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Hiring domestic staff such as nannies, personal assistants, and housekeepers can expose you to liability issues and danger from unscrupulous employees. It is important to understand your areas of vulnerability and take steps to protect your family and your finances. Whether you hire your own employees or the family office hires them, three often ov...

Markets are hitting new highs justified by strong earnings growth and reasonably solid economic performance in this tenth year of the expansion. Absent the traditional economic warning signs, equity markets are exhibiting some unnatural distortions. The stock market is becoming quite concentrated in a select group of growth names, and investors app...

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. For families and trust beneficiaries who are interested in impact investing, they can find that it may work in an irrevocable trust under the Unif...

Developing markets face growing risks that present a clear and present danger to middle market firms embedded in those economies. Differentials in rate policy between the U.S. central bank and its foreign counterparts, an appreciating greenback, along with an atypical late business cycle fiscal boost, present the major driving forces in interest ra...

Women continue to make great strides in wealth. However, a general theme emerges across research revealing women are still restricted by their own lack of confidence in terms of financial knowledge and the approach to investments, risk, and their role in a business. Given that most women will have sole responsibility for their wealth at some point ...

In order to sustain their businesses for the long term, successful business owners tend to be thoughtful in their investments. They act like chess masters, deciding their next five moves in order to maintain a competitive edge and stay in the game. Yet throughout this business cycle, the RSM US Middle Market Business Index has shown that middle mar...

With the passage of the recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a significant opportunity exists for investors to defer capital gains tax owed via the establishment of the newly created Federal Opportunity Zones (the “O-Zones”). By investing in Qualified Opportunity Funds, investors can defer tax on capital gains that arose in the last ...

The fundamentals of CLO investing are largely unchanged since the earliest days of the market. Analysts must still make judgments about the three key components of any CLO: portfolio, structure, and manager. Each of these components presents a complex mix of risk and value that must then be evaluated holistically—in aggregate. When investing ...

Charitable giving in the U.S. has grown to record levels in recent years, and donor-advised funds (DAFs) account for nearly 10% of all U.S. charitable giving. Learn why benefits such as tax savings, modest costs, and increased flexibility and convenience can make DAFs an attractive option for those looking to donate.

The bond market often provides important clues about investor expectations that are harder to discern from the daily vacillations of stock prices. Today the jump in 10-year yields has widened the spread between 2’s and 10’s to 34 basis points, moving further away from the feared inverted yield curve condition. And based upon little chan...

The wealthy are caught in the high-beam headlights of toxic rhetoric around equity, inequality, greed, power, excessive affluence, and influence of the wealthiest 1 percent. This has become a hot issue in the political environment, where both old media and new social media continue to add data that fuels the growing anger toward, and mistrust of, w...

Last week was relatively quiet in terms of global economic data, with investors watching actions by central banks. The European Central Bank announced additional monthly asset purchases and cuts to interest rates, which President Mario Draghi believes will be sufficient to support economic activity. This week, meetings are scheduled for the Bank of...

Financial markets steadied through the end of February and into early March, led by stabilizing oil prices, relief in the exchange value of the Chinese yuan and other emerging market currencies, and some improved domestic economic data points. Stronger retail sales, industrial production and jobless claims helped alleviate near-term recession fears...

U.S. equities are entering 2016 and approaching the seven-year bull market anniversary amidst market crosscurrents, however, macro and fundamental backdrops remain favorable for equities. Inflation, earnings, valuation, interest rates, and sentiment are all generally supportive of equity prices. Conversely, the continued drop in oil prices, slow pa...

The spillover of recent market volatility from China into the rest of the world reflects poor communication by Chinese authorities and a lack of transparency of their ultimate goals. The backdrop of global volatility is also reflective of rising fears of geopolitical risks, especially a Middle Eastern conflict. Economic growth indicators have also ...