We anticipate a period of market consolidation leading up to, and including, the summer and would not be surprised to see more elevated levels of volatility. However, over the longer term we see risk assets continuing to be supported by valuations and abundant liquidity, although tail risks to growth from global fiscal policy remain.
Interest rates continue to bump along near historical lows. Given the asymmetric risk/reward of holding bonds with extraordinarily low yields, some investors have been reconsidering their holdings. Investors worried about rising interest rates have several options (among them, shortening duration and using derivatives), but none are without opportu...
To earn returns in the regulated energy sector, investors will need to be aware of and understand the following items: supply and demand dynamics, interactions across the various commodity supply chains, the overall macro environment and impact on specific names and subsectors, regulatory and political environment, and operational and safety issues...
Deciding whether to invest in an art fund? This article examines challenges in defective title that art funds and their investors may face in the unregulated art and collectibles market.
Today’s collectors increasingly view art as an investment. Best practices should be applied to collectibles similar to those applied to traditional assets like homes and automobiles. This article reviews the important and complex issues surrounding the legal and financial risks that pervade ownership of this “new asset class.”
In this quarterly hedge fund review from Crystal Capital Partners, LLC, the author examines the following:Asset Flows and Industry TrendsHedge Fund PerformanceStrategy Attribution2014 Investment ThemesCCP ("Crystal Capital Partners") Candidate Performance vs. Hedge Fund Indices Performance
Altantic Trust Private Wealth Management highlights the following in their Economic and Investment Overview for the first quarter of 2014:Economy: Stronger global growth in 2014U.S. – less fiscal drag, more jobs. 3% growth achievable.Europe – slow recovery, deflation risks remain.Japan – “Abenomics” experiment working so far.Emerging economies – wi...
This edition of Altair Insight, a quarterly market review from Altair Advisers, explores the following key topics:The potential is building for a ‘dot-gov’ bubble to develop because of all the Fed’s easy money. But it has not formed yet.Bernanke averted a Depression but ends his tenure with a mixed record and a grade of “Incomplete.”The energy rena...
The sale of a business can be one of the most significant events for families of wealth. Often, family members have devoted substantial time and resources to building a successful enterprise.While the sale of the business may be viewed as the successful culmination of years of work, it may also cause concern for the owner, who feels there is not en...
In this edition of Market Insights, Glenmede provides an in-depth look at recent U.S. employment numbers and highlights the following:The post-recession employment recovery has been weak.The unemployment rate is falling, having reached 6.6 percent from a 2009 high of 10 percent.The declining labor force is the result of a natural evolution in demog...
In this Investment Strategy Update: A View From the Top Down, Atlantic Trust expands on the following:2014 has certainly met their expectation of “less return, more volatility” compared with last year.After a weak January, a strong February and a trendless March, the stock market is oscillating around a flat return so far this year.After a dismal 2...
As the family office sector evolves fund structures are becoming increasingly relevant and beneficial to manage the assets within the family. Many of the usual considerations for fund managers are equally valid for family offices.This article describes the several potential fund structures that:Provide a recognised and well established legal framew...
In this 2013 study, Northern Trust examines how institutional investors might be using alternative indexes in their portfolios. With the increased focus on risk management and the growing demand for low-cost, transparent strategies, they wondered whether making an allocation to alternative indexes might be the new active decision in beta management...
In the second quarter 2014 issue of Rockefeller & Co.’s Global Foresight, entitled “Mapping Out the Future,” David P. Harris, CFA, Chief Investment Officer, and Jimmy C. Chang, CFA, Chief Equity Strategist, take a closer look at potential opportunities within the generally-struggling emerging markets and contrast them to the developed markets. ...
Four investment “styles” – Value, Momentum, Carry, and Defensive – have emerged as compelling sources of alternative returns, backed by economic theory and decades of data across geographies and asset groups. When applied as long-short strategies, these styles have delivered positive long-term returns across multiple asset g...