There is current interest in the effect of the new tax law changes on investment fees. Before discussing deductibility, investment fees have always had to be justified. For assets managed at a firm like Woodstock, the ownership of individual equities, not in a pooled investment structure, allows the investment manager to use asset allocation, tax considerations and turnover, in other words use the levers available, to effectively save as much as the management fee might be.

The S&P 500 Index returned +18.5% through the first six months of this year, following a -13.5% fourth quarter of 2018. On a year-over-year basis, the market has returned a still strong, but more modest +10.4%. The market hit a rough patch in May, down 6.4%, when trade negotiations between the US and China stalled. Also in May, the Trump Administration imposed more aggressive sanctions on China’s leading telecom equipment manufacturer, Huawei, and threatened to impose tariffs on Mexico.

Multi-Generational Tax Planning

How hard is it to do multi-generational tax planning with the 2020 national election run-up showing such diverse views of potential tax policy? We try to keep two rules of thumb in mind when planning. Don’t be “too smart by half” which we believe means don’t make what can be simple too complicated and, the best tax advice ever given, “don’t be greedy”.