Insights

Donor-advised funds, thanks to their flexibility, low costs, and tax advantages, provide an attractive vehicle for individuals and families to establish giving strategies in pursuit of their charitable objectives. Fiduciary Trust Charitable offers donor-advised funds with unique benefits.

Charitable giving in the U.S. has grown substantially in recent years. The latest report from Giving USA highlighted that 2016 represented the most generous year on record, as families, estates, foundations, and corporations delivered approximately $380 billion in gifts to charitable causes. As giving has increased, the ways through which people give have also multiplied. One of the more notable vehicles is the donor-advised fund (DAF), which has grown in popularity over the past decade and now accounts for nearly 10% of all U.S. charitable giving.

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With football season upon us, it is becoming obvious even after just several weeks that some teams seem ready to capture the championship while others will need to rebuild and wait for better times. If you are a fan cheering for one of these rebuilding teams, it can be frustrating to wait for your team to take the necessary steps that will allow them to thrive.

It is no different when we make our allocation decisions. While we do not root for one asset class over another, we certainly have studied the longer-term winners and losers. The emerging markets equity asset class seems to be one of those teams that has been a long-term winner, although it occasionally suffers from some difficult years. While our analysis shows that the long-term prospects of this asset class remain robust, primarily because of demographic trends and strong long-term GDP growth projections of these countries, the shorter-term environment continues to be unfavorable.

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In fast-growing economies, entrepreneurs play a key role in generating durable and inclusive growth. Asia's entrepreneurs can be found at the helm of start-ups, as well as companies with billions of dollars in market capitalization. Oftentimes, the sources of economic growth are assumed to be driven by top-down factors such as geography, demographics, natural resources or official policies. The role of entrepreneurs and businesses, however, cannot be overstated as they look to invest and innovate, creating growth in the process. Identifying entrepreneurial Asian companies that are true, long-term value creators requires a bottom-up investment process that draws on deep knowledge of local markets and a willingness to ignore the short-term noise and focus on long-term opportunities.

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