Trend following and the diversification potential of positive skew April 26, 2023 | Andrew Snyder | CAIS Investors tend to rely upon well-known risk-adjusted return measures—such as Sharpe and Sortino ratios—when using alternative strategies to build diversified portfolios and extract differentiated returns. But are investors sometimes forgetting about other important properties that may create a…

Don’t Be Held Hostage By PowerPoint April 26, 2023 | Marketing Intent A client we recently worked with was frustrated with their PowerPoint presentations. EVERY SLIDE WAS AN IMAGE CREATED BY A GRAPHIC DESIGNER APPEARING VERY POLISHED (AND VERY HARD TO UPDATE). Problems with PowerPoint We get it. You want your presentations to be on…

UPREITs: Keeping Real Estate Investments in Play April 11, 2023 | Altigo Asset managers know there’s more than one way to invest in real estate, and many of them manage multiple funds with different strategies and structures to give investors options. Those choices might include either a Delaware Statutory Trust (DST) or a Real Estate…

Considering the When and the Why of a Corporate Rebrand March 29, 2023 | Abby Salameh | CAIS There are three actions businesses should consider when deciding to rebrand a firm: understand your core stakeholders, study brand perception in the market, and get your executive team's buy-in. As many of us have witnessed, the state…

A volatile and unpredictable market March 14, 2023 | Winston Crowley, Stephen DuMont and Jason Weiler | UMB Around this time last year, much of the U.S. Treasury curve was sub 2%, the consumer price index (CPI) year-over-year had steadily been climbing (7.9% in Feb. 2022 and still on the rise), core personal consumption expenditures…

Notes from the CEO: Perspective on the recent banking industry news March 16, 2023 | Mariner Kemper | UMB The news cycle has been dominated by the banking industry, and specifically developments related to the failures of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank. I would like to provide an update and perspective that summarizes…

How Broker-Dealers Are Staying on the Right Side of Reg BI March 2, 2023 | John Rickman | Altigo As more retail investors enter the market, regulators have moved to raise the broker-dealer standard of conduct beyond mere “suitability” obligations. Broker-dealers and their representatives are now expected to act in the “best interest” of the…

CAIS: Evolving Drivers Of Private Equity Value Creation March 7, 2023 | Andrew Snyder | CAIS Once considered by some to be “corporate raiders” who used junk-bond financing to take over companies, slashing spending and cutting workforce in an attempt to generate outsized returns, private equity has evolved. As our analysis here aims to unpack,…

First to market? Three questions for your fund distribution services partner March 7, 2023 | UMB Asset managers seeking to be first-to-market with an investment strategy or product wrapper should develop a distribution plan as they develop the product itself. Understanding the current marketplace, onboarding requirements and platform fee economics is critical to the long-term…