Investors focused on making solid returns on opportunity zones have a number of factors to consider when examining qualified properties. There is more going on here than what meets the eye, even when it comes to official government designation reports. When evaluating the census data used to help determine areas that qualified as opportunity zones, one discovers several nuances which, if properly considered, could translate into significant advantages for investors.

After spending three years in a $250 trading range (between $1,121 and $1,375), spot gold has erupted since late May and is up about 18 percent year-to-date. At the same time, gold mining equities, as measured by Sprott Gold Miners ETF (SGDM) are up about 40 percent YTD.

Infrastructure investors cannot complain about much these days. According to the 2019 Preqin Global Infrastructure Report, $77 billion in returns were disbursed to investors in 2017, further adding to the positive vibe in the industry. As a result, the asset class is benefitting from increasing allocations by investors who want a piece of the pie.

David Rose is third-generation angel investor — a rare breed in the high-risk-high-reward business of underwriting startup and early-stage companies. Lately, he has seen a lot more interest in his once-esoteric line of work. “Angel investing has gone mainstream,” says Rose, author of Angel Investing: The Gust Guide to Making Money & Having Fun Investing in Startups and CEO of Gust, an internet platform that connects accredited investors with early-stage companies. During 2018 alone, the number of active angel investors grew by 16 percent over the prior year to nearly 335,000, and the number of ventures that received angel funding climbed by more than 7 percent to 66,110, according to the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire.

Think professional athletes with their fat contracts have it made? Think again. Not all are paid that lavishly, and even those who do earn millions per season face short careers and many demands on their incomes. What is a financial adviser to do? David Johan and Travis Higgins, managing partners at Altruist Advisors, have a clientele that includes several professional athletes. So what is their gameplan?

Change seems to be the only constant in the world of tax and estate planning. In recent months, those changes have begun to benefit increasingly high-net-worth and large investors. Indeed, it appears as though long-awaited tax relief might at last be at hand. When advisers work with clients, they develop a thorough understanding of their investment objectives and tax circumstances. What follows are a few areas in which advisers have been particularly active of late with their high-net-worth and family office clients. It is always important, of course, that advisers coordinate with the work of clients’ tax and legal advisers to ensure investment strategies are appropriate for each individual client.

It was only a short 10 years ago that institutional real estate investors and managers were sorting through the wreckage caused by the global financial crisis. Fund managers were dealing with redemptions, properties were being repriced — in some cases, portfolio values declined 40 to 50 percent — and investors were tightening their purse strings as they focused on managing existing assets rather than making new deals. In short, things were pretty bleak.

Clare Golla was employed at a community development bank on the brink of closure when Bernstein Private Wealth Management contacted her about joining the firm. Based on prior conversations with wealth management firms, Golla had little interest, but she grudgingly agreed to a meeting. She was surprised to find she immediately clicked with the organization’s people and mission.

How can professional athletes — so dexterous with hands and feet in their manipulation of baseballs, basketballs, footballs and other sporting objects and objectives — be so ham-fisted with money? Professional athletes going broke is an old and continuing story, which begs the question: Why do rich pro athletes so often go bust? David Johan of Altruist Advisors counts several professional athletes among his clientele and takes measures to help ensure they do not run into foul territory and ill-fated financial endings. That requires a gameplan, argues Johan, who also serves as an editorial advisory board member for this magazine. He discusses the matter on this month’s 5 Questions feature.

In 2012, television viewers watching Super Bowl XLVI heard Clint Eastwood’s gravelly voice extol the toughness and resilience of the City of Detroit. Toward the end of the Halftime in America commercial for Chrysler, the actor declares, “Our second half is about to begin,” capturing both the sense that things were turning around and the promise of good things to come.