Yale Endowment Fund

The opportunities laid out for endowment funds benefit the students; as well as, the school itself.  In general, a university will be able to generate necessary funds through annual revenues generated from endowment funds.  Although particular schools will vary as to how these funds are allocated, it has remained to be an integral part in drawing out prestige and maintaining a status among the best of the best.  There are numerous endowment funds that support a wide range of programs within a university.  Some examples include: scholarships, fellowships, loans, professorships, research and development projects, and countless other special programs. There is no doubt that these donations; which may reach to the millions of dollars, have made an enormous impact on the school’s quality of education and enrollment.  One such school that maintains these high ideals and brings to reality the possibilities of acquiring excellence in all respects is Yale University.

Building the Foundations

Yale University and its law school has established several successful ways to place endowment funds at the peak of their purpose, accepting gifts that merit different programs and facilities to enhance teaching and offer students every resource to succeed.  As it were, certain amounts in gifts will merit a particular program to be named.  $500,000.00; for example, will allow the creation of a research fund.  A gift of several millions will name a certain position within the faculty, depending on the amount.   Most endowment funds will go toward continuing advancements in student opportunities; both for undergraduate and graduate courses.  Under the graduate program, $7 million will name students as tutors, scholars, and program directors.  While some gifts will create an endowment fund that will directly benefit the law school and its initiatives to sustain innovative programs, others will impact the surrounding facilities.  These endowment funds may encompass the development, renovation, or construction of different buildings, classrooms, halls, library, and other structures within the scope of the learning environment.

Shaping the Future

One of the main objectives of endowment funds; at least within Yale, is to create a future that is rich in educational resources and to create career opportunities.  This is done through various forms of development found by way of endowments.  Perhaps the most important aspect would be in establishing scholarships programs to assist in the growth and development of students.  In fact, a pledge of $10,000.00 to $50,000.00 will undoubtedly aid in the payment of tuition fees, which can be spread in increments within a period of approximately five years.  It is financial aid; in this respect, that sets standard for progress and ultimate success; especially for Yale University.  In its rich history, Yale has proved itself to be among the top universities in the world.  Its efforts in establishing endowment funds have truly made the school shine above many others.  It has used resources appropriately to the advantage of its students and those who dream of getting quality education.  Endowments given are not only gifts to the school, but they are gifts to ensure a more successful future.

What makes Yale Endowment Fund interesting is that its asset allocation model could perhaps offer us insights into our own asset allocation and how we ought to manage our investment portfolio.  But that is perhaps best left to another posting.

Investing in United States Real Estate

Many people are beginning to commit long term resources in the United States Real Estate market. The current US Dollar value is not as strong, and mortgage rates have plummeted. This has made it difficult for property owners to see good selling rates; however, buyers and investors are taking advantage of this to grow their business reach, and future fall backs. Many see real estate as a smarter form of investment, as compared to stocks and other unstable riskier ventures. Sales have been increasing over the years, and as an investor, it is important to get a real estate broker in the market to get you solid options before you make an offer. 

Naturally, the coastal areas of the United States have seen the most action in real estate activity. The East coast drew most Europeans, and the west saw more Asians flock to invest in their real estate options. The reason for this is probably proximity of the East to Europe and the West to Asia.

The exchange rate is definitely a great determinant of United States real estate activity, and many foreigners and even locals are looking to cash in on this window that is closing by the day. Mortgage rates are equally on the cards; a three decade fixed rate can hit an 8 month high of over seven percent. 

The United States real estate market has gotten great advertisement from the internet. MLS listings and other resources have brought more options on; Just listed homes, sold homes and new construction on duplexes, condos and other properties to the table. Investors can now take a property tour from their desktops and see just what is on the menu for them. 

Colorado and other cities in the States are booming in real estate sales and acquisitions. Foreclosures are slowly being replaced by short sales, and sincerely speaking, there hasn’t been a better time to invest in United States real estate. Investments like golf properties, resorts and other recreational real estates are equally on sale in the United States. 

Phoenix and Florida are other areas that have seen great influx of investments in real estate lately. These areas have some of the best environments and technological advancements that encourage people from all over the country, and the world in fact to settle down here. Real estate listings show lots of properties to you in the States, and you can be sure that these listings are not unscrupulously refreshed. They are listed to give you the ideal listings to pick from. You can choose from many cities, and go with a serene, tranquil real estate to settle down in. Access to essential amenities is well thought of before listing these properties. The children can go to school with ease, you can navigate to work and around town with relative ease, and many other investment opportunities are open to you as you reside in the states. You can easily raise a family and grow a business in these cities and provinces. So get your funds together and jump on this wagon, because real estate investment in the United States of America has become a cake worth taking a bite if you live in today. 

Investing in Emerging Markets

The emerging markets are often referred to the markets in the developing economies. These markets offer investors, great returns, high profits and long time safe investments. The question why investing in developing economies or emerging economies is profitable has a simple and a logical answer.  These economies as the name suggest are growing; still there are lots of market share and the customer buying potential, which is not properly tapped. This is why all developed economies and investors from strongly established economies like United States of America prefer to invest and reap beneficiary returns from their investment in the emerging markets like; Chine, India, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and many more.

In last few years United States of America have been able to sustain growth in their markets due to their investments in the growing economies; their investors have gained good profits with their calculated investments in these booming markets. There are many sectors where an investor depending upon their interest and keenness can look to invest their share and increase their profits; one of the most preferred and beneficial investment sectors that have always given a good profitability equation to its investors is the Real Estate. In developing economies, the growth in the economy is directly proportional to the growth in the Real Estate, and the rise in the property rates with the high demand in the market always brings a good return on the investment. A part from real estate; Pharmaceuticals, insurance sector and power sector offers good opportunity to invest as these sectors offer a great scope of return to the investors.

A part from investing in the emerging economies; the investors can also look for the investment in the already established economies like Unites States. No economy can come close in guaranteeing a successful return on investment than the United States, with strong government support and powerful financial banking one thing, which an investor is always sure while investing in this strong market is the fact that their investment are always going to be safe and secure. Even in the global slowdown era, where world has seen a dip in all the major economies; united States have been able to hold its fort and have made sure that the investors are not losing their money.

A good economy for investment is one that can offer investors the options and is strongly and ably backed by the government; it must have a good foreign investment policy in place and have a healthy political atmosphere in the country because the political disturbances have a daunting consequences on the rate of the economy growth, and no investor would like to have an overnight change in the government policy structure, therefore political stability of the country is must. This is the reason why investors all over the world enthusiastically eye United States and other emerging economies as their favored destination to invest as one thing these markets ensure is the continuous dynamic growth in their growth rate which is good for both the investors and the economy.

When Is The Best Time to Invest?

When is the best time to invest?  This is probably a question that many new (or even old) investors might ask.  After all, market timing seems like an important factor when it comes to making investment decisions.  And most people won't want to be buying into a stock when its share price seems to be so high.

Perhaps I will share this quote that I saw recently.  It is by Sir John Templeton.





"The best time to invest is when you have money".
- Sir John Templeton




So probably the important question is not when to invest but what or where to invest one's money in.

This monthly dividend paying REIT gives more than 10% yield

Yes.  Chasing high yields is risky business.  But with my risk appetite, I think I fall under the super high risk category - that means I can stomach great volatility in my portfolio). Anyway, I added another 200 shares of Armour Residential REIT recently.

Other monthly dividend stocks I am watching are PIMCO High Income Fund (approx 10% yield) and Cross Timbers Royalty Trust.  But with little bullets left in my pocket, perhaps all I can do is sit and watch till the opportune time comes along.

Risk of Mortgage REITs

At some point in building a wealth portfolio you may come across the option of purchasing mortgage REITs. Mortgage REITs can be an extremely powerful investment in real estate. These are highly risky investments that can sometimes produce a significant return on your overall investment portfolio. However, how much risk are you actually willing to take to get rewards that may never come? When building your portfolio how smart is the choice of adding mortgage REITs? To answer this you must first understand not only the basics of what a mortgage REIT is but also what the hazards involved really are.

Mortgage real estate investment trusts, or REITs, simply put are investments in residential mortgages that have been grouped together into a security known as a Mortgage Backed Security or MBS. The main difference between a regular REIT and a mortgage REIT is that a mortgage REIT owns no actual physical property. This is where the risk factor comes into play. You will then receive your income from payments that the borrowers make towards the mortgages that you own in your REIT package. Because of this Mortgage REITs are more similar in nature to bonds and therefore have more risk involved then regular real estate investments that are backed by actual property. There are two types of Mortgage REITs, called as the agency funded and non-agency. An agency REIT is backed by the government through either Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae which makes them creditworthy. Non-agency REITs are backed by investment banks. Non-agency debts hold more risk because they are less credit worthy and also less liquid, therefore if there is a default by the issuer, the holder of the loan is the one that is at a loss due to this.

Other risks involved include the fact that REITs do not allow for appreciation of collateral since there are no actual physical assets and they are in fact just instruments of debt. Interest rates cause significant fluctuations in dividends making them unstable and sometimes nonexistent. Due to their unpredictable nature the investor has to weigh how much they are willing to risk for a possible short term gain. Even in the best of circumstances, hefty payments that you may receive from a Mortgage REIT are not guaranteed and have the additional problem of being short lived.

When investing in Mortgage REITs one must also consider that if they are using a non-agency held bond the risk becomes even greater. The yields can also become much higher for the investor of a non-agency bond. Unless one is willing to deal with the inherent risks, it might be safer to go with an agency held bond. When using non-agency held bonds there is a certain amount of leverage that must be used. This leverage also increases the risk. By having to utilize leverage (such as the hazard of default), as well as deal with prepayment and interest rates an investor would be wise to understand and be well advised when weighing their options.

ARMOUR Residential REIT and Investing Risks

Managing Risk At ARMOUR 

Risk management at any corporation, particularly a securities firm is inevitable. This is particularly the case at ARMOUR. At ARMOUR Residential REIT, risk management is critical to successes and failures. Involved mostly in hybrid variable rate, and fixed rate of mortgage-backed securities, risk happens every day. Risk at ARMOUR is never something that is taken lightly by quality assurance managers. Risk is something that is carefully weighed, examined, and mitigated.

ARMOUR has strategic policies in place to help mitigate risk. These are firm policies committed to lowering risk and improving cash available in the event interest rates rapidly increase, or in the event a financial collapse were to occur. ARMOUR’s investment strategies also involve some risk; therefore policies are set to help protect investors from risk.

The primary risks involved with ARMOUR include risks associated with early payment, increasing interest rates, and concerns associated with ARMOUR’s ability to fund portfolios. Each of these risks are addressed below.

1. Managing prepayment risk. To assist with prepayments ARMOUR has in place a policy that allows ARMOUR to purchase mortgage securities at prices in excess of 100 cents on the dollar. This allows the company to pay top dollar prices for all securities. ARMOUR will also review delinquencies and refinancing to help address premiums traditionally associated with prepayment premiums.

2. Increasing interest rates. Interest rates are sometimes beyond the control of ARMOUR. At present ARMOUR would put into place a systematic program that would increase the cost of funding but allow asset yields to remain constant or allow them to change at a rate that remained slower than the rise in interest rates. This would allow a total decrease in net interest spread earned and accompanying potential dividends that ARMOUR would pay out. If funding costs and asset yields still resulted in a discrepancy, ARMOUR may consider selling assets at prices far lower than the original payment price to help offset costs and fees associated with high interest rates.

3. Funding portfolios. There are currently several strategies in place to protect portfolios and earnings from rising rates, including a strategy that focuses on shorter duration assets. The objective of ARMOUR’S current hedging program is to promote cash flow if rates rise, and decrease cash flow and decline in value if rates decline. ARMOUR’S goals include protecting assets and liabilities for all clients.

ARMOUR also seeks to help mortgage borrowers or homeowners pay off their loans at any time. This is a challenging task, and must take into consideration many factors including different interest rates. It is possible that a company including ARMOUR may over hedge, and under hedge. ARMOUR’s primary
goals include maintaining proper hedging that will protect against these factors and interest rate fluctuations as best as possible.

ARMOUR insists on paying out all dividends monthly and conducting all business in an honorable fashion. All business matters are handled in a transparent manner. This also contributes to the legitimacy and risk management potential of the company.