With Arizona’s payday loan industry now history, the state’s credit unions are jumping into the resulting void to both help consumers and gain new members. Called REAL Solutions, the Arizona…
Now more than ever, investors and regulators are demanding greater transparency when it comes to hedge funds that invest in illiquid financial instruments. This should come as no surprise given…
Let’s begin with a reasonably well-founded observation: The official repeal this year of estate taxes has seriously flawed most testamentary plans and created mild chaos for estate practitioners. Traditionally, estate…
The recent economic recession forced society to relook at what we consider to be financial norms. What was considered reasonable several years ago is now unjustifiable based on today’s new…
The past 18 months have been extremely difficult for participants in the mergers and acquisitions community. Purchase and sale transactions in 2009 were at their lowest levels since shortly after…
The market turmoil of the last 18 months has caused investors to ask a lot of questions. Am I properly diversified and allocated to withstand additional market gyrations? Is my…
In today’s economy everybody is looking for ways to improve their cash flow, especially as it relates to real estate. Implementing tax-saving strategies is certainly a way to help cash…
Affluent families and individuals, successful business owners, and those engaged in certain occupations, such as the medical or construction industry, all face similar challenges when choosing to invest: They have…
It is impossible to reflect on the recent recession without thinking of the unearthing of multimillion- and billion-dollar fraud schemes. We shake our heads and ask how it happened. Was…
The recent New West Era of Arizona’s fast-growth economy from 2004 through 2007 is now expansion-cycle history. Having faced the Great Recession and what Alan Greenspan called a “once-in-a-century credit…
“Strange,” “Nothing like it before,” “Astonishing” are a few ways to describe what has transpired in the financial institution industry over the last several months. As liquidity and asset concerns…
Candace Wiest President and CEO, West Valley National Bank Even before West Valley National Bank opened its doors on Dec. 23, 2006, a decision was made to join the Greater…
