The airline industry isn't the first place an investor might think to go in search of a company that scores well on environmental, social, and governance issues. Many environmental advocates view global air travel's enormous carbon footprint as needlessly wasteful, and amid numerous bankruptcies and consumer protection failures among major airlines throughout the industry's history, employees and customers alike have often found their lives disrupted.

Yet within the industry, Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) has long stood out from the crowd. The airline looks a lot different than it did back in the early 1970s, when Southwest took advantage of a gap in federal regulatory coverage to offer intrastate air travel between key cities within the state of Texas. Once airline deregulation became reality, Southwest began to broaden its scope, moving first to serve key U.S. markets outside Texas and then looking beyond the nation's borders. Currently, Southwest helps travelers visit more than 100 destinations in the U.S. along with 10 countries internationally. Key cities include Chicago, Baltimore, Las Vegas, Denver, and Southwest's home market in Dallas. Southwest now counts itself among the top airlines in the nation, and its No. 11 on Fortunes list of the Worlds Most Admired Companies in 2019.

Image Source: Southwest.

Southwest has embraced ESG principles throughout its history, even before most investors paid much attention to those concepts as being critically valuable to a company's long-term business prospects. The company's efforts to embrace its employee base date back to its origins. Southwest's more recent efforts to modernize its aircraft fleet to become more fuel-efficient have aimed at the joint goals of cutting costs and reducing environmental impact. Those types of initiatives are exactly what ESG investors like to see, because they show that investing with ESG principles in mind doesn't have to be inconsistent with traditional work to maximize profits.

The recent death of co-founder Herb Kelleher was a sad occasion for Southwest, as the airline's former CEO stood as an example for airline employees to give their best and always try to put passengers first. But the awareness of Kelleher's legacy at the airline has given current Southwest employees new inspiration to keep the spirit of what he helped to build alive and well for generations to come. Let's analyze Southwest using The Motley Fool's 10-question ESG framework.

Yes. Southwest expresses its mission simply: putting people first. That includes not just its passengers and its workers but also the broader communities that the airline serves. Southwest's annual One Report sets out its sustainability objectives and lists some of its achievements, and although the company doesn't have a perfect record, it has done a good job of balancing the needs of its various stakeholders.

Southwest knows that its employees are the gateway to delivering high-quality customer service to its passengers, so it works hard to focus on workers' needs. Employees earned $544 million through Southwest's profit-sharing program in 2018 as partial compensation for serving a record 134 million passengers.

Yet money is only one element of Southwest's approach to working with its employees. The company's culture is designed to put a smile on everyone's face -- a necessary goal in the often-frustrating world of air travel. Southwest put on more than 4,000 "celebrations" in 2018, including "fun flights" and "gate games" to keep passengers amused. Although customers benefit from those efforts, the fun also creates a work environment that resonates well with workers.

Southwest's attention to its workers also pays off for the communities in which it operates. The company's Adopt-A-Pilot program has involved nearly 600,000 students since its inception in 1997, and employees volunteered nearly 190,000 hours to help the causes most important to them. That resulted in the donation of more than 3,400 tickets through the Tickets for Time program, which donates a round-trip ticket for every 40 hours of volunteer time that employees work with a qualifying organization. Southwest has also given travel assistance to medical patients in need, with payments totaling more than $27 million since 2007.

Employees have rewarded Southwest with a great reputation, and the airline was ranked No. 10 on Glassdoor's 2019 list of Best Places to Work and No. 2 on Forbes' 2019 list of America's Best Large Employers.

Yes. The airline industry is energy intensive and draws criticism from many environmental advocates. Yet Southwest has taken several steps to reduce its impact on the environment. The airline has improved its jet fuel efficiency by nearly 33% since 2005, and Southwest boasts seven straight years of improving its emissions intensity ratios. By spending more than $600 million in efforts to boost fuel efficiency since 2002, Southwest saved nearly 13 million gallons of fuel in 2018.

Beyond fuel, airlines have the potential to produce large amounts of waste. Yet Southwest has aimed to make improvements there too, looking for ways to recycle and reuse materials whenever possible. The airline recycled more than 3,750 tons of material in 2018, including 193 tons of electronic waste that's especially difficult to dispose of properly.

Southwest is also reaching out to communities to make a difference on environmental issues. The company boasts 60 environmental projects in 22 states, including partnering with the Student Conservation Association to plant thousands of trees, flowers, and shrubs. Its efforts have helped conserve 136,000 square feet of parks and public green spaces.

Going forward, Southwest has higher ambitions. It hopes to introduce more use of sustainable aviation fuel starting in 2020, and efforts to work with environmental partners on new opportunities should keep Southwest moving in the right direction.

Areas for improvement: Southwest could do more to find greener fuel alternatives, including biofuels, to further reduce its carbon footprint.

Yes. Southwest has built an inclusive environment on three pillars: team, value, and respect. The airline acknowledges that each of its 58,000 workers brings a unique perspective to work, and the company's culture relies on creating an environment in which every one of those workers feels valued and included.

Those efforts take shape in different ways. Southwest's diversity and inclusion team hosts monthly events called Power of Inclusion, which bring workers together to learn more about certain ideas. Highlights in 2018 included themes celebrating Black History, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage, and LGBTQ pride. That last point is consistent with Southwest's perfect 100 rating on LGBTQ equality on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index. More broadly, individual workers at Southwest have opportunities to take their specific talents and put them to work in creative ways to help serve the common goal of treating customers better.

Areas for improvement: According to the companys website, its board of directors has 11 members and 3 are women, giving the board a 27% gender diversity ratio. The company should aim to improve this balance by setting a goal of reaching a 50% gender diversity ratio.

Yes. Southwest is committed to maintaining ethical business practices at the highest level. Its code of ethics stresses the need to comply with legal and regulatory requirements while acknowledging the value of honesty, integrity, and personal responsibility.

Specific ethical issues that Southwest calls out include:

Southwest holds all of its team members accountable for reporting illegal or unethical behavior to a wide range of different leaders, department heads, and officers of the company.

Yes. Southwest views many of its business accomplishments from the perspective of how they promote environmental, social, and governance principles. For instance, within the airline industry, the fact that Southwest has been profitable for 46 straight years is unusual, and it might seem like a win primarily for shareholders in the company. Yet through its profit-sharing program, Southwest shares its earnings with its employees, so the entire corporate community benefits from the work that employees do to maximize the airline's bottom line.

Southwest believes that it does a better job of operating its airline than its rivals do, so its expansion efforts directly serve the needs of its employees, passengers, and communities. For example, Southwest has dramatically expanded its network in recent years, serving more communities in Central America and the Caribbean. The airline just added service to Hawaii as well. Because of the structure of its network, more than three-quarters of its customers flew on nonstop flights, improving the service demanded by its passengers.

As controversial as Boeing's (NYSE:BA) 737 MAX aircraft has been, Southwest's investment in the new model sought to improve efficient operations further. Throughout its history, Southwest has focused almost exclusively on 737 models for its fleet, allowing it to concentrate its maintenance and training efforts on a single type of aircraft rather than having a wider range of aircraft for its various worker groups to master.

Operationally, Southwest has spent a lot on making sure its employees can do the best job possible. In 2018, the company opened an 800,000-square-foot facility that includes extensive training opportunities for pilots and other operational teams. Workers spent more than 2 million hours in training during the year to enhance their knowledge and serve passengers better.

Yes. Airlines are notorious for having extremely debt-laden balance sheets. That makes sense, given the capital-intensive nature of investing in costly aircraft expected to operate for decades into the future. In particular, with so many airlines spending heavily on updated aircraft, debt-to-equity ratios are soaring through the roof at many of Southwest's closest competitors.

Yet Southwest itself is in much better financial shape. The company boasted nearly $4 billion in cash and short-term investments as of June 2019. That's more than enough to cover the $1.84 billion in long-term debt and the $1.68 billion in outstanding long-term capital leases with money left over. With almost $10 billion in shareholder equity, Southwest has provided a financial model that most airlines can only aspire toward achieving over the long haul.

Yes. Southwest has worked hard lately to find new opportunities for organic sales growth. Although the airline has a history of working domestically to expand service gradually over long periods of time, the past several years have seen a huge shift in the direction of expansion toward international destinations. Now, Southwest passengers can fly to Belize, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos, Aruba, Cuba, and several locations in Mexico. Given that the International Air Transport Association expects air travel demand worldwide to grow at a 3.5% average annual rate over the next 20 years and that much of that growth will come outside the U.S., Southwests move seems like a smart one.

Southwest also saw profit potential in breaking into the Hawaii air market, and it just started offering service in 2019 from the U.S. mainland to the island state. The airline is also giving passengers the ability to fly from island to island once they reach Hawaii, with flights out of Lihue on Kauai, Kahului on Maui, and Hilo and Kailua-Kona on the Big Island, in addition to Honolulu. Southwest hopes that by offering comprehensive service, it can capture more passenger traffic from the mainland and make the most of the growth available on the islands.

More broadly, Southwest's ESG mentality should be a key element of its future growth. For decades, the airline has relied on its corporate culture to help it stand apart from its peers. Even now, business practices like refusing to charge a standard baggage fee from the first bag make it far different from nearly all of its competitors. At a time when other major airlines are adopting far less passenger-friendly policies in their pursuit of profits, Southwest's no-frills approach has done a much better job of preserving the quality of service that has deteriorated so badly aboard some of its rivals' planes.

Yes. Even with the costly nature of the airline industry, Southwest has sustained gains in free cash flow and kept its returns on invested capital healthy. In the 12 months that ended in June 2019, Southwest posted FCF of $2.94 billion, roughly flat from 2018 levels but up dramatically from the $1.68 billion the airline saw in 2017. Total operating cash flow has tripled since 2011, showing the extent to which Southwest has fought to maintain its leadership position in the airline industry.

Southwest has kept investing in its future, but its returns from its investments remain healthy. In 2018, the company posted a 23.6% ROIC on a pretax basis, and that worked out to an 18.4% ROIC figure after tax. That's far better than the single-digit-percentage figures that prevailed throughout much of the 2000s and early 2010s, and it speaks to the work that Southwest has done to concentrate on its most promising investment opportunities in directing capital expenditures aimed at growth.

Yes. It's hard to overstate the impact Kelleher had on Southwest Airlines before his death in early 2019. From its beginning in 1971, Southwest's mission was to make flying more affordable for everyday passengers, taking advantage of an intrastate exemption from air travel regulations to offer cheaper flights serving markets within Texas. Southwest never felt the need to offer the same frills that other airlines did, but it did prove to be prescient, as its rivals have largely stopped offering the additional services they once provided -- or at best have started to charge exorbitant fees to continue providing them.

Instead, Kelleher focused on the employee experience, ensuring that the brand ambassadors who passengers see on the front lines every day are delivering a positive message. As Doug Parker, CEO of American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL), said after Kelleher's death: "If you take care of your people, they will take care of your customers, which will take care of your shareholders. That simple yet profound way of leading continues to inspire us, and we aspire to honor Herb's example."

At first glance, Kelleher's legacy might seem to be focused on reducing profit growth. After all, Southwest remains the only major carrier not charging a fee for those who want to change their reservations after purchase. It's also the most prominent airline not charging baggage fees on the first bag a passenger checks. Many have criticized Southwest for missing out on what for other airlines has been a gold mine from ancillary fee revenue.

Yet current CEO Gary Kelly has his vision squarely focused on continuing the work Kelleher started, which means not compromising on the mission that the airline has at its core. Even now, you won't find Southwest flights at some of the most popular online travel websites, because the airline wants to drive traffic to its own website. That costs it some business, but it also teaches passengers that they need to check Southwest.com in order to complete their research on the cheapest way to travel.

Specifically, Southwest encourages efficient operation and has allocated capital toward investments to boost efficiency. Kelly and his team are committed to the honest and transparent manner in which Kelleher began operating Southwest half a century ago. Most importantly, Southwest employees value the company that they've built, and they know that their work is essential in order to preserve its competitive advantages and continue to stand out from the airline crowd.

Yes. Southwest has done a good job of avoiding the risks listed in The Motley Fool's ESG Framework. Healthy levels of debt and solid financials mark its recent experience, and leadership has been resolute in its approach toward running the company. Although the airline does have exposure to fuel prices and cyclical ups and downs in the economy, there are extremely high barriers to entry for rival airlines to challenge what Southwest has created.

If anything, long-term trends favor the company. Despite recent trade hiccups, globalization remains a powerful force around the world, and rising demand for travel should keep Southwest growing. Southwest's customer service is unparalleled, and its corporate culture is attractive to workers looking to the airline industry for employment. Kelly's success in taking over as CEO points to the strength of the succession plan that Kelleher and Southwest put in place.

The biggest threat to Southwest recently has come from calls for greater regulation of the airline industry. High-profile accidents involving the 737 MAX aircraft have raised questions about whether aircraft manufacturers have proper oversight, and changes could have implications not just for Boeing but also for the carriers that use its aircraft most extensively. Yet even with the 737 MAX's woes, few have suggested that Southwest itself faces any reputational risk just because it has traditionally concentrated its aircraft purchases on the 737 model line.

Moreover, even the 737 MAX issue is one on which Southwest has shown its true colors. The company said that it's working with Boeing on a settlement that will compensate the airline for the damages it's suffered as a result of the grounding of the aircraft, and it intends to share part of whatever Boeing pays Southwest with its own employees. As Kelly noted, "I recognize this hasn't just affected some of you; it has affected all of you."

Southwest has made an effort toward achieving nearly all of the goals that an investor who follows environment, social, and governance issues wants to see. Some might reasonably disagree about whether the airline really deserves an unqualified "yes" answer to some of the questions above. For instance, it wouldn't be completely unreasonable for an ESG investor to rule out investing in the airline industry entirely because of the huge carbon footprint that air travel involves by its very nature.

We'd suggest a couple of areas for improvement. First, gender diversity could be improved, with just 3 out of 11 directors and barely a quarter of its 62 senior management committee members being women. Getting those proportions up to somewhere between one-third and one-half would be a good goal.

Second, one of the biggest expenses an airline has is fuel, and there's room for Southwest to invest more in finding eco-friendlier alternatives to conventional jet fuel. We're optimistic about its plans for 2020 to purchase 3 million gallons of sustainable fuel, and it'll be interesting to see how those purchases scale up in future years.

No company is perfect when it comes to ESG issues. But at least when you look within the airline group, it's hard to find an industry player that makes a better ESG case than Southwest Airlines. With its business success, its constant efforts to improve, and its unmatched corporate culture, Southwest has put itself in position to thrive for years to come.

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ESG Investing: Is Southwest Airlines a Responsible Investment? - The Motley Fool

Recession fears can wreak havoc on retirement plans and nights of sleep but they also can do wonders for the stock market, says the leader of a multi-billion dollar investment firm.

In a newly released interview, taped last month, Ariel Investments Co-CEO Mellody Hobson says worries of an economic downturn offer up a trading opportunity that some may not expect.

The fact that we are on recession watch probably bodes well for the stock market in a very weird way, she says.

Hobson, a longtime proponent of value investing and admirer of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A,BRK-B) CEO Warren Buffett, invoked her financial role model to explain why.

As Warren Buffett says, the market climbs a wall of worry. And that worry that is out there continues to create opportunity, she says.

On Friday, a mixed jobs report functioned as an economic Rorschach test,confirmingthe recession fears of some whileallayingthe doomsday concerns of others. On the whole, marketsrallied on the news. The jobs report came after a week of troubling data that includes adropin manufacturing activity for the second consecutive month and a World Trade Organizationpredictionthat global trade will fall dramatically.

When panicky investors turn their backs, that gives savvy traders a chance to find undervalued stocks, Hobson said.

Ariel Investments Co-CEO Mellody Hobson appears on Influencers with Andy Serwer.

Even though we've had this tremendous run in the stock market over the last decade, we're still finding value, because when companies disappoint, they basically get shot, she says. They get left for dead. And it's those businesses that get left for dead that create an opportunity for us as value investors.

Hobson is the co-CEO of Ariel Investments, a firm with assets totaling $12.9 billion, where she worked for nearly the past three decades. HerTed Talkon challenging racial inequality, given in 2014, has been viewed more than 3.7 million times.

She made the comments during a conversation that aired in an episode of Yahoo Finances Influencers with Andy Serwer, a weekly interview series with leaders in business, politics, and entertainment.

For her part, Hobson said she does not see evidence of an impending recession.

We might see the economy slow, but we're not seeing a recession, she says. We just don't see it right now.

Speaking before the release of Octobers jobs numbers, she said the recent employment data suggests an economy with strong upsides.

When you look at some basic statistics, the employment numbers are so compelling. We've seen some wage inflation, which helps with consumer spending. Consumer confidence has stayed very, very high. There are a lot of positives.

I would say that my view right now is, the market certainly is fully valued, she adds. However, we think the fundamentals, especially in the U.S., are still very good.

Andy Serwer is editor-in-chief of Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter: @serwer.

Read more:

President Trump's way of communicating is 'hurting civility': Ariel Investments Co-CEO Mellody Hobson

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The Property Brothers say these are two of the best cities for real estate investment

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Fear of a recession 'bodes well for the stock market,' Ariel Investments Co-CEO Mellody Hobson - Yahoo Finance

Technological advancement often brings disruption and democratization. It replaces the old with the new and facilitates the rapid expansion of access to specialized tools and information that previously had been the purview of a select few. And nowhere is this more true in the 21st century than the financial services industry. The first big wave came when online trading platforms like E-Trade democratized stock market investing. Now, newer fintech startups like PeerStreet are using crowdfunding technology to revolutionize the world of real estate investing.

How?

In the past, if you wanted to borrow a large sum of money to start a business or buy a house, your only option was to go to a bank and apply for a loan. Thus, only banks had access to highly profitable debt investments. And, obviously, they had no interest in letting anybody else have a share of that pie. However, in reality banks are just middlemen. They make a profit by loaning out the money they get from everyday people.

Now companies like PeerStreet are using technology to remove the middlemen. And its a pretty huge deal.

PeerStreet is a peer-to-peer real estate investing platform that uses technology popularized by sites like Kickstarter and GoFundMe to create a revolutionary new microlending system. Its crowdfunding for mortgages that breaks standard real estate loans into smaller pieces that individuals can purchase. Investors get to earn 10-percent or more on their investments, and borrowers get the money they need to buy a house or run a business.

By doing this, PeerStreet connects investors with borrowers in a way never before possible, busting the centuries-old monopoly on real estate-backed debt investments that banks have enjoyed.

The entire process is guided by high-tech data analytics. PeerStreet shops for loans from reputable private lenders across the United States. Then they use their own proprietary AI analytics engine to evaluate each loan and curate a pool of safe, high-quality real estate debt investments. PeerStreet then sells pieces of these loans to its investors.

Of course, curating a pool of loans is only the beginning. PeerStreet also uses award-winning Automated Investing technology to take the guesswork out of building investment portfolios. With PeerStreets Automated Investing, all you have to do is select your investment criteria, such as interest rate or loan term, and you will be notified when loans that meet your criteria become available.

Unfortunately, because peer-to-peer investing is relatively new, right now the PeerStreet platform is only available to accredited investors. According to current SEC regulation, accredited investors are individuals with a net worth greater than $1 million or an annual income greater than $200,000.

Luckily, if you dont fit into that category, theres reason to hope things might change soon. Back in 2015 the SEC officially opened up the crowdfunding marketplace to non-accredited investors. There are still strict rules in place that limit the amount you can invest per year to either $2,000 or 5% of your yearly income or net worth, whichever is greater. But thats way better than nothing. And it means PeerStreets revolutionary automated investing tech might one day be available to everyone.

Futurism fans: To create this content, a non-editorial team worked with an affiliate partner. We may collect a small commission on items purchased through this page. This post does not necessarily reflect the views or the endorsement of the Futurism.com editorial staff.

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This Peer-to-Peer Real Estate Investing Platform Is Changing the Mortgage Game - Futurism

Retirement is like a long vacation in Las Vegas. The goal is to enjoy it to the fullest, but not so fully that you run out of money," says British author Jonathan Clements. What can help you to ensure that you dont run out of money is having a two-pronged investment strategy that ascertains that you have adequate monthly income and at the same time, your corpus lasts long enough so that you never really fall short. You can do this by splitting your corpus in a way that you have regular income and are also able to accumulate for the future.

Regular income

According to Mumbai-based certified financial planner and author of Mindful Retirement Kiran Telang, One part of the retirement corpus should go into a pool that will generate a fixed regular monthly income. This will go into fixed-income instruments."

For regular income, your options are investing in fixed-income products such as Senior Citizens Savings Scheme (SCSS), post office monthly income scheme (POMIS), bank fixed deposit (FD) and liquid- or ultra short-term debt funds.

SCSS is an ideal choice for seniors looking for regular income and it offers higher returns (8.60% per annum) as compared to other similar instruments. Invest in SCSS to get safe, fixed and regular cash flow," said Anuj Shah, chief financial planner, Wealth 360, a Mumbai-based financial planning firm. The investing tenure of SCSS is five years, which can be extended by three years once it matures. The interest is payable quarterly and is fully taxable.

However, investment in SCSS also gives tax benefits under Section 80C. Invest 15 lakh with you as the first account holder and wife as the second holder. Open another SCSS of 15 lakh with the spouse as the first holder and you as the second," said Anuj, talking about how to maximize tax benefit. SCSS also offers the highest post-tax returns compared to other fixed-income products such as five-year tax-saving FDs and National Savings Certificate (NSC).

Another safe and regular income-generating product is POMIS, which has a five-year tenure and gives an interest of 7.6% per annum payable monthly. The investment limit is capped at 9 lakh under joint ownership and 4.5 lakh under single ownership," said Anuj. However, this comes without any tax benefit at the time of investment. The interest is fully taxable and it also has a lock-in period of five years.

Bank FDs are also a popular choice for retirees with tenures ranging from one to 10 years. Currently, State Bank of India (SBI) gives a rate of 6.75% per annum for its three-year FD. Most banks offer senior citizens an extra 0.25-0.50% per annum than regular FDs. For instance, SBI offers 0.50% extra to senior citizens. With FDs, you can choose different tenures and pace out the maturity as per your time frame. However, compared to SCSS and POMIS, interest on FD is lower and fully taxable. But remember, senior citizens can also claim deduction on interest earned up to 50,000 in a single financial year under Section 80TTB from all these instruments.

Then there are annuity plans. To start getting immediate annuity from a life insurance company, you need to make a lump sum investment. There are a number of options to choose from, like an annuity for life, annuity with return of purchase price, life annuity that increases by 5% every year with a return of purchase price on death, and life annuity that increases by 5% every year without return of purchase price on death. An annuity that increases every year tries to play catch-up with inflation, thus helping you more or less maintain the same standard of living.

However, most financial planners consider it the last option due to low returns and lack of liquidity. We do not recommend an annuity plan strongly. But it depends on the nature of the investor; if that person is comfortable with the assured income and he doesnt want to take the risk of longevity, then annuity can be a good product for him," said Rohit Shah, founder and chief executive officer, Getting You Rich, a financial planning firm. However, one should also keep in mind that the corpus is given up forever once you opt for an annuity scheme, added Rohit.

Funds required for the short term can also be parked into liquid or ultra-short debt funds. With debt funds, you have a chance to get higher returns than FDs. Debt funds are also more tax efficient than investment in fixed deposit," said Rohit. Returns from debt instruments are considered as capital gains and enjoy indexation benefits in the long run (if held for more than three years, long-term capital gains are taxed at 20% but after adjusting for inflation), whereas returns from FD are considered as income from other sources and no indexation benefits can be claimed. Systematic withdrawal plans (SWPs) from debt mutual funds can also help you earn regular income. They allow investors to withdraw a specified amount regularly.

Accumulation

When investing and accumulating a retirement corpus, you need to remember two things. One, inflation can eat into a corpus that seems large enough to see you through retirement and two, considering increased life expectancy, it is important to plan and save for a longer retirement period.

To beat inflation and to cater to a long period, it is important to dip into equities. After eight to 10 years, fixed-income part (investments) will not be sufficient. This is when you will need your equity portfolio to come into play," said Telang.

However, you need to choose the equity funds you invest in carefully. Since a senior citizens risk-taking appetite is less, pure equity fund is not recommended. But a combination of equity and debt like hybrid funds can be taken," said Rohit. Apart from equity, one may consider investing in 7.75% RBI savings (taxable) bond, some portion in gold, and also in real estate investment trust (REITs) in sometime," said Rohit.

Remember that the goal should be to enjoy retired life to its fullest, but not exhaust the retirement corpus in the process.

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Ready investment blueprint to have a stress-free retired life - Livemint

Suzanne Shank at the Black Girls Rock! Awards at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on August 5, 2017, in Newark, New Jersey.

Come November, the women-led Wall Street firm Siebert Cisneros Shank & Co. will finalize its merger with minority-owned investment bank The Williams Capital Group. The consolidation will create a top minority-led-and-owned institutional investment bank offering services in municipal underwriting, debt and equity sales and trading.

Siebert Cisneros Shank and Co. was cofounded in 1996 by Suzanne Shank, the current CEO, Muriel Mickie Siebert, the first woman to be a member of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and head a publicly traded financial services firm, and Napoleon Brandford, who is now retired. Since the death of Siebert in 2013, Shank has led the firm. As an African-American woman, she makes the firm a rare minority-woman-led investment firm. More than half of the firms employees are minority, and on its own the firm ranks high in the industry as a co-manager of municipal bond offerings. In 2018, SCS helped oversee more than $116.1 billion in corporate debt and equity transactions. (For more on Shank, read How This Female Engineer Pivoted To Become A Top Wall Street Leader.)

SCS sought out the midtown-Manhattan based Williams Capital Group (WCG) to scale its business and grow its services for U.S. corporate underwriting of debt and securities, looking to compete with other Wall Street firms. By bringing together two first-class firms, we will accelerate our collective success and greatly enhance our ability to serve our clients using a strong capital base that is now significantly larger, Shank stated in a release announcing the deal yesterday. WCG was founded in 1994 by its CEO Christopher J. Williams.

Shank will serve as president and CEO of the combined firm and maintain majority ownership. Williams will be chairman of the board. The new firm will rebrand itself in January as Siebert Williams Shank & Co. While Cisneros will remain with the combined firm as vice chairman, the firm chose to keep the Siebert name instead to honor the Wall Street pioneer.

The new firm will be headquartered in New York, New York and Oakland, California, with over 15 locations across the country.

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Merger Leads To Top Women-Led, Minority-Owned Investment Firm on Wall Street - Forbes

The Trump administration would be wise to implement restrictions on U.S. investments in China as it seeks to gain additional leverage in the long-running trade war, former Fed governor Larry Lindsey told CNBC on Thursday.

"I even think the president has recognized it's not cost effective to push the tariff anymore, and if he wants to continue pressure on China, which I think he probably does, I think this would be a good path to pursue," Lindsey said on "The Exchange."

On Friday, numerous media outlets reported that President Donald Trump's administration had begun a process to study whether restrictions on Chinese investment would be worth implementing. Such measures could include a block of all American investment in the country or delisting Chinese companies from U.S. stock exchanges.

Despite pushback on the reporting from the administration, CNBC later reported it had seen the policy memo that outlined a process to evaluate limiting U.S. capital flows into Chinese securities.

Some high-profile figures such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said curbing Chinese investment in the U.S. isn't a great idea, but Lindsey joins a growing chorus of people who have said the idea is worth considering.

"I'm sure that the Chinese economy would be hurt by this," said Lindsey, who served as Fed governor from 1991 to 1997 and as director of the National Economic Council under President George W. Bush.

Lindsey said his openness to the idea was due, in part, to his belief that Trump's current strategy of ratcheting up tariffs on Chinese imports was losing steam.

"I do think we reached the end of the road with regard to cost-benefit analysis on the tariff side," said Lindsey, CEO of economic consultancy firm The Lindsey Group.

"In fact, I think a lot of the tariffs that have been recently suggested on the last tranches ... aren't going to take effect," he added, referring to the batch of levies set to go into effect on Dec. 15 on consumer items such as cellphones.

Lindsey also said "we'll see" what happens with the tariffs scheduled to be applied on Oct. 15 after representatives from the U.S. and China rekindle negotiations next week.

Lindsey said he also supports potential investment restrictions because he believes the financial playing field is uneven.

"Why should U.S. mutual fund dollars or pension fund dollars go into companies in Chinese markets, Shanghai or what have you, even Hong Kong, that do not comply with the same financial transparency rules that apply to American companies?" Lindsey said. "This is a matter, in my mind, of consumer protection."

The consumer protection should also not be limited to just China, Lindsey said. He said he feels similarly toward Russian, Iranian and French companies, "though they're generally in compliance."

"What I think is that the standards that are applied for listing an American company on the New York Stock Exchange or some other exchange should be applied to everyone who lists on the NYSE," Lindsey said.

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Limits on Chinese investment a 'good path to pursue' in trade war, Larry Lindsey says - CNBC

3. Contact sellers through direct marketing

One of the most readily used methods for finding investment properties outside of the MLS is through direct marketing. Direct marketing can include mail campaigns -- sending a series of postcards or letters -- or online marketing such as Google or Facebook ads targeted to a list of potential sellers.

This avenue for finding off-market investment properties can produce positive results, but can also be time-consuming and costly.

Direct marketing campaigns are typically run over several weeks or months, allowing for multiple touches and an increased likelihood of response. This all adds up over time.

You have the option to buy a list of qualified leads to market to, such as properties in probate, properties in pre-foreclosure, or vacant properties. You might even "drive for dollars" -- drive or walk around your ideal investment area collecting addresses for properties to market to.

It's time-consuming, but if your marketing reaches the seller at the right time, it could lead to a great investment opportunity. If you have the time and the funds to create or purchase a list of qualified potential sellers to market to consistently, this could be a worthwhile avenue of finding off-market investment properties.

Another free way to find investment properties outside of the MLS is by searching online at real-estate-specific websites such as Zillow, Craigslist, or a turnkey real estate investment platform like Roofstock.com.

Zillow is one of the most readily used platforms in real estate. Although most properties for sale on Zillow are actively listed in the MLS, properties can be listed for sale by owner on Zillow. You can set up alerts on Zillow for free to meet your specific buying criteria in your desired investment area. If a new listing is added, you can be alerted immediately, giving you the chance to identify potential investment properties quickly.

Craigslist has more than 60 million users and 50 billion page views per month. Some sellers use it to list their property for sale in an attempt to avoid paying realtor fees or listing on the MLS. Investors, like wholesalers, often list properties for sale on Craigslist, as well. Although many leads are duplicate listings from properties on Zillow or are listed on the MLS, it's possible to find quality off-market investment properties on Craigslist.

Roofstock has listings for off-market turnkey rentals. Most of these properties have been recently improved or renovated and all of the properties have tenants and third-party management in place. Roofstock is by no means the only option for turnkey investments, but it's one of the largest platforms. Most of its competitors operate at the local level. As always, conduct your own due diligence on any investment. Do not rely solely on the platform's estimations or valuations.

If you're looking for investment properties outside of the MLS, another great option is to buy them at a courthouse auction. Properties going through tax sale or foreclosure are required to go to public auction, where you can often buy properties for far below market value.

In most counties, properties going to tax sale or foreclosure sale are publicly listed on the county's auction calendar. Sales are typically held online, although counties require you to go to the courthouse to bid. A small deposit, such as 5%10%, is usually required from the winning bidder on the day of the sale. The remainder of the purchase price is usually paid to the county by certified check within two to five days, although every county operates differently.

If youre buying from a courthouse auction, you'll be unable to access the property beforehand, so it's important to ensure you:

It's important to educate yourself on this process and understand what due diligence needs to be conducted to identify and buy quality investment properties at public auctions.

Although there are other methods of finding off-market properties for sale, these are some of the best ways you can find investment opportunities outside of the MLS.

In many cases, it's beneficial to use a combination of these strategies, which makes it easier to find quality investments. Find the method that makes the most sense for you based on the time or funds you have available.

See the rest here:
How to Find Investment Properties Outside of the MLS - Motley Fool

Billionaire Andrew Carnegie famously said that 90% of millionaires got their wealth by investing in real estate. We wanted to know: Is this still true? Is investing in real estate still a good idea?

According to these nine Advisors in The Oracles, who made millions by investing in real estate, the answer is a resounding yes.

"Buying real estate has made me rich mostly through necessity, not by design. I bought my first itty-bitty studio after scraping together a few bucks because I needed to live somewhere anyway.

A few years later, the studio doubled in value, giving me enough cash to plunk down 50% on a one-bedroom apartment. That soon rolled into a two-bedroom, then a three-bedroom, and finally landed me in my 10-room penthouse on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Buying that tiny studio was the most important decision I made because it got me in the game."

Barbara Corcoran, founder of The Corcoran Group, podcast host of "Business Unusual," judge on "Shark Tank"

"Investing in real estate is a great idea if you are in it for the long haul, not a quick return.

Your best bet is investing in residential properties that produce rental income year-round. Just make sure you understand all of the associated legal fees and are prepared for unexpected costs."

Bethenny Frankel, entrepreneur, philanthropist, founder of Skinnygirl and BStrong. Follow her on Instagram

"Real estate is real, and it's always a good idea to put your money in real assets. But let me be clear: That doesn't mean that all real estate is a good idea.

I only buy certain types of properties, generally multifamily ones in upscale locations that provide consistent cash flow and great potential for future appreciation.

I stay away from low-income areas and single-family homes. But even those assets are probably a better place to store your money than letting cash depreciate while sitting in the bank!"

Grant Cardone, sales expert, New York Times best-selling author. Follow him on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube

"Most millionaires I know made more money from owning real estate than any other investment. Real estate consistently increases in value over time and outperforms other investments.

Plus, it isn't as vulnerable to short-term fluctuations as the stock market. You get a tangible, usable asset, whether you're renting out an apartment or commercial building for income or buying a home. And there can also be tax benefits for investment properties.

It's always a good time to buy real estate. In fact, the real wealth is made by buying when everyone else is selling and vice versa. While many are talking about a recession, the market is strong, with increasing prices and transactions.

Renting a one-bedroom apartment can cost $5,000 a month in certain neighborhoods today, yet you can buy a $1 million house with just $4,000 a month in mortgage payments. And the rate is fixed for 30 years the best kind of rent control.

So why would you rent? Besides, if you rent your property to someone else, you can cover your mortgage or better."

Peter Hernandez, president of the Western Region at Douglas Elliman, founder and president of Teles Properties

"Real estate has incredible tax benefits. In certain situations, you don't have to pay taxes on your gains from investment properties. You can also get a $250,000 tax break as an individual and $500,000 as a married couple.

The wealthiest people collect property the way they used to collect cars. Interest rates are low, prices have fallen, and you don't have to tie up a lot of cash in the investment.

At the same time, more people are choosing to rent instead of own. You can have a lucrative rental property using other peoples' money to cover the mortgage, taxes, and upkeep. With sites like Vrbo and Airbnb, you can also find short-term renters to subsidize your overhead.

While I suggest diversifying your investments, there is no better place to park your money than brick-and-mortar investments you can live in and enjoy. When you invest in your surroundings, you invest in yourself!"

Holly Parker, founder and CEO of The Holly Parker Team at Douglas Elliman, award-winning broker who made over $8 billion in sales. Follow her on LinkedIn and Instagram

"Real estate is a bankable asset, so you can always leverage it. It also doesn't tie up a lot of cash. You can put down as little as 10% and use banks' money to grow your investment. With such low interest rates, that's like free money.

Unlike the stock market, where many factors are out of your control, your investment can't disappear overnight. You can also build your wealth with excellent return rates and tax advantages.

The only people who lose money in real estate are those who bought at the height of the market and sold at the wrong time or took too much equity out of their home, leaving no profit margin when they sold it. It often takes time to see big appreciations, but if you hold on to your investment, you will.

Dottie Herman, CEO of Douglas Elliman, a real estate brokerage empire with more than $27 billion in annual sales. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram

"Real estate is always a great investment because you have more options than with other types of investments.

If you invest in stocks, bonds, or a private offering, your success is completely dependent on factors outside of your control. At most, your options are to hold or sell. With real estate, you have unlimited options.

You can buy a house with the intent of flipping it, then rent it if the market turns south. If you buy a rental that appreciates in value significantly, you can sell it. Real estate can be refinanced, rehabbed, and rezoned. You can develop it, lease it, subdivide it, or add parcels to it.

These are just a few of your options. This flexibility is one of the reasons it has created more millionaires than any other asset class."

Daniel Lesniak, founder of Orange Line Living, broker at the Keri Shull Team, co-founder of real estate coaching business HyperFast Agent, author of "The HyperLocal, HyperFast Real Estate Agent"

"There's an opportunity for greater and more consistent returns with real estate than with other investments. When a property is built, it's because a group of people see a population large enough to justify it.

"The sheer number of new properties each year is a testament to the growing real estate market. Supply follows demand, and demand is continuing to rise. Populations almost never decrease, which is why the need for housing increases year over year.

The market for multifamily apartments in particular is growing. As apartments become more attractive, people are less likely to buy houses. With multifamily apartments, you continue to generate increasing income over time.

Once the property stabilizes, you can collect returns for your investors until you decide to sell. There's also demand year-round wherever you go."

Robert Martinez, founder and CEO of Rockstar Capital, a real estate investment firm with over $330 million in assets under management, host of "The Apartment Rockstar" podcast. Follow him on YouTube and Instagram

"Many businesses come and go, but there's one thing we'll always need: land.

There's an inherent demand for real estate, whether the land produces a product like coffee or is home to an apartment or retail space; so it will always be a good investment. No matter what kind of business you run, you need land.

Investing in real estate allows you to protect yourself and your wealth. While the real estate market has gone up and down, it has never declined over time. Compare that to when Wall Street collapsed or currencies that aren't backed by anything tangible.

Over time, you will always get value from real estate that produces income like a coffee farm, for example. Even better if you choose property with inherent value, such as a location in Times Square."

Marcello Arrambide, founder of Day Trading Academy, co-founder of SpeedUpTrader, a funding company for aspiring day traders. Follow him on LinkedIn

Join The Oracles, a mastermind group of the world's leading entrepreneurs who share their success strategies to help others grow their businesses and build better lives. For more, follow The Oracles on Facebook and LinkedIn.

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Real estate is still the best investment you can make today, millionaires sayhere's why - CNBC

David Beck. Courtesy of Brave Ventures.

Brave Ventures has an eye on early-stage startups that are solving problems for consumers, publishers, and advertisers as more viewing shifts to streaming platforms.

The firm founded in 2014 as an advisory and investment company that worked with major media brands being transformed by digital, like Turner, Viacom, and CBS is looking at startups that help with things like content search and discovery, or measurement in the fragmented media landscape.

"There's already an overabundance of video services available," David Beck, the cofounder of Brave Ventures, who is overseeing its investments, told Business Insider. "Winners and losers will be difficult to predict. I would rather be betting on services that are going to be important to all of them, first and foremost, to consumers, as well as to publishers."

The streaming database ReelGood is one example of the type of company Beck says is solving real challenges for audiences. People can search on ReelGood for movies and TV shows across more than 50 streaming apps and be directed to those apps to watch them. Brave is not an investor in ReelGood.

The firm's active investments include MikMak, a home-shopping network for the mobile generation, as well as Canvs, a measurement company that analyzes consumers' emotional responses to videos and TV shows, among other things.

Brave Ventures was founded by Beck, the seasoned TV exec Jesse Redniss, and the advertising guru Gary Vaynerchuk.

The advisory business was acquired in 2016 by Turner to lead its strategy and innovation teams.

The investing arm remains independent and is actively evaluating investments.

See the original post here:
What investment firms, VCs are betting on in streaming video and TV - Business Insider

A new report from the Urban Land Institute and PwC takes a close look at the biggest current and ongoing trends facing North American real estate investors.

And let me tell you: Its a doozy.

The 107-page tome is full of charts, graphs, expert insights, and hundreds of valuable data points. Its definitely not a read-in-one-sitting document, but its brimming with golden nuggets of info that any forward-thinking real estate investor should have.

Dont have time to read the report? Ive got you covered. Ive combed the document and pulled out the top seven trends youll want on your radar.

Investor competition is on the rise, and it calls for a more creative approach to property selection.

As the report explains, "The competition to find investments that meet the return requirements of a growing investor pool has resulted in looking to new and more complex methods to find markets and property sectors that may fall outside the traditional size and growth metric."

In short, investors need to specialize and focus on niche-level opportunities. The report specifically mentions specialty markets like:

Youll even find detailed city-by-city recommendations in many of these categories at the bottom of the report.

The main takeaway? ULI and PwC recommend that investors dive deep to discover "pearls of great value" in markets theyre considering. "Specialization has become the hallmark of many professional fields, and real estate is no exception," the report reads.

Urban areas have long been a haven for the live-work-play lifestyle. Residents want walkable commutes, easy access to housing, and 24-hour amenities. But today, its not just major city centers providing this way of life.

The 24-hour live-work-play approach has officially entered suburbia, with smaller cities like Charleston, South Carolina, and Jacksonville, Florida, joining the ranks. Its stretching from Brooklyn into New Jersey towns like Hoboken and Maplewood and from Manhattan into Yonkers and New Rochelle.

And its not slowing down, either. According to the report, investors should expect more communities to embrace the 24-hour (or at least 18-hour) lifestyle: "If the live-work-play formula could revive inner cities a quarter-century ago, there is no reason to think that it will not work in suburbs with the right bones and the will to succeed."

Rising temperatures will impact investing from all angles, influencing where people migrate, the infrastructure required, and overall building costs. As the report puts it, "Without intervention, the current and potential future impacts of extremely high temperatures -- on real estate developments, infrastructure, and the economy -- could be substantial."

Some stats to note about this trend:

Seattle is a great example of just how hard rising temperatures can hit investors. Before 2010, a mere 6% of Seattle rental properties had central air conditioning. Now, a full quarter of them do.

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7 Real Estate Investing Trends to Watch - Motley Fool