While the debate on passive and active management has gone on for decades, it has been a rather peaceful one where both camps have agreed to disagree. The recent financial crisis however hanged this relationship, as the media goaded investors to oppose passive management. Some of the larger personalities in the active management camp have also repeatedly penned eulogies for the buy-and-hold (passive) investment concept. Is it really time to bid adieu to buy-and-hold? This paper attempts to answer the question.

A Critical Illness (CI) policy is an important risk management tool which provides a cash payout in the event one is diagnosed with a critical illness. However, the claim is only payable if the insured fulfills any of the CI definitions stated in the policy. This paper seeks to understand the 37 critical illnesses defined in the insurance policies and evaluates the need to have more than one CI policy in order to fully cover the entire range of critical illnesses. It includes an analysis on the plans offered by a selection of insurers and our recommendations to how one can obtain comprehensive CI coverage.

The financial tsunami that originated in the US subprime market has now engulfed the entire global economy, and has sparked arguably the deepest recession since the Great Depression in the 1930s. As the magnitude of the crisis became clearer, we became increasingly concerned about an abnormal period will lead to little or no growth for several years. This fear caused us to go back through history to find similar periods where there was a prolonged downturn. A scenario analysis was then performed to test how our asset allocation strategies would hold up under the abnormal conditions.

This report serves to give a better understanding in the area of Long Term Care (LTC). This includes the possibility of needing LTC as well as learning points gleaned from the experiences from other developed countries. We reviewed the structure of care giving in Singapore – what they are, their benefits and how much it costs. It allows the patient and caregiver to explore these LTC services that are available to them, bearing in mind different conditions, needs, and preferences of the patient.