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Asset Alliance Bruce H Lipnick Diversification Can Less Be More?

Investors understood the benefits of diversification well before Harold Markowitz published his Nobel Prize??? winning research in 1952. The old adage “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” predates Markowitz’s work probably by centuries. Markowitz’s contribution-and that of others in the field of portfolio theory-was to help investors quantify the diversification benefit they achieved by adding more investments to their portfolio.

Hedge fund investors have implemented the prescription of diversification in many ways. Institutional investors and funds of hedge funds diversify across asset classes, strategies, geographic focus, and other dimensions. Such investors often attempt to achieve diversification across these dimensions by allocating to 30 or more single hedge funds. But such broad diversification in hedge funds portfolio.

Diversification declines as the number of hedge fund managers in a portfolio increases.

1 Adding a few managers can add diversification benefits to a portfolio, but at some point more may not be better.

In order to demonstrate the idea of diversification benefits are achievable even when allocating to relatively few hedge fund managers, we compared the risk???reward characteristics for three sets of investments. The first was a simple allocation to stocks, bonds and US Treasury Bills.

The second portfolio was the combination of stocks, bonds and T???Bills with a 10 percent allocation to a broad group of 2,000 hedge funds as represented by the HFRI Fund???Weighted Composite Index. Finally, we replaced the index with a bundle of five managers that Hedgeharbor represents with the same overall allocations to equities, bonds and T???Bills. Chart 1 shows the risk???reward characteristics for these three sets of portfolios.

The time frame for this analysis was the common time period of the five Hedgeharbor managers. The performance for this common time period began in March 2008-at the onset of the global financial crisis- and covers the aftermath of the crisis as well.

During this period, not surprisingly, given the time period covered, an investment in a standard combination of equities, bonds and US Treasury Bills produced the highest volatility of the three portfolios. Adding a 10 percent allocation of the broad hedge fund index reduces the volatility, but contributed negatively to returns during this period. Replacing the broad hedge fund index with a 10 percent allocation to the Asset Alliance Hedgeharbor five???manager bundle, however, both increased returns and lowered volatility.

The key to achieving these diversification benefits of course is careful manager selection. That means devoting resources and effort to identifying and evaluating the managers that ultimately go into the investor’s portfolio.

Performing research and conducting due diligence reviews on a large number of hedge funds typically requires greater resources than many smaller investors can or are willing to devote to a relatively small percentage of their overall portfolio. By focusing these resources on fewer managers, the investor can achieve the benefits of such investments at a more reasonable cost.

Of course, by being more concentrated in a smaller number of managers, the risk of failure of any one of them is magnified. However, in this example any one manager represents only 2.5 percent of the larger overall portfolio, so even if one manager suffers a large loss or some idiosyncratic risk event, the impact on the portfolio is manageable.

Some smaller institutional investors will still chose to allocate to funds of hedge funds as a means of gaining alternative investments exposure. It is by conducting research and due diligence on a large number of single manager funds and exhibiting skill in constructing portfolios of these managers that funds of funds provide the greatest benefit to investors. Nevertheless, as we have shown here, it is possible for an investor to gain the diversification benefit of hedge funds by investing directly in a limited number of single managers.

Asset Alliance Hedge Harbor stands ready to assist investors in identifying quality single managers as well as multi??? manager products that meet their investment goals and objectives

How To Get Best Returns Through ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund

The smart and healthiest way of investing is in, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund. The full form of ICICI is industrial credit and Investment Corporation of India. In terms of market capitalization they are the largest private bank in India. They are highly acclaimed for their services to both the retail clients and the corporate clients. In fact people say that ICICI Mutual fund India is the best investment option available. Simply because they yield the highest returns to their clients.

The main aim of investing in the mutual funds is mainly to earn more money and in ICICI its fund performance decides the profit. Investing in the mutual funds actually has many benefits like liquidity, professional management of funds and many others. For high return you can go for the equity schemes as they are the best available option. To increase the fund investment and share holders some new ideas were injected into the market and SIP (systematic investment plans) is one of them. This plan has helped many people in making money like middle class people and rural people. In this plan monthly installments are already paid.

What is a mutual fund? It is more like representing a trust which is further engaged in collecting the funds from several individuals with the aim of investment. The best thing with mutual fund is that the investor can easily minimize the chances of loss simply by diversifying their assets. You can cover your loss by making profit in another one. Unlikely in share market lot of fluctuation takes place and the end result could be high profit or a humongous loss, which totally depends on the situation and the market. That’s the reason why Mutual funds are much more preferred one and the safer ones.

The three schemes under the investment in ICICI mutual funds are- prudential systematic investment plan, the benefit of this plan is that you don’t have to pay lump-some money at a single time, you can deposit it periodically. Next plan is ICIC prudential India’s systematic Transfer plan, in this plan one get’s a chance to pay big chunk of money in the market and if you want to transfer it to the other mutual fund you get a chance to do this on a regular interval. Then the last scheme is ICICI prudential systematic withdrawal option, in this scheme you can easily withdraw your current scheme and then can easily redeem your fund periodically.

These schemes are believed to be really helpful in making money. But one should never forget that it doesn’t matter how much mutual funds are beneficial, they are also open to the market risk. Investing money in it is not a problem but it is important to be aware of risks attached to it.

Cash Flow Finance

Cash flow is the monetary movement in and out of a business, in form of receiving and expenditure of money in a certain project or a business deal. In other words, cash flow defines the money left after the subtracting amount given out as payments from the amount that is to be received after successful completion of a project.

Cash flow finance, also known as cash-flow loan is the debt given by some financiers, depending on the value of expected cash flows of the borrower company. Here no collateral is needed from the company for approving the loan. The repayment period also depends on the schedules of that company’s projected cash flows shown to be in future. Cash flow enables a company to meet all its expenses and pay its bills, for completing a special project. So this type of loan maintains and also improves the cash flow of the company. The loan agreement depends on the sufficient growth of the levels of income before paying interests, taxes, regularly paying off the debt, and depreciation of the value of the loan. These loan financiers also look whether the interest level is manageable by the borrower company.

Loans may be of various maturity durations, from 3 months to 3 years, depending on the purpose of taking each loan, but generally these short term loans are taken for maximum up to 6 months of duration. The loan amount can vary from $10,000 to $1,00,000, given out for good business reasons. This loan is mainly taken by the companies to fund their projects or make some important purchases for their business purpose. The financier is given a part of the money received by the borrower company, at the end of their project or sales. An agreement is duly signed by both the parties in this regard.

Therefore the companies can use this borrowed capital to keep their usual cash flow, in spite of meeting the extra expenses of a project or a sales order. This loan is a temporary solution to the regular financial expense problems, raised due to a sudden business demand; but if the problem continues for a long time, then it is better to find a permanent solution to this persistent economic problem by improvement of their cash conversion cycle and asking their regular customers to pay them faster. The cash flow of a company should always be monitored very carefully through the cash-flow statement, which is a mandatory report to be maintained by all companies and checked by all investors and financiers by giving any financial support to these companies.

Any financier will check the financial background of the borrower company and its cash flow record and the track record of earlier debt payments, before the short term loan sanction to that company. Generally the banks do not ask for any collateral, if the business owner’s personal credit record is good enough to approve the loan. But other financiers may ask for security like a property or any assets, depending on the value of which they can lend the capital amount. This short term loan has higher interest rates, though fixed, than the longer term ones; still it is better to ask for short terms as total interests cost much less.

Acquiring Phone & Email Marketing Lists in the UK – Business Data Guide

One of the trends in the world of marketing today is sending newsletters and offers through the e-mail and over the phone. Reaching potential customers and giving them a piece of information about your products is very important, but getting them to read what you have to say is not easy at all.

Everyone’s on the internet today and everyone checks their mail daily. Knowing that everything happens on Smartphones, just give you a much clearer idea why e-mail and phone lists are so important.

Some people think that buying these lists is not a smart idea. However, they’re completely not right. This is the best way to reach people out there and get them in touch with your products.

In this article, we’ll tell you what you need to have in mind to do a great marketing campaign using these features. Read on if you want to learn about how to get the best business data in the UK!

Be careful who you buy data from

There are a lot of scammers online. Not just in this business but in everything that happens on the internet. You’ve surely seen all those African kings and lawyers who ask you to pay them money if you want to get some kind of prize. People fall for this, so imagine how many more fall on more sophisticated ones.

Always ask for a phone number and ask to talk to someone who’s a live person. Ask to see a representative if it is possible and see if there’s a possibility for someone to trick you. Usually, those who ask you to pay without real contact are not honest with their intentions.

Demand a 90% delivery rate

When you negotiate, make sure that the company providing the data can guarantee over 90% delivery rate. This is important because very often e-mails are being banned and deleted and it may happen your entire campaign to be a failure if you send all those product information and they end up in the spam section or don’t even get received by anyone.

The spam folder is rarely checked by any mail owner and these e-mails are being deleted after 2 to 4 weeks automatically by the system. See some facts and stats about the junk mail here.

To avoid this, you have to make an agreement with the provider of the mails that having more than 10% returned mails will also result in refunding your money. The normal percent is less than 10 and everything inside this frame is considered a standard.

Buy less for more

It’s not always about numbers. Sometimes, if not always, it’s better to pay more to get fewer contacts instead of paying less for a lot of contacts.

If you can get 100% true contacts, it’s wise to pay more instead of buying the same sum for receiving a list of mails that you’ll find out that most of them are not working. Well-targeted contacts can do a much better job than getting a ton of addresses that you can’t be sure what they’ll turn out to be.

In this case, quantity doesn’t mean quality. There’s no logic in sending thousands of mails to addresses that you don’t know if they’re working or getting notifications that you’re sending information into the dark part of the internet. 

Conclusion

No matter what some people say, marketing based on sending newsletters and information over the internet on people’s e-mails and phones is a great idea to do a marketing campaign. The only problem with it can be if you make a good one or you’ll end up as a failure just like many other campaigns did.

If you follow the advice written above you’ll surely do a great job. You just need to follow the rules and find the best company providing the data. When you get a great list you’ll see that you’ve made a great move. Read this article to see more about how to do a good job: https://medium.com/thrive-global/28-ways-to-make-the-most-of-email-marketing-3f76ff8e25c6

However, if you don’t pay extra attention to who you’re buying the information from, you might end up losing money, time, and resources and get nothing in return.

Online Auto Insurance Quotes Verifying the Affordable Options

For huge numbers of people, getting the correct insurance cover for his or her cars is actually complicated through the intricacies that belong to them situations. Acquiring cheap guidelines does not always translate to get affordable business, because bad high quality of protection takes through whatever savings might have been created. With quick access to on the internet auto insurance quotes, the best protection with the greatest savings are available.

It is not possible to ignore the result that the Web has had around the insurance business. Competition offers ensured which greater offers than ever are actually to be found rapidly. It is an response to the demands from the everyday customer, so supplying free immediate online quotes has become a regular offer.

Pace is certain through assessment sites that feature the very best affordable cars insurance guidelines that complement to the info provided within the application form. However knowing what to consider is a key element to finding the perfect policy.

Discovering Affordable Cars Insurance

Just like everything else, customers want to discover insurance policies which are as cost-effective as you possibly can. But there are particular risks to take into consideration, with the terms and conditions of any insurance plan showing an inexpensive policy to become an expensive one out of the long run. Through getting an online affordable cars insurance quote all the details could be examined rapidly.

It is within the small print which extra costs and costs tend to be discovered. With free immediate online quotes, the cost of looking at these offers is minimum.

Some small extras may be charged which have little impact on the cost of coverage, but it is not really advisable to take them. The truth is no-one should have to cover quotes, therefore steer clear of any kind of auto insurance quotation that comes at a cost.

The Pros of utilizing The Internet

Searching on the internet is the quickest and most easy method of searching for great deals, however that does not imply the job demands no effort. Assessment sites dig through thousands of quotes in a matter of mere seconds, with the greatest online car insurance quotes based on your own choices presented within tabulated form for simple reading.

Obtaining fast access towards the most suitable guidelines available is excellent, but it is vital that you carefully browse the details supplied. The choices will provide a great guide to the very best deals but it’s necessary to look at these totally free instant quotes online prior to identifying the correct one to choose.

It’s never a good idea to go ahead and take first car insurance shown around the comparison desk. Each coverage is different; there may be a few minor particulars that are unacceptable. It may come out that choice 7 inside a list of Ten is the correct one.

Identifying the actual Affordable Choice

So, just how can the inexpensive online car insurance quote end up being recognized from the dozens of other people? Your own scenario is a answer to that, as it is your specific place, income as well as driving routines that determine the degree and kind of protection that is required. The fees are set in compliance with these components, and can be compensated in one go, or higher a number of payments.

Of course, through getting free immediate quotes on the internet, the first step has already been covered. But it’s the information joined in the form that is the majority of telling — information such as how often the vehicle is used, your own address and when any extra drivers uses the vehicle. Additionally, if extensive cover is required, or capabilities like injury and damage to property liability.

Don’t Commit These Deadly Sins In Canadian Lease Financing

Are there some ‘ deadly sins ‘ Canadian business owners and financial managers can make when it comes to lease financing in Canada? We think there are a good handful of them, at least 4, so let’s cove those off. More importantly, let’s talk about avoiding them and using business equipment leasing as a solid tool to help finance your business.

So, what are those 4 key areas of potential ‘ sins’ when it comes down to that asset acquisition decision? For us it comes down to:

Entering into the wrong type of equipment lease/ loan

Mistakenly purchasing the asset that in effect depreciates while at the same time providing your firm with certain benefits over a period of time

Entering into a term loan for the asset

And finally…

Working with the wrong lease finance firm

The good news is that there are some great solutions to avoiding today’s ‘ sins ‘ . A good place to start is spending some realistic time around both the costs and payments involved in your transaction, as well as any balance sheet and tax type issues that you might need to consider, if not now .. down the road!

The timing of cash outflows on your lease, versus the expected benefits is a key area to focus on. This is a classic way of weighing the alternatives to leasing. This analysis offers proof you are making the right decision!

Let’s use a typical example, which in today’s case will be the acquisition of a computer, or a whole computer system, as well as all the related costs that come with that, i.e. software, maintenance, etc. That’s an area of our businesses where real cash outlays are required these days!

So what must be considered in our example? Naturally actual cost is a factor. We have often said that using a financing mechanism such as asset finance in your business in effect helps you to remove what a dear friend of ours called ‘ the obstacle to innovation ‘. So just your ability to buy the best and the most with your dollars is one great way to ensure you’re not committing one of today’s ‘ deadly sins ‘.

Other factors you should consider are the depreciation and obsolescence that comes with an asset such as this … (or any other asset for that matter … in truth some assets depreciate quicker than others – a cement truck can be leased of financed for ten years). Note to reader: We don’t recommend financing computers and related equipment over a ten year period!!

Another key point is to ensure that the type of lease you enter into covers off what the leasing companies in Canada call the residual value, or end of term. Bottom line – focus on what you intend to do with the asset at the end of the term… is there some value still? If the asset can be replaced, upgraded, or still utilized it might be beneficial to enter into an operating lease versus a lease to own type scenario.

There are substantial differences in a loan versus a lease, including areas such as payment of the taxes, down payments required, balance sheet consequences, and credit requirements depending on who you are dealing with.

So who can give you a straight answer on what lease is best for you, and when? Resources include independent commercial lease companies, captive finance firms, bank leasing companies, etc. Or perhaps a solid decision is to use a Canadian business financing advisor who has strong relationships and knowledge about all of those resources, some of whom have very vested interests to make asset financing work more for them than you.

Investing in The Stock Market

Investing in the stock market is neither child’s play nor a heroic operation. Therefore it is strongly suggested that all those who are wetting their feet in the stock market should not take their investment lightly and focus on developing a successful investment strategy. For both, beginners and expert knowing the right stocks to invest in and the options they have, is very essential. This article will enlighten the readers about the kind of investment group they should anchor with.

First off, it is imperative to understand at what level you stand. To assess self rank an individual should ask himself about what he does not know and go for options that suits his awareness and experience the best. Those who are not aware of any investment strategies should hire the services of firm that offer numerous strategy plans along with the regular facilities such as; market updates, administrative assistance, favorable tax regimes, regulated onshore funds, wide scope for investors of all categories and a catered platform. A good example of one such investment group is Luxif based in Luxemburg.

There are 2 main branches of stock investment, which divides into further strategies. The first is “Hedge Fund” whereas the second is “investment fund”

Hedge funds are combined investment gathered by a group of investors. After the collection, this fund is invested directly/indirectly in shares. For this kind of investment a fund managing group is mandatory because managing it is inviting hassles, risks, miscalculations and other hurdles. Paying the little fee is quite worth the effort a fund manager does. This opportunity is the best for those who are looking to start investing in the stock market. The year 2012 is predicted to be the best time for investing in these funds, i.e. in the time span of 9 years. It is because since then the market’s average profit rates have been increasing immensely. Last year the America’s hedge fund’s profits surprisingly boomed high to +10%.

Investment Funds: This option is advisable those who know how to analyze the market and scan for ups and downs. Due to the high volatility in the evolving economic stage it is not easy for the beginners to predict the far future. But those who choose an investment group that takes care of this part as well can enjoy the high profits of investment funds as well. Regardless of the economical condition, there is no investment that is foolproof. There are equal chances of loss and profit.

All in all, the center of profit for these investment strategies and investing in stock market is the fund managing group you hire. Because there is no such investor who can save this expense, it is important to spend it wisely by picking the one that offers multiple services for a single fee. Going with any service provider that only has a single or a couple of services to offer is a waste of money and time. Research well and invest in the best!

A Closer Look at PCI DSS Compliance Part II

In the first part of this article, we looked at the 6 control objectives and the 12 requirements of the PCI DSS guidelines. In the second part, we will delve upon the different PCI compliance levels, the validation requirements and the risks of not maintaining PCI compliance.

Today, all credit card brands use the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and hence all the merchants, irrespective of whether big or small, are required to follow the security measures and the auditing procedures specified in PCI DSS. Though the security measures are same for all types of merchants, the auditing procedures vary depending on the number and type of transactions the merchant processes in a year. Hence, there are different PCI compliance levels or merchant categories.

PCI Compliance Levels

There are four levels or categories of PCI compliance namely:

Level 1

Merchants who process more than 6 million credit card transactions per year belong to this category. It includes those merchants as well identified by any card company as Level 1. Even those merchants who have suffered an attack leading to account data compromise belong to this category.

Level 2

Level 2 comprises of those merchants who process 1 million to 6 million credit card transactions per year.

Level 3

It includes those merchants who process anywhere between 20,000 and 1 million eCommerce transactions each year.

Level 4

Those merchants who process less than 20,000 eCommerce transactions and up to 1 million credit card transactions per year belong to this category.

PCI Validation Requirements

The validation requirements vary depending upon the level to which the merchants belong. As per the validation requirements, an independent security assessor must perform annual on-site security audit while a qualified independent scan vendor must do quarterly network security scans. In the case of audits, internal audit will do if and only if signed by an officer of the company.

1. Level 1 merchant must undergo annual on-site security audit and perform quarterly network security scans.

2. Level 2 and Level 3 merchants must complete an annual PCI Self-Assessment questionnaire and perform quarterly network security scans.

3. Level 4 merchants must complete an annual PCI Self-Assessment questionnaire. In addition,they are recommended to perform quarterly network security scans.

PCI Non-Compliance

Since credit card fraud is a multi-billion dollar industry, non-compliance with PCI guidelines are strictly dealt with. Penalties include fines and account termination. The card associations punish the non-compliant merchant directly or indirectly. The card associations fine the acquirer under which the merchant processes transactions, who then passes the fine on to the merchant. Moreover, those merchants whose accounts have been terminated would find it difficult to get a new account, as their names would be put on MATCH, a blacklist in the credit card processing industry.

As we come to the end of the second and final part of this article, we understand that achieving PCI compliance is not as easy as it sounds,since PCI DSS comprises of 200-plus sub policies, procedures and technical nuances. Hence, what is needed is an effective PCI compliance and vulnerability management solution that helps small, medium and large businesses to be PCI DSS compliant.

Payday Loans The Objective Of Proffering Low Cost Loan

With payday loans it always a new day, a new theory. These loans have been in abundant of controversies and hence it seems a way hard to understand what exactly the call would end up at. It is therefore suggested to be a wee bit vigilant in just picking up the reliable and renowned association after a good hunt through internet. There are various associations that offer loans with low rates but not all talk or demonstrate the hidden charges on the loan fee. It is purposeful to be in the headline. The finance summation you are supposed to borrow should be adequate enough as per your need. Do check the rates attached along with it that are to be offered. The rates of interests are already high so one needs to just look at the wee plan.

You need to opt for the lower rates as much as you can, so that at the time of repayment you do not have to fell dreadful. The rates are high in many states but in few states you may grab the logical loan rates as well. Now the concern is that if you do not pay off the loan sum back on time on in full, you are supposed to be in a slaughtering position. Yes, with payday loans it is the deal. You will have to reimburse off additional charges along with the loan sum that you borrowed. It is quite comparatively and collectively difficult for many individuals to actual go through such a trauma. Hence the opinion to always look for low rates works here. You may not fall in any sort of cash tarp once you have done a wee bit of delve related to these quick payday loans. The computation you are allowed to borrow ranges from $100 to about $1,500.

The sum may vary from state to state in the USA. Some of the states offer up to $1000 only. So a diminutive research may work effectively according to the state you dwell in. Payday loans are purposeful loans of all time. The summation you are in dire need of can be handled with care. You just need to look forward to fetch the computation handy and employ it wherever necessary. The repayment slot is short. It is of about 2 to 4 week. If you aren’t capable of earning at least $1000 on monthly basis, in that case these advance grants are not suitable for you. You need to be proficient enough to recompense the loan sum back in full. The rates differ however commencing from $25 to $30 on a $100 loan. If someway an individual fails to compensate the sum on time, he/she may negotiate with the payday lender.

Mechanism Against Bad Credit Payday Lending Process

Pay day loans are instant cash financing scheme with minimum hassle and paper formalities. Bad credit pay day loans are kind of cash loans available with speed of time, but then this loan comes with a promise to maintain the regularity in making the payment.

The liquidity crunch forces the borrowers in need of cash at the time of emergency situations when the other sources deny giving you cash then the bad credit personal loans are the last resort for getting immediate cash.

Future is uncertain and we never know that what will happen and when? So, we should always get our self ready for proactive contingency plan. It is always prudent advice to save a percentage of owns income as saving. It is always advisable by a financial consultant that as a good saving technique, one should have a practice to save at least 25% or 1/4th of income as savings. Savings are the buffer arrangements for the emergency situation to handle but the amount of cash that calls for an emergency is never known. It may happen with someone that one very day he met with an accident, and a major surgery has to be made in order to save the life of the individual, then the person savings which were in terms of FD’s and bonds were prematurely withdrawn, but still if the amount is not sufficient to meet the operation fees, and even the medical insurance could not cover the operation charges, then the last resort is to take loan. And traditional bank will not provide loans so fast. It is then the pay day loan which is the last chance to get immediate finance so fast.

Online lenders for pay day loans is available in abundance now a days where the borrowers gets the advantage to select their lenders according to their flexibility, and terms of borrowing. There are loan quotes posted by different lenders, where from the borrower can choose any one among the many in numbers, then apply for loan, if the lender finds your details are true in value, then confirming your identity and location authenticity, they will themselves contact you and then after negotiating the price you can apply for the loan at lowest price. The reason you get an edge in negotiating the rate of interest on such loan is due to the reason that there are perfect competition playing in the market of online lenders.

These pay day loans work as a signature loan where the borrower will be just filing an e-application form, make a signature as an acceptance against the loan and gets the amount of cash immediately in his /her active bank account.