Private Investors

An approach to investing called RSI—“responsible, sustainable and impact investing”—seeks to create both financial return as well as positive social or environmental impacts that are actively measured.

Impact investing has taken many forms over the years. In its earliest form, religious pension plans used negative screening to avoid sin stocks.

We face tremendous challenges today. The forces of globalization and modern consumerism are straining our planet’s resources. As production efficiencies increase through technology and human experience, prices decline thus enabling consumption of more goods by more people worldwide.

In a year of notable financial developments, perhaps the most far-reaching and visible of this group is the sharp decline in oil prices in the second half of 2014.  Crude has dropped more than 50% since June and is now trading below $50 per barrel.  This precipitous decline stands in contrast to

Fostering strong advisory relationships with younger investors (often our clients' children) is a particular focus at Federal Street Advisors.

This white paper addresses one of today’s most discussed and divisive topics involving investors, investment advisers and brokers: What legal standard of responsibility and conduct should apply to firms and individuals who provide advisory services to investors?

As a matter of Federalism, Congress cannot require the several states to adopt laws regulating investment advisers, but it can prohibit “small” investment advisers from registering with the SEC unless they have a sufficient amount of RAUM.

There are two reasons for including hedge funds in a traditional asset portfolio. First, their betas with respect to the S&P 500 are often substantially less than unity, which makes them attractive diversifiers.

At a Daily Journal annual meeting in Los Angeles earlier this year, Charlie Munger – the 91-yearold Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway – shared his opinion on the investment landscape when asked about negative interest rates in Europe and persistently low rates in the United States:

Every battle is won before it’s fought,Sun Tzu wrote in “The Art of War.” As the legendary Chinese military strategist observed more than 2,500 years ago, understanding the terrain in which a battle will be waged is critical for those who want to prevail