Diversification benefits outweigh the sector’s recent lackluster results.

Despite short-term volatility, long-term investors should not overlook oil-related investments.

Commercial real estate has been a bright spot on the investment horizon, with all property types posting solid gains in earnings and with property prices reaching or exceeding pre-crisis peaks. In terms of investment performance, equity REITs posted a total return of 27.8 percent through the first 11 months of 2014.

After 50 years in business as a community financial institution, Dallas-based Benchmark Bank is breaking into the wealth management business. The move is symbolic of a growing trend among the nation’s banks

Both individual and institutional investors have been looking harder at diamonds recently. Individual stones — white and color — are gaining popularity because they are tangible and portable, and they promise steady appreciation, even if that promise is not always realistic. 

As the number of high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals continues to grow, so does their appetite for alternative investments, particularly real estate. Yet, most of these investors limit their real estate investments to residential property or real estate investment trusts instead of direct ownership in commercial property. 

Infrastructure and public-private partnerships are not entirely new, but at the same time infrastructure is hardly the mature, widely accepted allocation that some feel it should be — or soon may become.