Q: You were recently involved in a lively discussion about pricing and the fact that more advisers are feeling the pressure to have conversations about fees with their clients. That became a hot topic for you at a recent event you attended. Tell us about that.
A: A few weeks ago, I was in Connecticut meeting with a firm that just joined our network, and for the first time in my career, I had multiple people asking questions about cost. I had shared that I thought that the equity markets were not going to be as good as they’ve been in the past, that we might not be surprised to see a 3 percent to 6 percent equity return for the next five years or so. Everyone knows fixed incomes are one-and-a-half percent, and they said, I don’t feel like we should be paying you 1 percent. It was fine paying you that much when the markets were going up 15 percent and fixed income was at 6 percent. But I feel like we should be paying you less. 

As someone who is known for evangelizing the benefits of including illiquid investments in client portfolios, one question I am often asked by investment advisers is, Should I simply follow the Yale endowment model of asset allocation?

The debate that began several decades ago over the merits and shortcomings of active versus passive management is ongoing. Reports on the topic by investment professionals and academics continue to be published unabated and seem to be one of the investment world’s more popular literary pursuits. While there is hardly a need to add another voice to the discussion, it makes sense to look at the record on active versus passive investing.

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Only 25 percent of the 10.3 million people in the country have access to electricity, but one nonprofit organization is testing a solution that could not only change the lives of the un-electrified in Haiti, but also could be a model of how to bring electricity to the 1.2 billion people in the world still living in the dark.

As gold prices strengthened this year, many investors turned to the undervalued gold miners segment to capture the strong returns. However, gold exchange traded fund investors should keep in mind that gold mining stocks are no substitute for the hard asset.

More than half of the infrastructure investments in China have destroyed, not generated, economic value, according to a study published in The Oxford Review of Economic Policy.

We have heard the saying that “the rich get richer,” and we all know that it takes money to make money. If it seems like wealthy people have special tools we don’t know about that help them grow their wealth more successfully, alternative investments could be the key.

The proliferation of e-commerce is redefining the role of real estate in the retail supply chain. The U.S. Census reports that e-commerce revenue grew by an annualized rate of more than 21 percent between 2000 and 2014 while in-store retail sales grew at less than 3 percent. The growth in online shopping and its higher rate of product returns have combined to dramatically increase the need for warehouse space. 

Florida-based Pensam Residential, BH Equities and Wafra Capital Partners have acquired a majority stake in The Breakers Resort, a 1,523-unit apartment complex in Denver, for $350 million or nearly $230,000 per unit. The sellers were The Bascom Group and Denver-based Koelbel & Co., which will remain as a minority partner.

The real estate business just keeps getting bigger, as traditional and newly minted fortunes flow into the sector — a great deal of them from overseas. The reason: Real estate diversifies investment portfolios, can pay handsomely and offers a bulwark against inflation, to name a few.

The year was 2001 and Wall Street fixture Alexandra Lebenthal made a decision that would eventually come back to haunt her. She sold her eponymously named firm, Lebenthal & Co. Founded by her grandparents in 1925, the company was subsequently turned into one of the big brand names in the financial business by her father, making himself and the business famous through his showmanship during years of TV and radio advertisements. Alexandra Lebenthal also began starring in the TV and radio spots.

The prospects for real assets in 2017 have not changed much from 2016, and remain moderately positive with upside potential in some categories.

Since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, the economies of developed nations and much the rest of the globe have been characterized by low inflation, low growth and low interest rates.