SPX 5,248 ▼ −1.57% GOLD $3,245 ▲ +1.21% EURUSD 1.0891 ▲ +0.34% VIX 29.65 ▼ Elevated UST 10Y 4.42% ▼ −4bps DXY 99.1 ▼ 3Y low WTI $61.18 ▲ +0.44% BTC $82,140 ▼ −1.34% SPX 5,248 ▼ −1.57% GOLD $3,245 ▲ +1.21% EURUSD 1.0891 ▲ +0.34% VIX 29.65 ▼ Elevated UST 10Y 4.42% ▼ −4bps DXY 99.1 ▼ 3Y low WTI $61.18 ▲ +0.44% BTC $82,140 ▼ −1.34%
RATIO
Private Wealth · Issue 47 · April 2026

Wealth
Is Built
Quietly.

Institutional-grade research for private investors who value depth over speed, and compounding over noise. No ads. No sponsored content. Just rigour.

S&P 500 YTD
−4.6%
▼ Tariff-driven repricing
Gold Spot
$3,245
▲ New all-time high
USD Index (DXY)
99.1
▼ 3-year low
Fed Funds Rate
4.25%
— Hold expected Q2
VIX (Fear Index)
29.65
▲ Elevated anxiety
10Y Treasury
4.42%
▼ Risk-off bid
Cover
The Wealth Destruction Nobody Talks About: Inflation's Long Game
Estate Planning
Trusts in an Era of Rising Rates: What's Changed
Equities
Quality Over Growth: The Case for Compounders in 2026
Alternatives
Private Credit: Yield Without Duration Risk
Interview
"We Didn't Panic in 2022. That Was the Alpha."
INSIGHTS.
Full archive →
01
Cover Story

The Invisible Tax: How Inflation Permanently Impairs Inherited Wealth Across Generations

Most wealthy families track nominal portfolio returns. Few apply a rigorous real return framework that accounts for spending, inflation, and the compounding drag of fees. We model three family wealth scenarios across 30-year horizons and find the divergence is startling — and largely avoidable with the right structural adjustments.

Victoria Haas, CFA · Apr 12, 2026 · 16 min read
Read the cover story
Equities

Quality Compounders: 11 Characteristics That Predict 20-Year Outperformance

A back-tested framework for identifying businesses with durable moats — the kind that compound through recessions, rate cycles, and regime changes.

R. Osei·10 min
Private Credit

Senior Secured Lending: The Case for Replacing Bond Allocations

Private credit now offers yields that public investment-grade bonds cannot match — with superior seniority. We examine the access points, risks, and liquidity tradeoffs for private investors.

S. Andersen·8 min
Tax Strategy

Charitable Remainder Trusts Are Having a Moment — Here's Why

High interest rates have made CRTs more attractive than at any point in the last 15 years. A clear breakdown of the mechanics and when to consider them.

M. Johansson·7 min
Asset Allocation

Dollar Weakness and the HNW Portfolio: A Practical Guide to Currency Hedging

The DXY at multi-year lows reopens the currency allocation question for globally diversified wealth. We examine hedging costs, asymmetric exposure, and the case for selective un-hedging.

Apr 8, 2026·9 min
Real Assets

Infrastructure as a Core Allocation: Beyond Airports and Toll Roads

The energy transition is creating an infrastructure investment cycle unlike any in modern history. We map the segments with the most compelling risk-adjusted profiles for long-term capital.

Apr 6, 2026·11 min
Behavioural

The Seven Wealth-Destroying Behaviours of High-Net-Worth Investors

Empirical research on how sophisticated investors repeatedly undermine their own portfolios — and the structural disciplines that break each pattern.

Apr 4, 2026·7 min

"The investor's chief problem — and even his worst enemy — is likely to be himself. The market is not the risk. Impatience is."

Benjamin Graham · The Intelligent Investor
REVIEWS.
All reviews →
Recommended
Vanguard LifeStrategy 80
Multi-Asset · Passive · Index

The benchmark against which all other multi-asset solutions should be measured. Automatic global diversification, disciplined rebalancing, and a 0.22% OCF that removes the primary structural drag of most competitor products. For investors who want a single, set-and-forget core holding, this is the clear starting point.

Charge0.22%
5Y Return+47.2%
Sharpe0.81
Caution
iShares MSCI World
Global Equity ETF · Passive

A sound product with a structural flaw: US weight now exceeds 70%, making this less a "world" allocation and more a leveraged US equity bet with international window-dressing. Suitable as a satellite position but not as the sole equity exposure for a globally minded private investor. Consider a version with explicit US cap.

Charge0.20%
US Weight72%
5Y Return+61%
Avoid
ARK Innovation ETF
Thematic Active ETF

A retail-friendly fund that demonstrated the perils of narrative-driven portfolio construction at scale. The thesis — disruptive technology — is real. The implementation, concentration risk, and inability to manage reflexive inflows and outflows are not. A 75% drawdown from peak erases a generation of compounding. The structural problems remain unresolved.

Peak DD−75%
5Y Return−18%
Fee0.75%
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