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January Headlines
Family Continuity and Governance
Industry Trends and Issues
Investment Planning
Lifestyle
Real Estate
Risk Management
Family Continuity and Governance
A Guide to Family Governance Planning
Family governance can help perpetuate family wealth and also deal with contentious and political issues within the family. Wells Fargo offers a guide to help create a family governance plan, looking at the key elements of a plan as well as offering a comprehensive model and process for constructing it.
Limiting Directed Trustees’ Liability
A directed trustee is chosen to advise a trustee on investment or distribution decisions for a trust. But as key decision-makers, directed trustees face potential liability. This article by Richard Nenno of Wilmington Trust Corp. explores the role of directed trustees, examines statutes and case law and looks at how these trustees can limit their liability risk.
Resolving Conflict with Private Mediation
Issues between family members can create conflicts that never get addressed or resolved. That can create rifts in the family and prevent it from moving forward with a unified vision. This article from Handler, Thayer & Duggan discusses how private mediation can help family members reach a solution that works for both sides.
Industry Trends and Issues
Another Look at Private Wealth
International Financial Services London offers its take on the international market for private wealth in a report titled "International Private Wealth Management 2007." IFSL analyzes the size, structure and key developments for the market of individuals with at least $1 million in investable assets.
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More Diverse Portfolios
Investors in the United Kingdom are opting for more diverse investments in their portfolios, according to information from Barclays Stockbrokers. Barclays found that 79 percent of investors were making efforts to keep their portfolios diversified. Among the investors, 20 percent diversify by investing in different asset classes, 19 percent through different markets and 40 percent through different sectors, such as aerospace and financial services.
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Emerging East Asian Economies More Resilient
Thanks to strong economic growth and improved financial systems, emerging East Asian economies are more resilient in the face of market turbulence. This comes from a report by the Asian Development Bank, which examines the markets, assesses remaining risks and recommends shortcomings to address in the region’s debt markets.
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Credit Crisis and Municipal Markets
Municipal bonds have traditionally been safe, tax-favored investments, but concerns about bond issuers’ claims ability had called that into question. This white paper from Asset Preservation Advisors explores the credit crisis and concludes that while a handful of insurers could temporarily lose their AAA ratings, the long-term impact on the municipal market should be minimal.
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Family Offices Allocating More to Private Equity
Family offices have been increasing their allocations to private equity, a trend that’s likely to continue according to a study by European Venture Capital and Private Equity Association. The report also found a strong preference for investing in buyout funds and evidence that the number of family offices will increase as more company owners retire.
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Investment Planning
Capturing the Opportunity in Hedge Funds
In the increasingly competitive hedge fund market, managers of larger funds are targeting institutional money, while smaller firms are competing fiercely for wealthy investors, according to a report by Rothstein Kass. Drawing on responses from senior partners at hedge fund organizations, the report looks at the changing strategies and market forces that affect their business operations.
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Exchange Funds as a Diversification Strategy
A long-term investor seeking immediate, low-cost diversification may want to consider exchange funds as a strategy, according to a paper from Atlantic Trust Private Wealth Management. The paper considers the risks and benefits of exchange funds and recommends paying careful attention to the fund’s issuer and structure.
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The Place for Absolute Return Funds in Asset Allocation
Absolute return funds deserve a place in anyone’s investment portfolio, according to a research paper from Liberty Gateway Investment Management Co. Rather than trying to fit these and other alternative investments into a traditional portfolio, Liberty recommends looking at traditional and alternative investments simultaneously to create the best possible portfolio at a given level of risk.
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The Growing Microfinance Investment Market
Microfinance may be an attractive, emerging investment opportunity for private investors, according to a report by Deutsche Bank. Researchers found that the volume of microfinance loans grew from $4 billion in 2001 to about $25 billion in 2006. The study expects microfinance to evolve into a niche investment product with individual and institutional investments reaching $20 billion by 2015.
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Lifestyle
In Search of High-Quality, Time-Saving Services
The wealthy are changing the luxury industry as they look for services to save time and make their lives easier. That’s a conclusion by Barclays Wealth in a report titled “The True Value of Wealth.” Two-thirds of the respondents said wealth has given them more time but also more stress. Many plan to use more time-saving services, such as private jets, personal shoppers and at-home fitness trainers.
- Read the article
- Read the complete report
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The Expat Approach: Save or Splurge?
Moving to the Middle East has significantly improved 30 percent of expatriates’ lifestyles over staying in their home countries, according to a survey of 500 expat professionals by Zurich International Life’s Wealth Monitor. However, almost half of the expats have chosen to spend the extra income on enhancing their lifestyles by buying sports cars or taking more holidays, rather than saving, the survey found.
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Real Estate
An Investment Strategy for 2008
“Stay the course” is the main approach suggested for property investment in the new year by LaSalle Investment Management. In its 2008 Investment Strategy Annual, LaSalle looks specifically at international real estate as a growing mainstream strategy and at possible outcomes of the sharp tightening in the credit markets.
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REITs Continue to Find a Place in Portfolios
Most independent financial advisors continue to reserve a place in client portfolios for real estate investment trusts, despite turbulence across stock markets and in the property sector. This comes from a study by Reita of more than 240 U.K.-based financial advisors. The researchers found that 34 percent of IFAs showed increased preference for global funds and concern about U.K. property investment.
- Read the article
- Read the survey highlights
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Risk Management
When Private Information Walks Out the Door
Flash drives and laptops may pose a threat to company security as employees take confidential information outside the office, according to a survey from Tower Software. The U.K.-based company found that 55 percent of surveyed employees store work-related e-mails, files and documents in locations other than a secure, shared computer network.
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Sneak Attacks from Unexpected Sources
China has become a prime source of malicious computer activity, according to Finjan, a California-based provider of Web security solutions. In its December monthly report, Finjan shows the network of connections between Chinese-based servers and how hackers use it to launch spyware attacks from legitimate, even government, websites in Western countries. The report also details how the attacks work and what action can be taken against them.
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Protecting Offshore Finances
U.K. citizens who are retirees living abroad or overseas workers face the dilemma of staying with a bank back home or shifting to a local financial institution. This article by Abbey National for EUBankers.net considers the pros and cons. It also offers suggestions for how to protect against identity theft while living abroad.
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