Official Sicart Associates's Podcast: Recent Episodes
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What it takes to build a great family
Series: Blessings & Curses of Inherited Wealth – The Guide for Inheritors
Introducing James E. Hughes, Jr., Esq. the author of Family Wealth: Keeping It in the Family, and of Family: The Compact Among Generations.
James E. Hughes, Jr., Esq. was the founder of a law partnership in New York City specializing in the representation of private clients throughout the world. He is now retired from the active practice of law. He is a frequent lecturer for and member of the Purposeful Planning Institute, an early member of the Family Firm Institute, and has spoken at a number of their annual gatherings. He is an advisor to SAFOX in Shanghai, whose mission is to advise Chinese families on how to nurture multi-generational success. He has frequently addressed international and domestic symposia on av [...]
New Generation Of Successful Entrepreneurs,
New Ways Of Giving Back And Monitoring
Introducing Alexandre Mars, a New York City based, French-born serial entrepreneur, and engaged philanthropist who, in 2015, was named one of New York City’s top 20 philanthropists under 40 by the New York Observer.
In our series “Blessings & Curses of Inherited Wealth – The Guide for Inheritors”, we have had the pleasure to investigate inheritance with inheritors, experts and authors,with a variety of stories and experiences. The one topic that comes up very often is philanthropy. A lot of inheritors and first generation wealth creators find it very fulfilling to give back. It helps them find a fuller sense of purpose, and makes them feel part of the community.
As much as philanthropy is a worthwhile, inspiring pursuit [...]
Series: Blessings & Curses of Inherited Wealth – The Guide for
Inheritors
Introducing Jeffrey Condon the Author of Beyond the Grave: The Right Way and
the Wrong Way of Leaving Money to Your Children (and Others).
There are many books about the challenges and dilemmas of inheritance planning, but very few are
written in a simple, easy-to-understand, relatable way. Beyond the Grave is full of examples, candid
advice, and straightforward answers to some very difficult questions.
We learn about the importance of having an inheritance plan, and the author explains that there is the
right, and the wrong way. We are reminded how crucial it is to treat beneficiaries equally. Among many
other lessons, we also find an interesting discussion of one of the most [...]
Series: Blessings And Curses Of Inherited Wealth - The Guide for
Inheritors (1) - The Wise Inheritor – Fireside chat with Ann Perry
Our guest is Ann Perry, the author of The Wise Inheritor: A Guide to Managing,
Investing and Enjoying Your Inheritance.
It’s rare to see a book about inheritance written from the perspective of the heirs. Ms. Perry’s
grandmother popularized the first widely marketed Go Fish card game, helping lay the
foundation for Ms. Perry’s own inheritance.
She tells us that money is the last taboo, and inheritance a triple taboo. She also reminds us that
inherited money should be treated differently. We learn that with looming biggest ever wealth
transfer of tens of trillions of dollars, more of us than ever will be facing the dilemmas of
inheritance. What ca [...]
Series: Blessings And Curses Of Inherited Wealth - The Guide for
Inheritors (1) - Barbara Blouin’s Inheritance Project
Inheriting a fortune – or being lucky enough to leave one to your children – can be
a mixed blessing. As the largest-ever intergenerational wealth transfer is upon us,
it’s important to realize that how we give may matter more than how much.
We at Sicart Associates have spent our careers as investment advisors to families, and lifelong
students of wealth growth & preservation. These are complex concerns. Every family is different,
and the financial world does not do us the favor of staying the same through time. Strategies that
have worked for one family may be inappropriate for a later generation; earners and inheritors
have different approaches to life. Our goal, always, is the financial well-being and prosperity of< [...]
Life in a shrinking economy, a forgotten concept
We have forgotten what it’s like to experience a shrinking economy. The economic tailwinds we’ve enjoyed for decades, however, are beginning to turn into headwinds: demographics, consumer behavior and most of all — the debt mega-cycle. What has worked so well in the investment world for the last few decades may not only work poorly in the future, but also could get many investors into real trouble. Making and keeping money may become a lot more difficult than what we’ve gotten used to.
Thinking long-term
We at Sicart Associates don’t claim to have discovered a formula to predict the market’s direction for any particular span of time. Moreover, if we did have one, it would not be that helpful to our strategy and goals – wealth preservation over many generations. We beli [...]
How can we be wrong?
With stock markets at new highs, we take a careful look at our cautious, contrarian stand
When we analyze an individual stock or the market as whole, we wonder how our conclusions can be wrong. Lately, we think the current market offers extremely low reward at an extremely high risk. How can it keep going up forever? Only if it finds buyers.
Since the last financial crisis, debt-funded corporate share repurchases have amounted to almost 20% of market capitalization, and they offset net selling across most other investor types. The best example of current times is Restoration Hardware which recently executed a huge and speedy buyback, loading up with debt and propelling its stock 170%+ creating a major short squeeze — while its peers remained flat, and its business fundamentals have been underwhelming.
The Emperor’s New Clothes - Understanding Today’s Financial World
A lesson from Hans Christian Andersen
Sometimes I think that we learn all we need to know in life as children, and then somehow forget it all as adults. On my frequent walks through Central Park, I pass the statue of the famous Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, famous for his fairy tales. One of his stories has made a lasting impression on me. It’s the tale of two enterprising weavers who promise a vain emperor new clothes which will be invisible to those who are unfit for their positions at court. As you may remember, when the emperor chooses to parade his new attire, only a child in the crowd dares to say he is not wearing anything at all. Let us, for a moment, look at the financial world through the eyes of that child. (1)
New market highs in the land [...]
THE ENTREPRENEUR AND THE STEWARD OF CAPITAL
The transition from one to the other is less intuitive than it seems
As we work with more and more entrepreneurs around the world, we find a number of key differences between them and portfolio investors.
By nature, entrepreneurs feel that they can succeed at anything if they put their minds to it, so they do not initially see any obstacle to taking on new responsibilities as their family’s steward of capital. But in fact, we believe that the qualities that made them successful entrepreneurs are seldom the same ones that make successful stock market investors. The two have overlapping talents, of course, but we observe that each would often benefit from focusing on the activity that best fits their personality.
Furthermore, since entrepreneurs have had mo [...]
HOW TO SAVE A FORTUNE, AND MAKE MONEY IN THESE PERILOUS TIMES?
It’s obvious to us that the US equity market is overheated, and that we are due for what may prove to be one of the biggest corrections ever recorded. We don’t claim to know when exactly it will happen, how much stocks will decline, and for how long. We are no prognosticators, we are just trying to make an intelligent interpretation of the familiar facts.
We consider ourselves value contrarian long-term focused investors. We like to buy good companies when they are down, cheap or out of favor. Even today’s market’s tech darlings had their long spells in the doghouse not that long ago.
We don’t usually bother to make market forecasts. We enjoy learning about businesses, distinguishing good ones from bad ones, and maintaining discipline in buying them. For us at Sicart this is more sati [...]
The most unusual bull market
It might have been the least exciting, and the hardest-to-beat bull market, and its crash couldn’t be more anticipated.
Our current, highly durable bull market is characterized by three qualities: it might be the least exciting bull market in history, it’s been possibly one of the hardest to beat, and when it ends, the resultant crash will have been anticipated for months if not years.
We used to have fun
To look at a comparable example it’s not necessary to go back to the days of Tulip Mania in the 17th century. Investment bubbles are always driven by excitement and novelty. The vibrant stories of the roaring 1920s are still very much alive: we can almost hear th [...]
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