Business

By Jed Talvacchia, Head of Corporate Development

Backed by the world’s leading banks, R3 is focussed on delivering technology to accelerate digital industry transformation.

The firm’s development fund has committed millions in funding to a range of start-up technology firms building on their Corda platform.

Head of corporate development, Jed Talvacchia, talks through the firm’s investment approach and ethos and why digital transformation is accelerating

This is an exciting time in technology investment. Capital has been pouring into the enterprise blockchain space alone at an unprecedented rate throughout 2021. Venture capital investment in cryptocurrency and blockchain firms hit a record USD 3 billion in Q1 2021 and investors continue to take advantage of the central role this technology is playing in the digital transformation of the business world.

The sector is undoubtedly buoyed by a pandemic that forced all businesses to re-think outdated ways of working—and 2021 is the year that firms are putting their digital strategies into action. Clearly, investors are taking note. The Fund’s team has been quietly deploying since 2019 and are now thrilled to welcome some of venture industry’s biggest names as co-investors.

Jed Talvacchia

Interest has been strong in the blockchain space since the technology emerged for enterprise usage around 2015. In 2017, we completed one of the largest ever Series A fundraising rounds for a fintech company, backed by the likes of Intel, HSBC, Bank of America, Citi and Barclays, and have continued to raise significant capital since. Through the Fund, we have been deploying capital back into our ecosystem. These investments have been early stage, but the companies are not merely experimenting—they are rolling out mission-critical solutions that promise to materially disrupt their economic sectors, from capital markets to healthcare and from green energy to digital advertising.

When we consider that worldwide spending on blockchain solutions was USD 1.5 billion in 2018 and is now forecast to reach a staggering USD 11.7 billion by 2022, we believe the ROI for investors such as the Fund is clear. But alongside the work being done by industry leaders like R3 and its peers, innovative start-ups are the drivers of this technology’s adoption. Their creativity, ingenuity, and diligent development are proving early adopters (and investors) right. Now, outside investment can accelerate the progress of the industry as a whole, from the bottom up.

While many firms benefit from their pinpoint focus and agility, the business climate of the last 12 months has still proven extremely challenging for most start-ups. Forward-thinking investors realise digital technologies will play a central role in helping businesses evolve and emerge from the current crisis.

We launched the Fund in 2019 to support the firms helping us to deliver on our combined mission to establish Corda as the new platform for global commerce. We are keenly aware that Corda’s strength is derived from its community, which includes a diverse range of start-ups from a range of industries. We see app developers in insurance, capital markets, supply chain finance, payment messaging and many others, all building and deploying solutions for customers across the globe. Now with the launch of Conclave, the Fund has expanded its investment thesis to also include start-ups building with confidential computing software.

We are very proud to report the significant growth and progress the Fund’s portfolio companies have shown in both their product and commercial development. In Q3 and Q4 of 2020, during the height of COVID-related economic turmoil, nearly a third of the Fund’s portfolio companies marked up their valuation through either equity or convertible loan note fundraises. The portfolio valuation is now at a historic high-water mark. This is no small feat in the unprecedented operating environment in which we now operate.

As of March 2021, the Fund had built a network of more than 75 distinct co-investors, routinely sharing deal flow and driving capital into the Corda ecosystem. To date, total paid-in-capital across the Fund portfolio amounts to USD 90mm+. Our operating thesis is to help sustain and support Corda start-ups as they navigate the current economic climate. Of course, this in turn maintains Corda and Conclave’s unrivaled traction in the enterprise software space.

We are excited to see so many of these companies going from strength to strength, to the benefit of the blockchain industry as a whole. After all, a rising tide lifts all boats—and it’s great to see so many of these “boats” choosing Corda. We look forward to seeing the Fund’s portfolio firms deploying many more innovative digital enterprise solutions in the coming months and to many more investors joining us in supporting that growth.

The fund has now reached the milestone of USD 10 million in capital deployed, across over 30 investments in more than 20 of the most promising early stage blockchain and confidential computing companies.

This achievement would not have been possible without the dedication and commitment of our team. They’ve spent many late nights and early mornings over the last two years working to find, structure, and execute top quality investments.

They’ve also spent countless hours with our portfolio companies, helping to support them with their fundraising, their go-to-market strategies, and their technical deployment, developing deep, trusting relationships that I believe are at the core of mutually beneficial investor-investee relationships.

I must also express gratitude for our many committed R3 colleagues that support the Fund’s deal sourcing, diligence activities, and portfolio company assistance. Their passion for growing Corda’s ecosystem is real and their work with the Fund has been essential. The Fund is truly a reflection and product of all of R3.

I’m also grateful to the entrepreneurs and visionaries that chose to work with R3 and the Fund. Choosing a platform is one of the most consequential decisions blockchain entrepreneurs make. When companies select Corda, we take that trust seriously. We value executives’ confidence in our software, and we work hard to confirm that choice with every subsequent release of Corda R3 makes and every investment the Fund executes.

By John Tobin, Data Architect, Solidatus

From the climate emergency to the Covid-19 crisis, to social injustice and political uproar – the world has had one of its most tumultuous and unpredictable years on record.

During this time, the trend of Environmental, Social and Governance investing (ESG) has been quietly gaining momentum. Some had speculated that, while the world was in the grip of the virus, the ESG focus would quickly fade. Sceptics argued that ESG related issues would undoubtedly take a back seat as many companies battled to stay afloat.^[1]

Despite the odds, when markets dropped last spring, sustainable investing remained resilient. By the end of 2020, total assets in sustainable funds hit a record high of almost $1.7tn – up 50% over the year – on the back of a record year for sustainable fund sales. Europe also paves the way, proving to be the most developed market by accounting for nearly 70% of the global sustainable fund universe.^[2]

The coronavirus pandemic has thrown a brighter spotlight on the Social aspect of ESG, with investors and society increasingly focused on how companies treat the entire organisational ecosystem, from employees and suppliers to shareholders alike. However, as the landscape continues to evolve and grow in popularity, it’s important to note that ESG isn’t necessarily as simple as it seems on the surface.

Layer upon layer of ESG assessment

John Tobin

A company’s principles and values drive ESG programmes and reveal how effectively a company is addressing climate change risks, social impact, and their own governance. Those companies with good ratings are included in sustainable company indexes, with rating agencies applying additional ESG scores as a guide for investors.

ESG factors and their corporate markers have become increasingly important for businesses to understand, measure and strategically prioritise. But this is still a fast-growing area, and that increases the volumes of conflicting standards as more and more people take an interest in the results. It can even be extremely challenging for organisations to successfully relate their principles and priorities to their own ESG aims. This is seen in a recent study, where 81% of respondents said that their company has a formal ESG program in place, however there was not a high level of confidence that companies are effectively performing against all of their stated ESG metrics.

In practice, the simple concept of ESG implementation currently brings forth a range of hurdles. One survey conducted by shareholder advisory business Squarewell Partners found that more than half of the top 50 asset managers are developing their own internal ESG ratings systems – while two fifths also use data from at least four separate ESG ratings agencies^[3].

Many rating agencies use a variety of metrics and rating methodologies, and most of which have industry sector specifics. For example, if your company is to be included in an index, then you’ll need to have a compatible set of metrics for their specific method. Many are also finding that they need to think well beyond their own company walls for effective reporting. Depending on the applied criteria, some are looking at broader parameters such as their supply chain (for example, when it comes to scope 3 carbon emissions). ESG ratings and how they are scored can also vary wildly between investors, potentially adding yet another set of goalposts for businesses to assess and monitor.  All in all, ensuring that an ESG programme is more than a painful set of periodic data gathering exercises needs flexibility and capability to understand the relationships between many moving parts and a company’s priorities and performance.

Even businesses with the highest of ideals could feel the current process is needlessly complex. But help is at hand, for those looking to relate their company principles and align priorities to ESG aims, while also scoping in the various disclosures, assessments and regulations that will help to demonstrate progress. By looking at the issue of ESG less as a multitude of differing external assessments and instead relating an organisation’s own ESG data flows as technical data lineage, businesses can find their way to map their company’s own specific footprint. This process can span from source through processing to their destinations in the various disclosures and assessments.

Some of our customers are already using change management facilities to assess the impact of regulatory change and implementation of data projects, to keep track of their ESG programmes.  And with the powerful visualisation, filtering and querying available through platforms like our own, it is easy to highlight areas to focus on.  We’re helping companies move from disconnected PDFs, spreadsheets, Visio diagrams and PowerPoint presentations to current, transparent and valuable assets for planning and executing their ESG programmes – in one fell swoop.

Today, we are seeing a growing awareness of sustainability across every sector and this transition represents an exceptional market opportunity for many businesses, not to mention a long overdue interest in the sustainable impact of business on the world around it. Navigating the various approaches applied by the different parties in this chain, from asset manager to ratings agency to the business itself, may feel like taking on too much, too soon. But the tools already exist for companies to clarify this perceived complexity, if businesses look at it from a (meta)data perspective rather than a series of different, independent audiences to please with varied standards. Early movers who can cut through this challenge will find themselves at the vanguard of a fast growing and sustainable investment future.

By  Abbey Shasore, CEO of Factbook

There are now many middle or back-office tasks within asset management firms where there is little or no competitive advantage to be gained. Is investment reporting one of them – or can real value still be derived, asks Abbey Shasore, CEO, Factbook.

As investment management operations (and software) becomemore commoditised, it is increasingly difficult for asset managers to derive real value from these activities. Middle and back-officeprocessing in particular has become very standardised and there often is little to differentiate one firm from another, yet many investment managers still ‘compete’ in these areas through heavy investment in IT systems.

From an outsider’s perspective, it makes no sense for asset managers to compete against each other in non-core business processes. Take regulatory reports. An asset management firmdoes not get rewarded when it submits a regulatory report one day or one week earlier than its rival. After all, the regulator’s view would be ‘so what – that’s what you were supposed to do’. The entire asset management industry is competing in areas like this where no revenue is being generated.

Relational value

Whilst in the area of regulatory reporting there is no competitive advantage in delivering your report early, in other areas of reporting there is still commercial benefit in getting your reports in on time, in high quality and meeting whatever specific format an investor requires. There is a relational aspect to consider here:if you are delivering client reports to institutional clients, for example, they do care that it is on time and accurate, but they may have their own preference for format and delivery routes. I have heard pension trustees mutter ‘if I have another fund manager phoning me up, wanting me to go through his 300-page report with him I’ll scream’. Yes, some clients may want a 300-page report, but some just want a 3-page report that says: ‘all is well,and we haven’t lost you any money for this period.’

The Cost Transparency Initiative (CTI) is relevant here – anindustry standard for institutional investment cost data. The availability of comprehensive and transparent information on costs and charges is important in helping investors to decide whether investments represent value for money. To this end the CTI has released industry-ready templates, which can be used for the disclosure of costs and charges to UK institutional investors. Whilst these recommendations are not mandatory, asset managers failing to follow the guidance might be viewed in a negative light by institutions – therefore the initiative has commercial significance.

The key point here is that investment reporting (whether client reports, fund factsheets or other such communications) is always client-facing. They are not just time sensitive documentsrequiring a certain level of accuracy – they should be very sympathetic to the views and requirements of the recipient. One size certainly does not fit all in the area of investment reporting.

Manage costs

In terms of fund factsheets, time, accuracy, quality and relevance are all key. A different audience from client reports, certainly (including firms such as intermediaries, for example) fund factsheets nevertheless have their own critical points.

Automation in this area can improve the bottom line by enabling a business to grow AuM or client numbers without increasing operational head count. Producing hundreds of factsheets, for example, which might take a team of four people a week to create manually, can easily be cut to half a day. That is a tangible value, particularly important at a time when asset management firms are being squeezed on fees.

Self-service

Within many asset management firms, there are teams or departments outside of investment reporting that don’t have the tools that can efficiently produce the material that they require. These teams are receiving numerous requests for ‘reporting-style’ information, but they have to continually retrieve the content via slow, manual processes. In other words, the firm has the data, but the workflow is not optimal.

The picture, however, is beginning to change. Technology exists that can provide an interface with new user groups, allowing those new users to self-create their own content while ensuring that the data being used goes through the same validation and compliance process as the investment reports.

Improved marketing

For example, the method of creating sales and marketing presentations typically involves multiple teams, all manually copying and pasting legacy content. They then combine this content with client reporting output to produce collateral to be used during client visits and sales meetings. This cutting and pasting from Excel is both time-consuming and prone to errors.

Asset managers are looking for a more efficient approach, including the ability to collect data and create a presentation ‘on-the-fly’ without duplication of effort. Firms want to utilise all of their branded and audited content for sales enablement, instead of continually recreating it. This content can now be made available through a reporting solution to create pitchbooks and sales presentations, improving the speed, accuracy and quality of sales pitches.

Win and retain mandates

Ultimately, deploying the right investment reporting technology can enable a firm to secure new business. Through data automation and effective workflow, asset managers can handle more aggressive Service Level Agreements and win more mandates.

It is also well accepted that, used judiciously, investment reporting is a useful tool in good client relationship management, and by extension an important part of client retention strategies.

Conclusion

Investment reports that are created and released for external consumption act as representation for the business and its identity, values and, of course, reputation. They therefore have a worth that is hard to measure but, I believe, is at times underestimated. This applies equally to investment reports that are mandatory andthose that are optional.

With wise counsel, effective management of data and careful deployment, real value can be derived from investment reports that will enrich client relationships and help grow your business.

In economic terms, an asset is any resource with concrete physical value that either an individual firm, or nation possesses or controls with the hope that it will give a future surplus value. With increasing complexity in our day-to-day lives, assets are becoming harder to distinguish from liabilities. Both have a claim on our lives but only one can reap the rewards tomorrow. Asset protection strategies have been developed over time to help families and individuals to ensure their interests are protected in the face of unexpected events. For businesses, assets represent future growth opportunities.

Proper asset management is essential for corporations to remain competitive and viable. The best technique for asset management is one that balances future requirements against present availability. A firm is said to be “efficient” when its asset management policies produce the greatest available value at the lowest total cost over the shortest period of time.

There are four basic types of assets: fixed, short-term, enduring, and variable. Fixed assets are those that cannot be easily changed without significant negative cost. Examples of fixed assets are patents, bonds, and stocks. Short-term assets are those with a limited time duration such as loans, leases, and securities. Enduring assets, on the other hand, are those that have a definite date of return such as foreign currency, gold, bullion, and stock indexes.

In the realm of investing, asset allocation is the process of investing money according to expected returns and interest rates. The concept of asset allocation was made popular in the 1950s by the economists Kenneth Rogoff and Robert Kaplan. They conceptualized asset allocation as a way of creating wealth that would more or less level off as the years went by. This concept has since become a major influence in how many people approach the subject of investing for a living. The most common method of implementing the concept of asset allocation is through diversification of portfolios or putting all of one’s eggs in one basket to maximize returns.

Diversification of an asset portfolio is achieved by spreading the risk of loss from one asset class to another. Typically, when allocating your assets, you will want to invest in several primary asset classes that will generate cash and future profit. However, if your assets only earn interest and not profit, it may not be feasible to mix primary assets into secondary ones.

One way to disperse your investing portfolio is through the use of equity and derivatives. You can diversify your asset allocation by using these two types of investing strategies. An equity strategy will place a greater emphasis on the purchase of low risk, intrinsically good value investments like common stocks and bonds while minimizing the losses in other, more risky investment vehicles.

Another way to disperse your investing portfolio is through the use of derivatives. A derivative is a financial tool that allows you to borrow money at a pre-determined rate and repay it when your asset price rises. Diversification of assets through the use of derivatives is another way to ensure that all of your asset classes are gaining positive returns. When developing your asset management plan, you should also consider whether your planned changes to asset management would have an effect on your taxable income.

Finally, it is important to determine whether the sale of all or a portion of your assets will be beneficial to you or not. For example, if you are planning on making an investment in raw materials and you plan on selling them in order to make the capital part-time or full time, then it is likely that you will incur expenses in order to obtain these raw materials, such as rent and payroll. However, if you were to acquire equipment that you can sell, you would be incurring capital gains that can potentially be offset by dividends paid to you on your stock ownership in that equipment. Therefore, it is important to carefully consider the reasons for purchasing and selling assets in order to make the best decision regarding their sale. Through proper asset allocation and management, you can ensure that your economic resources are used in the most productive manner possible.

If your company is big or small, you need asset management software to help you stay on top of your responsibilities. Asset management software (AMS) automatically gathers all that data together and then compiles reports to help the company determine the optimum use of its resources. AMS also allows you to make better choices when it comes to spending your company’s money. There are many different types of AMS applications, but the best one for most companies is Custodian AMS.

Custodian AMS is among the best asset management softwares available, according to many business reviews. Its user interface is simple and easy to understand, yet powerful enough to handle all kinds of asset management practices. For instance, Custodian AMS allows you to organize, classify, tag, and manage physical assets, including manufacturing equipment, fixed assets, and even inventory. All these functions are performed in an economic cost-effective manner.

When it comes to physical assets, Custodian AMS helps you keep track of them in a simple way. It can organize them into various categories, and each category has tabs for maintenance, servicing, and upkeep. Once you know how much you’re spending on each category, you can easily see where you can cut back or increase maintenance. For instance, if the costs of maintenance for your plant and equipment is more than 50 percent of the company’s total assets, you can immediately reduce expenses there.

One of Custodian AMS’s core features is asset management by life-cycle management. It looks at how well your plants and equipment are maintained over their lifetime, as well as their ability to produce revenue. This feature reduces the costs of overhauling or replacing outdated assets, which in turn lowers operational costs and increases profitability.

Asset management by life-cycle begins with asset life-cycle management. This section focuses on identifying ISO 55000 compliance, which outlines the standards that asset life-cycle needs to follow. Once this is established, the system identifies the most effective and efficient operational methods, which include scheduling, costing, and production planning. Asset life-cycle software also includes an analysis tool that allows the identification of the most economically viable operational processes and techniques.

An important aspect of asset management definition is cost-effectiveness. It follows that the best way to determine the value of your assets is to determine their cost in terms of their life-cycle. This is determined through a number of methods, including the cost of replacement, discounted cash flow, cost-of-wear, repair cost, and net present value. These values are derived by taking into consideration the present day supply and demand for the asset class, industry standards, and other relevant external factors. The most common method of determining cost is discounted cash flow, which utilizes a discounted cash-flow model to give the calculation of expected cash flows over time.

Another factor that is often ignored when developing an asset management process is the impact of inflation on the value of assets. Inflation affects the price of materials and the price of labour as well, and the effects of inflation on the price of physical assets can be severe. Therefore, companies often review their asset management processes to identify where they may have over-estimated the value of their physical assets, which leads to poor cost allocation strategies. Moreover, companies that underestimate their capital requirements often find that their assets are under-utilised, leading to under-utilisation of productive assets, which further depletes the company’s capital.

To bridge the gap between short-term and long-term profitability, today’s asset management processes utilise engineering controls to identify the correlation between costs and performance. They use the life-cycle framework to identify risks and use technical analyses to mitigate these risks. By identifying risks, and tailoring solutions to mitigate them, asset management ensures that the company is able to adjust its short-term and long-term asset management needs as resources become available. Companies that fail to address the issues of waste, obsolescence when designing their asset management policies face the risk of being unable to meet their short and long-term objectives. This can lead to a loss of market share, reduced customer satisfaction and ultimately, failure in the company’s ability to remain financially viable.

Edtech marketplace, Preply, has secured an additional USD $35 million of funding, a sum that exceeds the platform’s cumulative fundraising efforts since 2013. The round was co-led by Owl Ventures and Full In Partners, with participation from previous investors Point Nine Capital, Hoxton Ventures, as well as EduCapital, All Iron, Diligent Capital and Evli Growth Partners. Angel investors Niklas Ostberg, co-founder and CEO of Delivery Hero, Arthur Kosten, co-founder of Booking.com, Przemyslaw Gacek, co-founder of Grupa Pracuj, and David Helgason, co-founder of Unity Technologies are also participants.

This Series B announcement comes on the heels of an exceptional year for Preply with the number of active learners and tutors, GMV and overall revenues quadrupling across the board. In part, the hypergrowth can be attributed to the trend of e-learning adoption, already in motion and now accelerated by COVID-19 lockdowns. The extraordinary performance gains also correlate with how Preply is combining it’s human-led approach with a proprietary curriculum product covering the full learning journey with AI powered features.  This technology has significantly increased the length of time each learner spends on the platform, resulting in a 16% increase in purchased lessons per student.

The UK is Preply’s biggest European market and is one of the leading European economies with a high interest in language learning. 20% of those learners are studying Spanish, followed by English, French, Arabic and Italian. English remains the second most popular language of study in the UK; a demand generated by relocators, expats and foreign students in-market.  Beyond those popular languages, we also have students learning sign language and Latin.  British learners are using the platform primarily as a way to improve their conversation skills (50%), as well as for professional development (20%) and to prepare for a relocation abroad (13%).

In addition, the UK is the second most represented country of birth among tutors teaching on Preply.  Though born in the UK, around 50% of those tutors live in a different country with Spain, France, Italy, Thailand and South Africa being popular places of residence.  The most active UK tutor in 2020 taught 330 different students on the platform last year.

Kirill Bigai, CEO of Preply, said “This round represents an exceptional achievement for the entire team following the exciting journey over the past years.  This new funding will help us tackle a variety of strategic priorities, as we plan to double our workforce across all divisions and locations. We’ll add more value for both students and tutors by improving support systems and amplifying the classroom and curriculum experience which has proved so valuable already.”

Bigai adds, “We also have big plans to build out our B2B business, which we expect to become a much larger proportion of our revenues in the coming years. As we secure our leading position in Western Europe and North America, we’ll be diversifying our media and marketing mix to build a globally-recognised brand. I’m personally most excited by the prospect of scaling in promising new markets to really deliver on our mission to shape the future of effective learning”.

Ross Darwin, Principal of Owl Ventures, said: “As a firm dedicated to scaling transformative education companies, we are highly optimistic about the online language learning market which is estimated to be worth over USD 21 billion by 2024.  We couldn’t be more excited to invest in Preply and are confident that they’ll capture a big piece of that pie”.

Jessica Davis, co-founder and Managing Director at Full In Partners, commented “We were impressed with Preply’s differentiated and highly scalable model for language learning.  We have spent a decade investing in edtech and marketplace businesses and Preply really stands out for its strong leadership, high-velocity growth, and greenfield market opportunity.”

In assessing the ability of a debt management company to help you, the first thing you need to ask yourself is your debt to asset ratio. This is a measure of the debt owed to all assets, such as property and cars, less the value of those assets. The higher this number is, the worse your debt to asset ratio is. Your debt to income ratio will be lower if the ratio is good.

When calculating the debt to asset ratio for any given individual, don’t forget to consider the total available income that would be earned should you decide to borrow money at current interest rates or if you were to sell your assets and repay the loan using current money. It’s also important to consider the possibility of borrowing more money in the future if things go south, just as you would do if you had a poor debt to income ratio. If you’re already in debt, it’s possible to improve it by improving the debt to asset ratio.

In assessing how to improve your debt to earnings ratio, ask yourself two questions: Are you committed to reducing your debt? And do you realistically expect to get out of debt soon? There are some proven strategies to help reduce debt quickly. However, these approaches take time and require discipline. The best approach may be to follow an online program that provides workable strategies to quickly eliminate debt.

The debt to debt ratio is a very important part of your financial health. The calculation is not only complex, it is often misunderstood. For example, some people believe that increasing their debt to debt ratio is the best way to improve their financial situation. Others believe that lowering their debt to income ratio is the only effective way to manage their debt. While both of these views are technically correct, in reality, the best strategy to reduce debt is the combination of both.

So what exactly is the debt to asset ratio? It is the percentage of your total assets to your total liabilities. This ratio is calculated by dividing the current debt owed by the current assets owned. For instance, if your debt to equity ratio is 45%, then you owe exactly $1.5 million dollars. This amount will be divided by your current assets (current liabilities) to come up with your ‘current asset ratio’.

When your debt to income ratio is high, this means that you are using your funds (liabilities) primarily to pay off your existing debt. This will reduce your assets (net worth) which, in turn, will have a direct impact on your net worth. This means that you may become wealthy overnight, but chances are you won’t be able to maintain the lifestyle you currently have.

Lowering your debt to debt ratio can actually lead to financial ruin if you don’t change your spending habits. You must make some sacrifices now in order to reduce the size of your current debt load. You need to spend less than you make, every dollar you earn should go towards paying off debt. Also, do not let yourself fall into the trap of purchasing things on credit. If you do, then you are setting yourself up for future financial woes because your debt to income ratio will only get worse as you continue to accumulate debt.

You can lower your debt to asset ratio by making some changes in your spending habits today. Paying off debt may seem like a large commitment; however, you will be amazed at how quickly it can be paid off. You should also work to reduce your total debt, not just the amount owed. The best way to do this is through credit counseling.

If you’re serious about increasing your net worth, you must think about what the financial investing world has on offer. For those of you who aren’t so committed to wealth building, don’t worry – there’s no need to be jaded by the financial difficulties many people face these days. Thanks to a growing and empowered population, there are more ways than ever to amass wealth and create a comfortable living. This means you don’t have to rely on one particular method of earning money: multiple streams of income can result from a wide range of investments. As such, the following are the 9 best income-generating assets you could use to add to your riches.

Real estate is one of the best investments you could make. The real estate market is a “sticky” commodity: as a result, there are many fields you could dabble in if you’re interested in investing in real estate. You could focus on commercial properties or agricultural land, for instance, both of which offer higher yields than most stocks and bonds. For a start, the lower volatility associated with agricultural land means that the opportunity for rapid returns is higher (the same applies to real estate).

Investing in farmland is another good way to increase your portfolio. With farmland, however, comes the issue of food production. Investing in farmland means investing in crops that will help feed the world. While the returns will be lower than those from other assets, the portfolio will have a much greater impact on global food prices, so it’s an especially good choice when you’re just getting started.

Many new investors shy away from the financial markets due to their fear of the volatility. Volatility can present a problem when you want to take advantage of an equity gain, for instance. However, with equities, it’s usually possible to realize gains even during slow periods because the market tends to be bearish (meaning that prices are rising and falling). This is why many investors (even those who have never made money trading stocks) have found the bond markets attractive. By diversifying your portfolio of income producing assets, you can still enjoy strong returns without fear of market volatility.

Another area that has seen a lot of growth recently is the mutual funds sector. This has been powered by a bad debt in the past few years, but as the credit crisis has subsided, it has become easier for investors to access long-term yield, making it a very desirable asset class. There are many reasons for this. First, mutual funds tend to let investors spread the risk of losses across multiple asset classes, offsetting the risk of single-family houses that have seen a sharp drop in prices.

Agricultural land is another good choice for small business investing, particularly in the case of family farms. While farmland is inherently insecure due to weather conditions, its high yields have made it a popular choice for many years. Investments in farmland have historically delivered much higher returns than other investing options, like the stock market, because farmland produces food that people need on a daily basis.

Finally, it is important to remember that there are some risky assets. Real estate is one of these, as the value of houses has continued to plummet. The only good thing about real estate right now is that it continues to see rapid growth – the real estate bubble will burst, however, and there won’t be any valuable properties left to sell. High-risk bonds are another group of risky assets, but they do have the benefit of being a long-term solution to short-term financial problems.

These four areas offer good gains when an investor decides to take advantage of their portfolio. Investing in the stock market, bonds, and real estate investment opportunities all have risks, but the returns can be very high when the market performs well. As always, it is a good idea to do your own research and decide which of these options is best for you and your family’s financial needs. If you find that one or more of these investments does not fit within your investment strategy, look into something that does.

Liquid assets can be defined as any financial instrument that has the ability to be converted into cash. Basically, liquid assets are simply money or any other item that has the power to be converted into money. Liquid assets are commonly perceived to be almost identical to money, since they do not lose monetary value when simply sold. However, it must also be kept in mind that liquid assets differ from money in many ways. These include but are not limited to savings accounts, mutual funds and stocks. In fact, virtually all financial instruments fall under the category of liquid assets.

Savings Accounts. Savings accounts are considered to be the most liquid assets, simply because they are easily liquidated and tend to have a very long duration. Savings accounts are great for liquidating short-term debt obligations. When an investor takes out a long-term loan, however, it is typically considered unprofitable, as the amount of the loan increases over time. Savings accounts are used for this purpose, and a good portion of the world’s savings is in savings accounts.

Mutual Funds. Mutual funds are typically managed by a professional investment counselor. A common strategy for investors with mutual funds is to take out a series of different investments to convert them into cash. These investments may be invested in bonds, stocks, or other financial instruments. The overall objective of a mutual fund is to increase the overall value of the fund.

Stocks. Most equity investors, as well as many real estate and commercial investors, own some stocks. Stocks are considered liquid assets because most investors do not want to sell their stocks. As such, the stocks usually remain in the investors control until they mature and can be sold for cash.

Futures and Forex Trading. Many investors participate in futures and forex trading. This involves buying contracts for specific dates in the future. For example, a futures investor could buy a contract for gas in a few months from today. The gas price may remain constant for a period of time before it changes, so the value of the gas will stay constant, making these types of transactions very liquid.

Real Estate and Commercial Real Estate Investments. These are some of the best liquid investments. Properties that have a long-term lease and a reasonable rent-back option are good examples of this type of investment. Investors can profit from real estate by using their money to pay the long-term lease fee and the discounted rent amount. In addition to profit, investors will also avoid paying capital gains taxes on the amount of income that they earned. This ensures that the investor retains more of their profit.

Several months. The value of any assets does not change significantly over a few months. However, an investor will gain access to a lump sum if they can sell the property within a few months. This is one of the best ways of generating cash flow. Selling a property within a few months is often easier than waiting several months to get additional payments due.

All of the cash quickly mentioned above can be converted into other liquid assets. For example, if you own stock certificates, you can convert them into shares of another stock that has a higher value. You can also convert short-term loans into preferred stocks. As you can see, there are numerous options when you convert your assets into liquid assets.

No tax. Some investments may provide a tax advantage, but it is unlikely that they would provide one for investing in liquid assets. For example, if you have a savings account that is currently tax-free, you can deposit the money in a checking account and let it earn interest for several months. You will not have to pay any tax on the interest. However, if you want to convert the cash into long-term debt, you will have to pay tax on the interest during the period of time that the account earns interest. For most investors, this is a preferable option because it reduces the amount of taxes that they pay on their return.

Easy liquidation. One of the advantages of converting liquid assets into liquid assets is that it is often easier to liquidate them quickly than non-liquid assets. You simply have to give the company permission to sell your assets. If they are unable to sell them quickly, you may still be able to get most, if not all, of your cash back.

Less liquid. Most investment accounts are very liquid. This means that the rate of exchange between liquid assets and liquid accounts is fast. However, with savings accounts, the rate of exchange tends to be slower. Because of this slower rate of exchange, it may be more difficult to sell your assets quickly compared to other types of investment accounts.