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As insurance companies continue to face challenges due to the recent economic turmoil, many clients and advisors have expressed concern. In this environment, it is easy to lose sight of the proven policyholder protections that continue to be provided by the life insurance industry, including regulatory and third-party oversight and mechanisms to su...

Direct investment in private companies can deliver returns far exceeding those of private equity and other asset classes while also providing attractive diversification and increased control. The potential for outsize returns, however, comes with increased risk, meaning investors must carefully assess the various financial, organizational and manag...

Four basic hedging techniques – long/short, covered call, buy/write indexing and index put options – represent varying levels of risk but, used appropriately, may reduce portfolio volatility and smooth overall returns. Defensive hedging, techniques designed to protect against loss, may even be well-suited for cautious or conservative investors.

It is at the turning points, both market highs and lows, that investors can either increase or forfeit large portions of their portfolios. These are also the times when they can make the wrong decisions. But with the right frame of mind and a willingness to do what others won't, investors can take advantage of the opportunities created by volatile ...

A contingency plan helps ensure that a single or multi-family office is prepared to deal with a disaster effectively, minimizing any financial loss, reputational damage, irreparable damage to fundamental operations and legal liability. Such a plan should address continuance imperatives in three fundamental areas: personnel performance, business pro...

Effective collections security is the application of general security practices centering on concentricity, redundancy and reliability. Ultra-wealthy collectors are wise to examine the relevant work experience of prospective vendors to determine both their credentials and their ability to protect valuable items.

Protecting assets is an ever-present reality in the information age. From the courtesy checks from a credit card company to Gmail, Twitter and Facebook, there is an abundance of fertile ground for financial crime. The good news is that there are a multitude of practical tips and safeguards everyone can implement to preserve their identity and prope...

Criminal justice scholars have systematically demonstrated that subjective indicators, such as collective perceptions of economic hardship, are sufficient to influence crime rates. However, research focusing on solely objective indicators, such as unemployment rates, gross product per capita and inflation levels, has shown a murkier relationship be...

An annual survey of senior executives globally finds that theft of electronic data has overtaken physical theft as the most frequently reported fraud. The survey finds fear of fraud is dissuading companies from operating in other countries.

This comprehensive report discusses organizational pandemic preparedness and response as well as business continuity management, provides background information on the H1N1 virus and human influenza pandemics, highlights the international implications of a pandemic and outlines some of the potential insurance coverage issues related to pandemics.

Nobody wants to worry about health security, but the reality is that prudent individuals who have the means and capability of risk assessment and management in other areas of their lives cannot assume that they are invincible or that either the government or the medical system will be adequate to fill in for a lack of health risk management.

Identity theft is a risk that grows and changes daily. Keeping up to date with the latest prevention methods is the surest way to protect oneself from the many forms that identity theft can take, including medical, credit and financial theft. This helpful checklist offers suggestions for minimizing the risk of identity theft as well as steps to tak...

An informed discussion of the issue can help a family see that between the two extremes of attitude toward kidnapping (avoiding the danger by staying at home or regarding it as an uncontrollable cost of doing business or traveling) there are a number of steps that can be taken to reduce the likelihood of a kidnapping.

While college students may act like teens, they legally are adults – a distinction parents may overlook as they send their children off to school. Parents are wise to plan for legal issues that may arise by establishing a durable power of attorney, a healthcare proxy, a will and trust instruments as well as waivers with the college to acquire acces...

Traditional forms of insurance often provide no protection to a non-profit organization in the event of a lawsuit by an employee, a member of the organization or a contractor. Directors and officers liability insurance can offer extended coverage, protecting the organization whenever it is called upon to defend itself or its personnel.