Why Endowment Style Portfolios are catching on like fire

For those with wealth over ten million, the Endowment Style Portfolio is being used as a model to protect wealth, as well as to give it a better grwoth trajectory than the traditional 60/40 portfolio structure. Here is a great summary of ESP and how their performance is influencing wealth management by John Authors, FT:

The endowments of the most prestigious US universities have long been watched as a model by asset allocators, and have helped to drive interest in such sectors as private equity, hedge funds, and natural resources. Their financial year ends in June, and their results are now available, summarised in this excellent blog post by Markov Processes International. The most interesting result, by far, is what has happened over the past 10 years — a period that started almost exactly as the credit crisis was beginning to take hold in July 2007. By lucky coincidence, I wrote this Long View column in June 2007 after listening to David Swensen, head of Yale’s endowment speak at a Yale reunion. At that point, Yale’s record looked stunningly good. How has it done since? This is Markov’s summary of how the eight Ivy League universities performed, compared with a “60/40” portfolio (60 per cent US stocks, 40 per cent US bonds) representing a typical asset allocation for such endowments before the move into alternative assets took hold:

Jacoline Loewen

 Only Princeton and Columbia have managed to beat a 60/40 portfolio over that time, even though it started just before one of the worst crashes for public equities in history. Yale has almost matched it — but it went to far more trouble than it would have taken just to put the endowment’s money into conventional public assets. Others, particularly Harvard and Cornell, have lagged behind badly.

 Over the past year (not such a relevant period for a long-term endowment, but the results are still interesting), all the Ivies managed positive results, and all bar Harvard managed to beat the 60/40 portfolio reasonably easily, led by Dartmouth. What are the lessons on asset allocation?

 Execution evidently matters. This is not just a game of asset allocation. If you look at how Harvard and Princeton were positioned 10 years ago, they are strikingly similar; with much the same weight in hedge funds and minimal interest in bonds and cash. Harvard had a much greater weighting of resources, which appears to have hurt its returns, and Princeton was considerably more enthusiastic about private equity and venture capital. But these asset allocations are similar enough, while other asset allocations among the Ivies are very different and yet ended with returns in the middle of the pack, to suggest that implementation had a lot to do with this.

Book by Jacoline Loewen

Moving the needle – 3 success factors for the Family Office

If you look at the families that have managed their wealth very well, it is very clear that they have one thing in common: they have dared to talk about the money.  It is difficult to understand why 

Jacoline Loewen, Family Office

this would be avoided by many entrepreneurs who have sold their companies and made a sudden fortune. 

Why not discuss the money with their family? What could go wrong? Surely open discussion and sharing of the wealth made by the entrepreneur is a wonderful way to go?

What are the Ingredients?

The families that do well and stay wealthy are able to address the big questions: What does money mean to me and how do I want this vision to actually get achieved?

The experience of families that become and stay wealthy is very clear:

1.       these families grow their wealth above their consumption rate,

2.       maintain family unity,

3.       develop family and non-family talent that contributes to these objectives.

Stumbling in any one of these areas – asset growth, family issues, talent growth – can slow the family down. Falling down on two of these three areas can mean failure. Failing on all three of these areas for over five years or more can signal the end of the family's wealth.

Creating Success

Setting up your family to succeed does mean having the Family Office approach. Whatever the size of Family Office, it is a good vehicle for creating lasting family and financial success.

FinTech Awards Black Tie Gala packed with AI and Fintech Innovation

Jacoline Loewen

The Digital Finance Institute is a think tank for FinTech and AI which provides leadership in four key areas - Financial Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Women in FinTech and Financial Inclusion. It also supports the development of FinTech ecosystems for investment in Canada and hosts events of interest to the FinTech community.

FinTech Awards Black Tie Gala Dinner

It was a terrific party at the 3rd Annual Canadian FinTech and AI Awards in Toronto on November 27, 2017 from 7-11:30pm! The Black Tie Reception and Gala Dinner was bigger than ever this year with more award catgories and a much larger venue.

Mindbridge wins the Top Award

The crowd were glamourous in their evening clothes despite being AI tech qeeks and there were also lots of booths with demos of fintech products.  Great to see Toronto buzzing with entrepreneural spirit.

How to leave a legacy

From the magazine Unlimited, they have a fascinating story on how to leave a great legacy and the lessons come from looking at how cathedrals were built in the middle ages. 

Jacoline Loewen

I also wrote an article for the Globe and Mail on Cathedral building and how similar it is to building a business in that each generation adds a wing or a tower and then passes it along to the next generation to continue the vision. Some cathedrals took hundreds of years to complete which is hard to imagine. 

I am complaining about Eglinton Avenue and the time to build the subway so it does make me realize that time is relative.

I will post my article below but here is the article from Unlimited and the link to the full article.

We are entering an era of Cathedral Wealth, where the most meaningful thing that you can hand down to the next generation is no longer a watch or family estate, but a grand challenge, a life’s work or a multi-generational task.

In the Middle Ages, building a cathedral to honour God was considered one of the greatest works that a community could undertake. Everyone from heads of state and religious leaders to architects, craftsmen and labourers joined together to create these monumental structures.

Building a cathedral was an endeavour of such scale that they would often take decades or even centuries to finish. The people that laid the foundations would do so in the almost certain knowledge that they would never live to see the finished product.

Today, at a time when the future of mankind has never looked more complex and uncertain, we are increasingly realising that our biggest questions may require multi-generational answers.

‘Modernity has pulled us into an era of short-termism and individualism,’ says Rachel Armstrong, senior TED fellow and founder of Black Sky Thinking.

‘However, the biggest issues facing humanity, such as climate change, over-population and energy and resource shortages, require us to think in terms of solutions that will span generations.’

Like the craftsmen that laid the first stones at St Paul’s, St Basil’s and Notre Dame, today’s leading scientists, business leaders and creative innovators are beginning to think in terms of a new kind of wealth – the handing down of purposeful and life-affirming projects that only their grandchildren, or even great-grandchildren, will see bear fruit.

‘In the past, your legacy would have been much more about handing down tangible assets, such as cash and bricks and mortar,’ says Ken Forster, angel investor and managing director of Internet of Things solutions company Momenta Partners.

‘Today, it’s about a more organic, more sustainable wealth transfer – leaving your life’s work, something you created, unfinished, and trusting those who follow you to see it through to completion.’

In this report, we examine how Cathedral Wealth and long-termism are beginning to emerge in society in three pivotal ways.

: Creative Cathedrals – the multi-generational projects that are shaping the future of science, technology and design

: Commercial Cathedrals – how the world of business is moving its sights from the next quarter to the next decade and even the next century

: Cultural Cathedrals – why our fascination with long-term cathedral wealth is driving the emergence of new forms of art and culture that will be enjoyed by future generations

read the article here

Do you fall victim to soundbite economics?

Jacoline Loewen

At a recent book club, one of my girlfriends who teaches fashion and clothing at Ryerson, brought along a women's magazine from the early 1900s. I was startled by the quality of the content and the depth of the stories.

It made me realize that there has been a steep decline in the sheer complexity and structure of the written word. In comparison, the media and economic sources have simplified and shortened their features. It made me reflect on just how do we cull our daily information? How does this impact on how we view the markets and our investments?

Likewise, I do believe that the quality of economic analysis in financial markets has suffered in recent years. This is not a comment on the quality of my peers in the industry – there are many excellent economists and I do see the very best. 

However the trend in the broader market has been inexorably towards soundbite economics; superficial analysis with little attempt to challenge the wisdom of established authority or "rule of thumb" relationships. 
Call it the economics of the airport bestseller (am I bitter that my books are not stocked at Pearson? Maybe). 

We can see this in the way markets overreact to underlying data, even in the questions that are asked in the media. 

And do not get me started on the blogosphere.

Is it getting too late? The market is late in the cycle prompting investors to ask this question.

I am concerned about Canada says Niall Ferguson

With a flair for the dramatic, Niall Ferguson, is saying he is concerned for Canada. Ferguson likes to remind us that he predicted the 2008 crisis and was shouted down. He is now sounding a warning for Canada. Read the full article here.

Ferguson is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University in California and a senior research fellow at Oxford. He is a prolific author on history, economics and colonialism and has written and presented five major television series, including The Ascent of Money, which won the 2009 International Emmy Award for best documentary.
"It seems to me unnecessary because Canada doesn't have a major fiscal problem," he said. "It's not as though Canada needs to sell its assets, so I don't see the need for a major realignment of its position as the United States' little brother."
On a recent visit to Australia, Ferguson recalled remarking to an Australian acquaintance: 'You realize you're gradually becoming a Chinese colony? "He said, 'No mate, it's more like a semi-autonomous republic. It's a good place to start (when discussing Canada-China relations)."
"I don't think China makes a massive distinction between Australia and Canada," said Ferguson. "These are thinly populated (nations) with huge quantities of resources that China needs. The question (for China) is: How best to access those? Do you do it by straight forward purchases on the open market or do you want to own them? And if you own them, how far can you go before there is a political backlash. This is what China is asking about a lot of countries."

Fintech innovation and Switzerland

It was an honour to be the guest of the Switzerland Innovaton Enterprise and the Swiss Consulate to their Toronto conference. We were talking Fintech and innovation.

Jacoline Loewen

In the past month, the Switzerland Blockchain Business Council (GBBC) opened an office in Geneva, the group announced in a press release. Launched in January 2017 during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, the GBBC is a platform bringing together leading businesses and executives from around the world to educate on the latest innovations in blockchain technology and advocate for its widespread adoption. 

It serves as a global forum for information, collaboration and partnerships. Leading full service blockchain technology company The Bitfury Group and international law firm Covington are behind the initiative.

A global center for international cooperation

By locating in Geneva, the GBBC will work side by side with an array of international organizations active in uniting global causes and industries, such as the World Economic Forum (WEF), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). 

Speaking on the decision to house the platform in Geneva, Tomicah Tillemann, GBBC Chairman, explained that the Swiss city has “a long history as a place where people come together to reach consensus”, and that it is “already home to some of the world’s most important and effective international institutions”. 

How to Use Grief to Change the World

A father who lost his three daughters to Middle East violence has turned this tragedy into change for the region. Last night, I was part of The Daughters for Life Gala fund raiser which educates middle eastern girls here in Canada. The belief is that these women will change the region's attitudes to hatred and genders.

Jacoline Loewen, Daughters for Life Gala

What a steep hill Izzeldin Abuelaish has chosen to climb.
Izzeldin says it was the death of his daughters which pushed him to create change. The women at my table agreed that to push on after such a loss due to a bombing, was remarkable.
We then listened to the scholarship winners all in STEM studies at Canadian Universities. These young women travelled to Canada to go through university programs donated by Brock, Trent, Laurier and York. They each made us laugh, cry and understand that maybe, just maybe, this intervention would be a keystone to changing the whole Middle East.
I just know that if one of those girls was my daughter, I would be very proud of her. I also believe that each of these girls will indeed make a big difference.
Then Izzeldin gave Margaret Atwood a Lifetime Achievement award.  Margaret epitomizes what one woman can achieve. Her book The Handmaiden's Tale did inspire me to move beyond my original life goal to be a good wife and to get an MBA and get into the male area of business - finance.
Margaret Atwood's speech was a reminder of how far I personally have journeyed while reading her books all the way.

Daughters for Life Lifetime Award Recipient

When I - at first read Atwood - I did so reluctantly. Atwood was holding up a picture of Canadian society that I did not want to acknowledge. She also showed females in not always a positive light, showing our deepest fears and pain in our relationships. Such disappointments because of our place in society. She really spelt out for me that I needed to change and to take the harder road. I learnt through her novels how women needed to get their own income and it did inspire me to have a good career. Through out most of my adult life, Margaret has inspired me. My book club is currently reading Alias Grace and I look forward to our discussion, but my best book of hers is Oryx and Crake, a Booker Prize winner.
This evening, Margaret reminded us how far Canada has come in its gender roles. She told us that early in her career she was advised to stop her scribbling and find a good husband. She did not stop her scribbling and she did find a good man though - Graham Greene, her partner for decades. I am thankful she did find true love and she shared her views so bravely.

How can you grow your money?

How can you make money?

I suggest that you steal a page from the wealthy.

Business e-Volution, by Jacoline Loewen

The Spectrem Group found business owners account for 6% of seven-figure households — triple that of doctors and lawyers.

Don’t expect to get rich quick; the payoff comes when you sell. There is a great deal of that so-called sweat equity that is not seen or experienced by the average tax payer in Canada.

The median price for a web-design firm last year was $687,500, according to BizBuySell. I write about how to use the Internet to grow your business in my book, Business e-volution.

Construction firms tend to fetch $2.1 million. The bricks and mortor businesses still deliver a good return Not shabby amounts to add to your investment portfolio.