CFA Institute

Author Archives: Lauren Foster

21 posts

About Lauren Foster

Lauren Foster is a content director at CFA Institute, where she focuses on private wealth and behavioral finance. Previously, she worked as a freelance writer for Barron’s and the Financial Times. Prior to freelance work, she was an editor and writer for the FT, where she covered wealth management. Ms. Foster received her BA in political science from the University of Cape Town, and she has a master of science degree in journalism from Columbia University. Topical Expertise: Behavioral Finance · Private Wealth Management | Follow Lauren on Twitter

What Do Clients Want? Five Tips for Better Adviser-Client Relationships

What Do Clients Want? (Illustration from Shutterstock)

We often hear the phrase “trusted adviser,” but is “trust” at the heart of the adviser-client relationship? Advisers only lose trust when they promise things they can’t control, according to Deena Katz, an associate professor in the Personal Financial Planning department at Texas Tech University. Read more →

Five Tax-Savvy Wealth Transfer Strategies

Tax-Savvy Wealth Transfer Strategies

For most U.S. taxpayers, April 15 is a red-letter day. But that doesn’t mean tax matters should be filed and forgotten about until next year. There are several favorable estate, gift, and generating-skipping transfer (GST) tax provisions that are set to expire at the end of the year, unless Congress acts to extend them in the coming months. That means there is still time for your clients to take advantage of larger exclusions and lower tax rates. Read more →

Bankable Insights: What Every Investment Trustee Needs to Know

A Primer for Investment Trustees

Consider this scenario: a college alumnus starts a successful technology company, cashes out and donates a big chunk to his alma mater. In return, the school asks him to serve on the board of directors of the endowment fund. The entrepreneur is a respected professional in the tech industry but isn’t a professional investor and has never served as a trustee. Now what? Read more →

Advising Trustees: The Five Biggest Pitfalls

Advising Trustees: The Five Biggest Pitfalls

We hear a lot these days about “holistic” wealth management — service that goes beyond traditional investment advice — and how advisers should handle the disparate needs of their clients as part of a seamless whole. One of these needs is trust and estate planning. In all cases, it’s an attorney who drafts the trust document, but that doesn’t mean wealth advisers don’t have a role to play. Read more →

The Challenges of Multi-Generational Wealth Management in Asia

Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group honorary chairman Cheng Yu-Tung, center leaves after the company listing ceremony in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Burgeoning wealth in the region has created new challenges for Asian families contemplating succession plans. Two Asia Pacific Investment Conference speakers, Barbara Hauser and Christian Stewart, will examine these issues in detail. Read more →

Prepaid Variable Forwards: Hedging Risk and Deferring Taxes

Cosmetics magnate Ronald Lauder

Think of the name Lauder and the first thing that probably comes to mind is cosmetics. But mention the family to a savvy tax and estates attorney, or a financial adviser who is adept at arranging tax-advantaged transactions, and you may be surprised to hear the words “prepaid variable forward contract.” Read more →

Daniel Kahneman: Financial Advisers Aren’t Immune from the “Illusion of Skill”

Thinking-Fast-and-Slow

A few weeks ago, Daniel Kahneman, the Nobel prize-winning psychologist and pioneer of behavioral economics, wrote a fascinating article in The New York Times Magazine that examines the illusion of skill as it pertains to the stock-picking prowess of financial advisers. … Read more →