Insights on markets, emergent trends, history, innovation, risk management, global economics, strategy, policy, and other topics that catch our attention. Inspired by ongoing research, conversations and events. Written and edited by Osbon Capital Management and published every Thursday morning.
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2024 will bring more positive novel surprises. New years always do. In 2023, it was the dramatic acceleration in AI, which touches nearly every industry, and the early stages of an answer to the obesity epidemic with GLP-1s. Here is a list of what’s on our minds going into 2024.
Family Offices: A More Personal and Private Approach
Why are more wealthy families turning to family offices for investment management and wealth planning? At the top of the list are privacy, dedicated expertise and aligned incentives. A recent profile by The Economist on the family office landscape reveals interesting insights about how these offices are run, how they invest and why they appeal to more investors today. Here’s how you can follow along with the best of the industry:
Information Shutdown
The government shutdown is now entering its fourth week, cutting off a large source of useful information for investors. How are investors supposed to keep track of what is going on financially and economically without government statistics? It’s our job to work around difficult situations. Here is what we, and investors, can count on during an information drought.
Three Ways To Get the Family Involved in 2019
The power and beauty of true family wealth is that it has the power to make a difference generation after generation. Therein also lies the challenge. Passing on the knowledge and values younger generations need to put wealth to work in a sustainable way for the family and for others is a specific area of education not taught in school. What will they need to know? Where should you start? How much information is too much? To get you started, here are three ideas inspired by one of the world’s leading experts on true family wealth.
Why Volatility Is Here To Stay
Eight hundred point swings in the Dow have been alarmingly regular events in the last month. Swings that large represent a 3% change in the 30 most important stocks in the United States — in one day. And it’s not just the Dow. Similar moves have been hitting the S&P 500 and stock markets outside the US. Even the benchmark 10 year US Treasury bond has been flip flopping with large price changes. Is this the new and harmless normal or a brightly flashing warning sign? Let’s start the year with a closer look at these dramatic ups and downs.
Restful Holidays To You and Yours
By now Hannukah and Christmas are over, and the New Year has yet to arrive. Amidst the ebbs and flows of markets, business and life, this window of time presents a perfect opportunity to simply, relax. Yes, one of the hardest things to do is to relax and enjoy this time of year with loved ones. At the same time, you can be grateful for all that you have – life, health, challenge, mystery, friends, companions and family. There will be plenty of time in the New Year to talk about investments in 2019 and 2020. Let’s enjoy the waning days of 2018 and celebrate them.
When Markets Say One Thing And Do Another
Many commentators on the short-term state of markets are warning that investment results could get much worse. Bond and stock markets, both domestic and international, have been testing investor patience over the last few months. The attention-hungry headlines don’t square with many of today’s realities. Here is some added context.
The second law of thermodynamics and your portfolio
Nobel prize-winning physicist and world-famous lecturer Richard Feynman may be known best by his endless cross-discipline curiosity. This curiosity and exploration into new fields resulted in many novel and useful discoveries. Expanding on the mental models theme we discussed two weeks ago and crossing disciplines into the realm of physics, this article explores the second law of thermodynamics and how it applies to your investment life.
Trade wars and your portfolio – 3 measures
War is a big word and usually cause for concern among investors. I’ll limit this article to the financial aspects of a war because this war I am talking about is overwhelmingly financial. When the word war is mentioned many older people think of the Cold War. The Cold War was much more than financial and ended decades ago. Now the phrase Trade War is in the air. How can you tell the effect on your portfolio of a Trade War?
5 Mental Models To Help You Be A Better Investor
Shane Parish isn’t yet a household name but over the last two years, he’s become one of my favorite thinkers and writers. Here are five mental models from his complete list of 109 with comments on how you can apply them to your investment thinking. The goal of this article is to help you find new answers to old questions by altering the way you look at the problem.
