, the traditional investing landscape is also being disrupted. Venture capital is at the core of the transformation and has become a critical component of a long-term investment strategy. With the potential for attractive returns and significant impact to society, venture investing presents a prime platform for cross-generational conversations about investing and the critical role it can play in the family’s portfolio.

In seeking to evaluate the risk and return potential for a range of asset classes within the anticipated investment environment, there is caution given the deceleration in the economic cycle indicators that are monitored. A recession is not anticipated in 2020, but the conditions could change rapidly and investors should be prepared to make adjustments as necessary and appropriate.

It is an open question whether investors in 2020 will remain as sanguine as they did in 2019. The U.S. and China are settling into a protracted battle over strategic interests, global economic growth is slowing, and central banks are running out of options. Meanwhile, political uncertainty is elevated with voters voicing their frustrations everywhere. Even if politics and growth do surprise to the upside, weak earnings and stretched valuations, at least for many assets, may weigh on returns.

For the first time, more than half of the CEOs surveyed believe the rate of global GDP growth will decline. This caution has translated into CEO’s low confidence in their own organization’s outlook. While this subdued outlook may cause concern, it is also not surprising. Shifting headlines around trade conflicts, climate change, political strife, cyber threats, social unrest and the like, cloud CEO's outlook on the road ahead.

The financial services sector was cited as one of the top industries likely to experience increase in deal activity in 2020, according to BDO’s US Private Capital Outlook. We take a deeper look at the trend in this episode of the Private Equity PErspectives Podcast.

While investing isn't the same as war, Sun Tzu's advice on preparation is still applicable. In looking ahead and preparing for what can happen, a set of key themes and investment implications emerge around fractured politics in 2020, trade war and the unloved expansion, and efficacy of monetary policy and negative yields.

While “gifting down” to younger generations has historically been the norm, it’s now increasingly common for children to accumulate more wealth than their living parents. This provides an opportunity for children to “gift up” or provide loans to help support parents—while pursuing income and estate tax planning. Other gifting strategies can include gifting assets or creating a trust to help support their parents' living expenses or health care costs. Each solution has pros and cons.

More than a decade ago, central banks embarked on a highly unconventional monetary policy path—generally referred to as "quantitative easing." This made possible the longest recorded U.S. economic upswing in history. But can this monetary "magic" continue to work? It is up for debate and is the premise of this year's six investment themes, beginning with "policy pressures need prudent response."