Resource Search

Incentive trusts are typically defined as trusts with provisions to encourage or discourage certain types of behavior and promote family values. Despite their appeal, they remain underutilized. One of the key reasons for this is that they’re somewhat impractical when used with traditional types of trust administration. Rather than relying on one-stop shopping full service or delegated trustees, the best incentive trusts generally require several family members and trusted family advisors to act as distribution fiduciaries, advisors, and mentors.

Three converging trends—including a shift from negative to positive screening—are making it easier for investors to implement impact investment programs that deliver competitive returns.

Artwork, along with other types of assets, can be used as collateral for a loan to purchase property, invest in a business, or to buy more art. There are no limitations on the use of the proceeds. But before enlisting your art collection and other high-value assets to help secure the financing for a big purchase, there are a few things to consider, including appraisals and due diligence.

Each decade of life brings unique challenges and opportunities, financial and otherwise. Focusing on each stage from the 40s to the 70s, we highlight the planning issues that may be ripe for your consideration, including revisiting your estate plan, downsizing your home, and constructing your general retirement plan.

Stories that are passed down from generation to generation are a way to create a family legacy that will be remembered long after we are gone. These stories are precious in understanding who we are and where we came from. Too often, the people who hold the keys to family stories lose details to memory loss or pass away before their histories can be recorded. Vacation time and the holiday season are ripe opportunities for families to seize the moment to capture family history across generations.

Today, investors of all sizes are utilizing their capital to do good while also doing well. A multitude of impacting investing options are available for foundations, family offices, and individual investors to align their values with their investment portfolios. Whether it is through ESG-screened ETFs and mutual funds, green bonds, PACE bonds, or private equity funds, impact investing is a win-win that can drive much needed social and environment change while also earning a good market-rate financial return.

Strategic investors and private equity firms around the world turned to transactional risk insurance in record numbers in 2017 to reduce deal risk in a highly competitive mergers and acquisitions (M&A) environment. In the latest Transactional Risk report, it provides details on the demand for transactional risk insurance globally. Other key findings include corporate buyers increasing their use of transactional risk insurance and a demand for both traditional and innovative transactional risk products is rising, particularly for contingent tax risk.

Transactions for the purchase and sale of businesses are rarely all cash deals. No matter the transaction structure, the use of financing to consummate the purchase creates a new dimension and layers of complexity requiring additional scrutiny and analysis by a discerning seller (or its principals). When financing the purchase of your business, there are five things the deal team should consider.

Employers are facing workplace retention challenges with increasing regularity. Whether this is the result of a shift in generational norms or a strong economy, employees seem to be more mobile than ever before. Looking at costs alone, recent studies have shown that the cost of recruiting a new employee can be as high as 200% of the former employee’s salary. What can employers do in response to increase higher retention rates?

Today, a quarter of 65-year-olds will live past age 90, and one in 10 will live past age 95. Living longer has considerable benefits for individuals and their families, but living longer is also creating new challenges. Traditionally, managing wealth in preparation for the later stages of life is centered on estate planning and tax efficiency. As people live longer, this narrow focus is inadequate.