Managing the Complexities of Your Wealth
Atlantic Trust presents the latest thinking from its wealth management professionals in a variety of publications. We invite you to learn more about us by choosing from the following:

Global Market Report
This publication provides a monthly summary of major financial markets and trends.

• February 2008 - Continuing negative economic news and credit market problems cast a cloud over developed markets. On a relative basis, the emerging markets and Asia were the best performing regions, coming up with good positive returns in a number of markets. Stock markets in the United States generally fared the worst.
• January 2008 - Any residual hope that the 2007 turmoil in credit markets would be laid to rest in 2008 quickly evaporated during January. In fact, volatility remained a constant companion of global equity markets throughout the month and against this backdrop all major developed equity-market regions ended January in negative territory. On a relative basis, the U.S. was the bestperforming developed region, followed by the UK, Japan and Europe.(local currency).
• December 2007 - Global equity markets were generally weak over December, with all the major developed regions down in local currency terms, with the exception of the UK. Some of the large developing markets did well, such as China, Russia, India and Brazil. Against this backdrop, global government bonds were mixed, with UK 10-year bonds faring particularly well on the expectation that the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee will likely reduce interest rates more than the market is anticipating. U.S. government bonds, as measured by the 10-year, were flat on the month, while European bond yields (10-year) moved higher.
• November 2007 - The UK equity market was up on the month, as represented by the 4.1% rise in the FTSE All-Share index. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index fared even better, rising 5.7%, while the FTSE 100 and the FTSE Small Cap indices rose by 3.9% and 2.7%, respectively. The UK stock market started the month well, but faded towards the mid-month as fears for the financials sector resurfaced. Towards the end-October, the UK stock market rallied as a raft of weak U.S. economic data raised hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve Committee would cut U.S. interest rates on 31 October, which it duly did (by 25 basis points (bps) to 4.5%).
• October 2007 - The UK equity market was up on the month, as represented by the 4.1% rise in the FTSE All-Share index. The mid-cap FTSE 250 Index fared even better, rising 5.7%, while the FTSE 100 and the FTSE small cap-indexes rose by 3.9% and 2.7%, respectively. The UK stock market started the month well, but faded toward the mid-month as fears for the financials sector resurfaced. Toward the end of October, the UK stock market rallied as a raft of weak U.S. economic data raised hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve Committee would cut U.S. interest rates on October 31, which it duly did (by 25 basis points (bps) to 4.5%).
• September 2007 - Despite further turbulence emanating from problems in credit markets, and economic news generally taking a downturn, U.S. stock markets had a strong month. The S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq climbed by 3.6%, 4.0% and 4.0%, respectively. The U.S. Federal Reserve cut its Federal Funds rate by an aggressive 50 basis points, from 5.25% to 4.75% on 18 September, in response to the weaker-than-expected August non-farm payroll report and other indicators suggesting that the US economy faced an increased risk of recession in the wake of the recent credit-market contraction.
• August 2007 - Global equity markets experienced considerable volatility over August, as worries over the impact of weakness in the U.S. subprime mortgage market on credit markets unnerved investors. Against this background, investors engaged in a risk-reduction exercise, reducing their exposure to more risky assets in favor of relatively safer assets, such as government bonds. Of the major global equity markets, the US was the best-performing region, while Japan was the worst performing.


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Advisor Newsletter
Our quarterly publication analyzes important wealth management issues, highlights our investment performance, and features important insights on legislation, trends, and topics in the news.

• January 2008 - A client once told Markwalter that she clearly “got” what Atlantic Trust was all about and which space in the broad spectrum of wealth management services the firm occupies. “The best of both worlds” was the way this client described Atlantic Trust. Markwalter couldn’t agree more.
  
• July 2007 - The Asset Allocation Recipe: Beyond Plain Vanilla
  You may remember it well: In 1999, the technology-heavy Nasdaq rose 86%, Amazon.com’s CEO, Jeff Bezos, was Time Magazine’s Man of the Year, and we were introduced to such “new economy” companies as Webvan and Pets.com. It all came to a screeching halt starting in March 2000, when the Nasdaq peaked at 5133 only to close a month later at 3321. Seven years later, the Nasdaq is still almost 50% below its euphoric high, yet today’s headlines tell us that “Tech is back.”
  
• January 2007 - The Asset Allocation Recipe: Beyond Plain Vanilla
  Thirty years ago, when Jeff Thomas, chief investment officer of Atlantic Trust, began his career in financial services, asset allocation was a “plain vanilla” mix of 60/40 stocks and bonds, mostly from the U.S. Plenty has changed, turning asset allocation into a science—but one that still needs a liberal dose of artful judgment. The investment opportunity world has become larger and more complex—products are sophisticated, due diligence and monitoring are complicated, the global geopolitical environment changes rapidly, investment transparency is not always . . . well, transparent. Academics have written millions of words on risk premium, Monte Carlo statistical modeling, and the capital asset pricing model. Experts’ research is both widely cited and relied on; other experts’ research picks apart and discounts it.
  
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White Papers
To learn more about our thoughts on investments and planning, please email Carolyn Collins to request white paper documents. Choosing a Trustee is an example of one of our many informative white papers.

• Activist Investing
  Over the past few years, hedge funds have seen explosive growth in the number of funds, as well as in total assets under management. As the numbers have expanded, so have the styles and strategies.
  
• Basic Estate and Gift Planning
  The heart of every estate plan is providing for those you love. That means not only distributing the assets accumulated during your lifetime, but also minimizing what goes to taxes.
  
• Community Investing
  What is community investing? Community investing is the least known sector of socially responsible investing (SRI). Community investing is financing that creates resources and opportunities for economically disadvantaged people who are underserved by traditional financial institutions.
  
• Choosing Trust Situs to Meet Client Objectives
  When creating an estate planning structure to meet a client’s needs, advisors often consider the advantages that jurisdictional choices can offer in selecting trust situs.
  
• Equity Income - Focusing on Cash Flow
  In mid 2003, we started with a blank sheet of paper and began designing a new investment strategy that would become Atlantic Trust Equity Income. The goal was simple: “Build a strategy that, if executed well, would outperform the overall market while taking on less risk.”
  
• Estate Planning with Retirement Assets 2008
  For clients with large retirement accounts who want to pass those assets to heirs, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that under the minimum distribution rules now in effect, people older than 70 1/2 will not be forced to deplete their accounts as quickly as in the past, so there will be more funds for inheritors.
  
• Funding Education for Children and Grandchildren
  For many parents, education is the single largest expense of raising a child. That makes financial planning for this expenditure crucial—not only for the parents themselves, but also for grandparents and other relatives who can afford to help out. But just putting aside the money may not be enough.
  
• Grantor Trust Can Give Your Estate a Boost 2008
  One of the best ways to trim estate taxes is to reduce your net worth by making lifetime transfers to family members. But even clients who are comfortable with that idea quickly run up against the legal limit: you can only give away $1 million ($2 million for married couples) before a 45% gift tax applies.
  
• Investment Case for Exchange Funds
  One of the primary lessons in managing one’s investments is that diversifying your asset base is paramount in order to decrease the risk inherent in individual securities.
  
• Lifetime Charitable Gifts: Choosing the Assets to Donate 2008
  You do not have to be Warren Buffet to benefit from making lifetime gifts to charity. The announcement, in 2006, that the legendary investor and philanthropist would accelerate his philanthropy with a $31 billion pledge to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, reminded other donors that lifetime gifts have significant advantages over charitable bequests.
  
• Moving to Florida 2008
  Sun, sand, and the beach might be enough to lure you to move to the Sunshine state. Add in no state income tax, state estate tax and the recent repeal of the Florida Intangibles Tax, and Florida is an even more attractive destination if you are looking to relocate.
  
• Socially Responsible Investing
  Empirical research suggests that asset allocation is the primary determinant of a portfolio’s returns over time. As such, we at Atlantic Trust commit significant resources to establishing the proper allocation for our clients. This is reflected in the investment policy statements we develop for each client, in which we define the clients’ objectives, special considerations, and investment guidelines.
  
• A Trustee's Delicate Balance 2008
  Trusts that pay income to current beneficiaries and preserve principal for future beneficiaries can create conflicts between their respective interests.
  
• What's Harvard Got to Do With It?
  Access to top managers is not limited to the “Ivies” of the world. "We can offer the ‘endowment model’ to our Atlantic Trust clients, whether individuals, families, or smaller foundations and endowments,” says Michele Serrao, Director of the Multi-Manager Investment Program at Atlantic Trust.
  
• 2007 Year-End Planning: Tax Saving Opportunities
  Atlantic Trust's Top 10 Ways to Trim Tax. Compared to other years, Congress was practically dormant in 2007 when it came to passing new tax laws—the most important development for individuals was the expansion of the so-called kiddie tax. But coping with stock market turbulence during the second half of the year has hardly been child’s play. The good news: amid the damage are opportunities for both income- and estate-tax savings.
  

Atlantic Trust Solutions
To learn more about how we serve clients, select from the following topical solutions:

• Integrated Wealth Management
  Atlantic Trust’s financial, investment, and estate planning solutions work together to enhance and protect our clients’ wealth. Read more about the benefits of our approach.
• Investment Management
  See how the Atlantic Trust team developed an investment management strategy for a couple contemplating retirement and the sale of their family business.
• Trust & Estate Planning
  Learn how Atlantic Trust helped one family revise their estate plan to meet a key planning concern: passing a large portion of their wealth to their grandchildren.
• Strategic Asset Allocation
  Atlantic Trust employs a strategic approach to asset allocation. Learn how we worked with several members of a single family to define and coordinate their varied wealth management objectives.
• Philanthropic Strategies
  See how Atlantic Trust helped a multi-generational family implement their wish to continue making charitable gifts while meeting the differing needs of each generation.