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In the last decade, multinational organizations have undertaken unprecedented international expansion, leaving them exposed to an expanding array of global credit and political risks. And those risks—including terrorism and political violence, armed conflicts, increasingly powerful anti-establishment political movements, the threat of global ...

Despite modest recoveries across most markets in the fourth quarter, 2015 was a poor year for investment returns. While concerns at the end of 2015 continue now—volatility in China’s domestic Shanghai market, rising interest rates in the U.S., falling oil prices, the U.S. dollar’s strength—history has shown that markets ofte...

The markets are off to a rough start this year. Worries about the strength of the world economy caused global stocks to plunge double-digits in January before rebounding slightly. Recent manufacturing data in the U.S. has underwhelmed, the European Commission reduced its Eurozone GDP forecast to just 1.7%, and it’s anyone’s guess as to ...

In nearly every discussion about estate planning, important questions and issues arise. If couples arrive in their attorney’s office having already thought about these issues—including assessing the level of financial management skills their beneficiaries should possess, how to communicate to their children about their hopes and expectations about ...

Risk has many dimensions and individual investors tend to equate risk with loss of capital. That definition of risk may actually lead an investor astray and hinder his or her ability to meet long-term objectives. Rather than attempting to avoid risk, successful investors embrace and manage it. For private investors, one of the keys to success is se...

The forces of change in the health care and employee benefits environment have grown stronger and more disruptive with each year. But the disruption has also opened up a rich set of options to help family offices and businesses respond to the needs of the workforce, promote the need for behavioral changes, and still generate financial benefits for ...

Identity theft is a risk that continues to grow and change daily. Due to the many forms identity theft can take, including medical, credit, and financial, the threat remains prevalent and affects millions of people every year. Keeping up-to-date with the latest prevention methods is the surest way to protect the assets and identity. There are a num...

All businesses face cyber threats. Almost every company has some kind of network, database or online presence that puts it at risk for a cyber breach. Smaller businesses can be more vulnerable than larger ones as they often use third-party hosting and information processing that can be an entry point for cyber attacks. By following various proactiv...

Each year fraudsters are stealing millions of dollars through sophisticated fraudulent use of Email Compromise Scams targeted at individuals and employees who regularly perform wire transfers. The scam involves a fraudster creating a false email or alternatively, hacking into a real email account of an executive, business partner, employee or finan...

The easy investment returns enjoyed since the end of the financial crisis have succumbed to the pressures of elevated valuations, Federal Reserve tightening and oil price declines, which have created significant volatility, bearish sentiment and losses among investors. This changed investment environment has caused a wave of worries, with many wond...

A careful and disciplined approach to philanthropic giving combines purpose, practicality and passion. Strategic philanthropy is similar to intentional asset allocation in that it requires as much of the giver’s brain as it does the bank account. This white paper explains a higher quality of giving, an important part of many high net worth in...

The word concentrated is defined as “to direct toward one point” or “to intensify.” For wealth preservation, that’s not necessarily a good strategy. Here’s what individuals need to know about concentrated holdings and whether they should sell, hedge, exchange, donate or transfer.

As a result of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the private family trust company (PFTC) has becomie a very popular vehicle to provide not only Family Office SEC exemption but also trust administration to the ultra wealthy inter-generationally and several additional tax and non-tax advantages. This memo identifies several of ...

This paper examines how good active managers and hedge funds need to be to outperform passive index funds on an after-tax basis using over 40 years of data. The authors note that while many studies look at the impact of fees on active manager performance they are not aware of any studies that incorporate the impact of taxes over long periods o...

1031 exchanges are a common way for collectors to defer payment of federal capital gains tax when they sell appreciated property and buy like-kind property of the same or greater value. However, these exchanges must be planned carefully. This article features an example of a fine art 1031 exchange gone wrong and how alternative structures can preve...