Family Office Alpha Report

ESG: Goodness Should Be Baked In

What do ESG investing and the Ford Model T have in common? A hint: it’s about process. There was once the notion that returns from impact or ESG investing were concessionary, that these returns must come with a premium, and that it was a more “expensive” investment. This is rapidly becoming an antiquated myth. The …

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Getting into the Zone with Stressed/Distressed Opportunities

There is a prevailing feeling among investors that we are late in the cycle, with overpricing a worry across markets, whether in public/private equity, or in real estate. Following a historically long bull market, people are also worried about market corrections and rising interest rates, among other concerns.

However, there are ample pockets of opportunity for those who are willing to look off the beaten path, all which can offer unique alpha to a portfolio.

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Impact = Alpha

Impact. Responsible investing. ESG. SRI. UNPRI. There’s been a flock to impact/ESG (environmental, social, governance focused) investing and a flurry of acronyms in the investment landscape of late, and perhaps even a misappropriation and overuse of impact nomenclature (after all, traditional private equity and hedge funds can be impactful). Impact investing is getting top billing …

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Fearless Predictions for 2018

The tumultuous times of 2017 are just about in the rearview mirror, but what surprises lie ahead? In no particular order, we share predictions for 2018 based upon what we see developing in markets, governments and the asset management business (spoiler alert: no Bitcoin projections here). In short, the news is mixed for investors and …

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Big Data, Blind Trust

Big data is here to stay. In case there was any doubt, the Equifax fiasco painfully exposed how much data can rule—and ruin—the day. The most recent issue of The Family Office Alpha Report addressed big data’s transformation of the investment world, especially as the fuel for quantitative/algorithmic strategies. But while data has provided an …

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May Contain Artificial Ingredients

If IBM’s Watson can consume one million books per second, does that make it smarter than you? Is the possession of more data and information always an advantage? Big data and algorithms are transforming business and the world as we know it, including investing. Data is the lifeblood of quantitative trading strategies, which in recent …

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Boats Against the Current

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” F. Scott Fitzgerald’s statement on the human propensity to look back and be confined by the past, the last line in The Great Gatsby, has meaning in many different contexts—including institutional investors’ allocation strategies. Investors seem to be constantly battling against …

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The Letter “O” and the Art of Delegating

This thought piece is brought to you by the letter “O,” which has become popular of late. With the increasingly complex, fragmented, and costly investment landscape facing investors and asset managers, outsourcing has becoming an attractive option for firms of all types and sizes. The result is a proliferation of “O’s” preceding the familiar C-suite …

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