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The confluence of favorable market dynamics, including high corporate cash balances, low interest rates and cooperative capital markets, has created an environment in which corporate management teams and boards of directors can take action to increase value for equity owners.Engagement by shareholders, both private and public, is on the rise and ha...

Throughout our history, investors have utilized a combination of both “active” and “passive” investment solutions to solve for client needs. This paper provides a perspective on the ongoing debate over the advantages and shortcomings of these vehicles and details the importance for each client to have the right mix in order to position them to achi...

Periods of economic boom and bust have been a fixture in academia. Many credit Arthur Burns and Wesley Mitchell for formulizing our present day construct of the business cycle in their 1946 book, Measuring Business Cycles. In most teachings, the economy is neatly categorized into trough and peak, expansion and contraction. The dates of such periods...

The phenomenal success of Yale's endowment has been an inspiration to many investors. However, if Yale’s endowment had to pay the same taxes as individual investors, its portfolio would be constructed very differently. This paper presents a simple model for incorporating tax considerations into a pretax asset allo...

The phenomenal success of Yale's endowment has been an inspiration to many investors. However, if Yale’s endowment had to pay the same taxes as individual investors, its portfolio would be constructed very differently. This paper presents a simple model for incorporating tax considerations into a pretax asset allo...

Many families have significant wealth tied up in the publicly traded shares of a single firm. Concentrated exposure to a single stock—often the family’s original source of wealth—represents a significant risk to the family’s wealth and its future spending and charitable-gifting power. Emotional ties to the company that may have made the f...

Our Convergence thought leadership focuses on transformative technologies in the early 21st century. Insights and data shared demonstrate the significant impact these integrated technologies will have on virtually all industries and people worldwide for years to come.

While subdued inflation and low bond yields have been key common features across major economies in the current growth recovery, the divergence in labour market dynamics has been striking. Whereas the rise in Euro area unemployment has barely been dented, the fall in US or UK unemployment has been faster than anticipated.

This white paper reviews how the new landscape of energy in the U.S. is changing the national discourse on energy independence, influencing our economic recovery and offering opportunities for discriminating investors.

The big difference between 1999, 2007, and today is the lack of a fundamental trigger to upset the apple cart. The current environment is potentially more dangerous and more durable than the prior two periods.

The paper discusses how many advisors and high net worth clients view life insurance as an expense as opposed to a dynamic asset that requires constant monitoring, analysis and periodic decision-making to give it the best opportunity to perform as it was intended. Included are some case examples of real life situations and once read can provi...

For the five years ending in 2013, U.S. public equity markets returned between 16% and 23% annually. In one of the strongest ever periods for equity markets, investors' portfolios benefitted from core equity investments while allocations to anything else became a drag on performance and an opportunity cost for portfolios. Alternativ...

This article addresses the nature and causes of low volatility, what developments might upset market equilibrium, what history tells us about this phenomenon, and how investors might prepare for periods of greater fluctuation in asset values.

With broad equity markets performing exceptionally well over the last five years, there has been much debate over the benefits of active versus passive investment strategies. As strong proponents of fundamental investing, we have long believed that well-executed, actively managed strategies outperform passive index-based approaches over full market...

With bonds providing so little yield in today's market, should life insurance be viewed as an investment? Whether or not you view insurance as an "asset class," permanent life insurance is definitely an asset, and it can help investors achieve their long-term financial goals. Thoughtful coordination of insurance and invest...