Articles

The belief financial crises and negative outcomes are something that happen to other people in other countries at other times – what has been dubbed the ‘this time is different’ syndrome – is firmly rooted in financial markets. Why this is so might be largely explained by the conviction we are doing things better, we are smarter and have learned from past mistakes.

Fundamental for a family is their choice of custodian and consideration of the master global custodian (MGC) model. Closely connected with this is the power of consolidated reporting, which flows from such custodians. The first is essential to basic financial security and the second optimises family office (FO) administrative efficiency.

Looking for risk-adjusted returns from private equity investments in what was once known as the ‘lost continent.’

Investors are missing an important opportunity to effectively manage portfolio risk as they pay scant attention to one of the best tools at their disposal – dynamic asset allocation.

Conflict is natural, needs to be first understood, processed and then rebalanced in order to understand what makes a family business successful. Advisers to family enterprises should give consideration to the issue of narcissism before going on a major mine sweep of the underpinning issues that lie latent within a client system.

The roots of the efficient markets hypothesis (EMH) date back to the turn of the century, although modern understanding of the concept only dates back to the 1960s. Subsequently it has become conventional wisdom in the world of finance.

The investment trust sector dates back to the mid-19th century when intrepid entrepreneurs saw opportunities in new worlds.

All markets have been strong ever since investors began to assume further money printing by the US Federal Reserve.

Much is written today about the importance of corporate governance but is this a concept relevant to Family Offices?

Philanthropy has long been used by families as a way of teaching children about the responsibilities of wealth and the importance of giving back to society. as a client of ours once put it: ”every £100 my family gives away means £100 less for my teenage daughter to spend on shoes.”

Most asset allocation models broke down in 2008. Their diversification turned out not to be sufficiently in uncorrelated assets. They failed to react to the awful realisation that previously uncorrelated asset classes had been sucked towards the downdraught of stockmarkets, commodities and myriad hedge fund strategies. The result was a uniform loss of capital and reputation. Only cash and some bonds provided capital preservation.