Wealth managers are a subgroup of financial advisors, so they provide more specific advice and services. When looking to Liberate Your Wealth®, understanding what each professional provides will save you time and money when choosing the right partnership. At the end of the day, which client needs are met is the biggest differentiator between a financial advisor and a wealth manager. Let’s explore.
Professionals have compared structured notes to the innovative mindset behind mutual funds—with the main draw being zero interest rates. In the past, structured notes were a high-risk, high-return investment that only very wealthy investors could get involved in. Recently, however, the transition to using more technology for investing has opened the door for more individuals and families to invest using structured notes.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 brought about a new type of investment offering, Opportunity Zones, which provide a unique way of mitigating capital gains tax. It’s been reported that Qualified Opportunity Funds have raised over over $6.7 billion thru December 2019, and that there are over 200 available funds. Keep reading to learn more about O-Zones and their tax benefits, and to explore the characteristics of an investor that might consider this opportunity.
Given an ever-shifting market, it’s important to stay abreast of asset class expectations and how changes in market levels over time can help drive asset allocation decisions in an investment portfolio. In our first blog series on capital markets, we presented our forward-looking risk and return estimates. In this blog we will check current markets relative to our projections to illustrate how we use risk to garner insights necessary for optimal portfolio recommendations. Keep reading to learn more about risk premiums and what they might mean for your portfolio.
Two retirement reform bills (the SECURE Act and RESA) have been circling around Washington, and if passed, may make significant changes to many retirement and estate plans. Notably, the proposed changes outlined in the bill(s) have meaningful implications as the rules on inherited IRA’s are up for debate. Both the House and Senate have different views on the technical aspects of how tax shelters for inherited wealth could be reduced. Read our blog to learn about the differences in proposed changes for “Stretch IRA’s” and what they could mean for tax planning, wealth accumulation and wealth transfer.
The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) is a meaningful economic indicator that may return to its heyday as a predictor of future changes in market prices. At Centura, we believe the BDI is a great barometer for global economic health and is likely to be a useful datapoint as trade wars continue to escalate. Understanding how changes in global trade and key macro-economic factors may impact your portfolio is a key consideration related to portfolio planning and investment strategy. For example, what does a trade war mean for your portfolio? At Centura Wealth Advisory we specialize in constructing globally diverse portfolios and the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) is one tool we use to measure the current health of the global economy. We model the BDI in combination with other factors to learn how changes may impact markets & portfolios. When designing and managing our clients’ portfolios, we are careful to evaluate emerging trends (e.g., recent changes in BDI rates), to assess where there may or may not be opportunity and/or risk. Read our blog post on Trade Wars and the Baltic Dry Index to understand why we like this indicator and how it may be used by investors and advisors alike.
