If you have been ordered to evacuate a storm area, knowing how to respond will help you protect your family and home before and after an evacuation. Learn the important steps to take when local authorities ask you to leave your home.
The wildfire season has caused unprecedented damage across the United States. With drought conditions prevalent across much of the western United States, the wildfire outlook continues above normal wildfire conditions. Learn what you can do to be prepared for it.
Being prepared and knowing how to respond to a hurricane or storm makes the difference in minimizing damage and protecting you, your family, and property. Here is a checklist to help guide you on what to do before and during hurricane season.
In the aftermath of a natural disaster, businesses will need to take the important steps to recovery. Here is a checklist to help guide you through that process. For additional tips and guidance on how to prepare for other disasters, see the following: Hurricane Safety Checklist Evacuation Checklist: Preparing for a Hurricane or S...
Because of losses in catastrophe-prone areas and other hard market factors, insurance carriers have pulled back the amount of insurance they’ll offer. Despite the hard market, real estate owners and operators that have well-maintained properties and who are prepared for catastrophes will have an advantage. Overall, the formula for a better insuranc...
Sound money is the result when interest rates are above the rate of inflation, a development that is expected to persist in the years ahead. In the meantime, the transition to a higher interest rate environment has no doubt challenged investors, who have endured historical losses in bonds and high volatility in stocks. But make no mistake: This str...
Rising global rates, a strong U.S. dollar, and tightening liquidity conditions have weighed on sentiment in emerging markets (EMs). But EMs may be regaining their footing as easier monetary conditions could drive growth in 2024 for both equities and debt alike. Any recovery, however, is unlikely to be uniform. As a new cycle unfolds, we expect the ...
The uneven historic GDP growth, deflation, and low corporate productivity have made Japan a tough market for investors. But given the strong performance in 2023, the Japanese market is changing. Starting with Abenomics more than a decade ago and the more recent initiatives by Japanese stock exchanges, the tangible changes in Japan are attracting in...
When families gather at their cottages or vacation properties, the senior generation might think how nice it would be for these multi-generational gatherings to continue after they pass. But before designing an estate plan to address the future generations’ continued use and enjoyment of this property, there are two important questio...
Once a family has made a decision to pass the ownership of family cottage or vacation property to the next generation, you will need to give thought to how that ownership will be held. There are basically three options for the form of ownership and use of a cottage by multiple households of a family: co-tenancy, a trust, or a limited liability comp...
Once you have decided to pass the family vacation property to the next generation, and you have chosen the ownership form you want to use, the last step in preparing for the transfer is to create an agreement that spells out the use and maintenance of the property and governs a family member’s exit from ownership (if that becomes necessary). Learn ...
President Joe Biden’s executive order targeting U.S. investments in certain industries in China has raised questions about its impact on global markets and investment portfolios. In examining its potential effects, NEPC’s Senior Investment Director, Jennifer Appel, shares her insights on what the executive order means for investors. She also provid...
Bank failures, tighter monetary policy, and rising fear of a “hard landing” have heightened economic uncertainty. Despite these challenges, inflation is subsiding, consumer spending is stable, and the labor market remains strong. In light of the market turbulence, investors are reacting to any news, positive or negative, in search of clarity about ...
FROM “POLYCRISIS” to “POLYOPPORTUNITIES”: In October 2022, in an article in the Financial Times 1, historian Adam Toze brought back into popular use the term “polycrisis” to describe the situation the world was in, with several crises building each other to create an intertwined web of complex disruptions. The developments in mid-March 2023 arou...
A beautiful summer home on the beach or keeping a home of your grandparents for all family branches to gather, relax, and enjoy sounds ideal. What happens when your cousin comes with her five kids and three large dogs for a month? Or the taxes and maintenance are being split equally and you barely use the property? Or what if some family members le...