We understand today's private investment fund managers are faced with an ever increasing body of responsibilities. Of paramount importance is the duty to provide meaningful, accurate and timely investment information. At Verghese & Philip, our experience and technical resources allow us to effectively assist clients with providing necessary information to their investors.
Our experience auditing in this industry will provide you with a professional team that understands your business and the rigorous reporting requirements of the SEC and outside investors. Our team keeps up-to-date on industry standards, regulations and terminology through training and continuing education classes. Our firm is also a member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), which helps us assist you in meeting the requirements of the SEC.
Specifically, our team specializes in providing both financial statement audits and SEC Rule 206(4)-2 securities audit services to investment advisors and hedge fund managers. We understand the complexities confronting investment companies and our goal is to guide you through the process.
Effective habits to realize your retirement goals:
If you are a participant in a retirement plan sponsored by your current ot former employer, it’s important to understand what to do with your accumulated assets should you need to move money.
• IRAs
• 401(k) Rollovers
• Lifetime income solutions
• Variety of investment options
If you find yourself intimidated by the ever-rising price of higher education, then a 529 college savings plan might be a key component in saving for a college education. A 529 college savings plan is a tax-advantaged way to save for college and pay for higher education expenses. Unlike some other savings vehicles, a 529 college savings plan may allow you to make sizeable contributions. The funds may generally be used for any qualified college or higher education expense, including tuition, room, board, fees, books, supplies, and equipment. Tax benefits may be subject to certain restrictions.
Money in a 529 college savings plan grows tax deferred, therefore you may be able to withdraw the money without having to pay federal and state income taxes — depending on the plan and where you live — as long as it’s used to pay for qualified, higher-education expenses.1 If the money from 529 college savings plans is used for other purposes, the earnings portion of a withdrawal is subject to ordinary federal income tax, an additional 10% federal tax, and any applicable state income taxes. 529 college savings plans may also affect a student’s eligibility for financial aid.
Term Life Insurance
Term life insurance provides coverage for a set period of time at a generally lower cost than permanent insurance. Many term life insurance products allow you to convert to a permanent policy, such as whole life insurance. The cost of insuring oneself increases over time, so it is important to understand your short- and long-term needs for financial security when you select a policy.
Permanent Life Insurance
Permanent life insurance provides you with financial protection for your entire life, as long as the policy remains in force. Because of the flexibility permanent life insurance offers, there are several types of policies you can purchase.
• Whole Life Insurance.
• Universal Life Insurance.
• Variable Universal Life Insurance.
• Survivorship Life Insurance.
Disability income insurance
An individual disability income insurance policy can help supplement your group long term disability benefits and protect a larger portion of your income. This, in turn, provides a fundamental layer of security for your financial future. An individual disability income insurance policy you purchase on your own is fully portable, meaning you won’t have to worry about losing coverage if you change jobs, and the benefits paid are tax free if you are the premium payor1. In addition, an individual disability income insurance policy is non-cancelable by the carrier (as long as the premiums are paid), and with a guaranteed renewable policy, your premiums will never change for the life of the policy.
People are living longer and that means more time and savings will be spent in retirement. If you need a tax-deferred investment to provide a guaranteed1 stream of income for life or a specified number of years, it might be worth considering an annuity. An annuity is a contract between an insurance company and an annuity owner. In exchange for a purchase payment, or series of payments, the insurance company guarantees1 to pay a stream of income in the future.
There are two types of annuities—Immediate and Deferred.
• Immediate Annuities
• Immediate Fixed Annuity
• Immediate Fixed and Variable Annuity
An immediate fixed and variable annuity provides a guaranteed stream of income. The variable income payments fluctuate based on the performance of the variable investment choices selected. A fixed account is also usually offered as an investment choice within this type of contract.
• Deferred Annuities
A deferred annuity is specifically designed to help accumulate assets for retirement. It also offers the ability to turn those assets into a guaranteed stream of income at some point in the future. You decide when payments begin and how long to receive income. There are basically two types of deferred annuities: fixed and variable.
• Deferred Fixed Annuity
• Deferred Variable Annuity
Investors may choose different investment products to meet a variety of needs, including retirement and estate planning, education financing and for funding purchases of all sizes. Financial Services Representatives can help select appropriate investment products based on an investor’s goal for the investment, individual profile (comfort with risk, length of time to invest) and a product’s fees and tax considerations (many investment products have built-in tax advantages). Your Financial Services Representative can help you develop a plan for your investments that takes these key factors into consideration.
There are three basic types of investments (called asset classes):
• Stocks are instruments of equity and represent shares of ownership in a company. They rise and fall with investor perception of the company’s potential or other stock market factors, such as the outlook for the company’s industry, the political climate or the strength of the economy.
• Bonds are instruments of debt that represent loans issued by the government or a company. Investors who purchase bonds receive from the issuer a stated rate of interest and the promise of repayment of the principal amount when the bond reaches its stated maturity date. Interest-rate movements up or down typically have the greatest impact on bond prices.
• Short-term/cash-equivalents are low- or no-risk investments that generally have lower expected yields than stocks, bonds and other investments – cash-equivalents may not yield enough to keep up with the rate of inflation. Cash-equivalent investments include the following:
• Certificate of Deposit (CD)s represent fixed, interest-bearing time-deposits with a bank or other FDIC-insured institution.
• Money Market Accounts represent portfolio-based investments .
The estate tax is a tax on property that is transferred at your death, while a gift tax is on money or property that you give to someone during your lifetime that may be subject to federal and state taxes.
Like the trust tax, estate and gift taxes can become quite complicated because the possible scenarios for each are nearly endless. Our accounting experts are very familiar with estate and gift tax laws. We know just the right questions to ask you about your situation, and we can help you minimize the taxes that you or your loved ones will need to pay when receiving an inheritance or giving a gift. When it comes to keeping as much of your hard-earned money in your pocket as possible — our team is the right one to call.
Trust taxes are a unique part of our tax law, and are one of the many places where things get confusing. If you need help understanding how trust taxes work, and how to get the biggest impact for your dollar with a trust, our professionals can provide all of the help and information you need. We work closely with attorneys to be sure you get to take full advantage of trust tax laws and get the greatest possible return on your investment.
Trusts can be used to protect your lifetime assets as well as provide means for passing your assets to your heirs with as little lost to taxes as possible. In many cases, one of the main benefits of trusts is that the beneficiary is not subject to a large amount of tax all at once. If the terms of the trust dictate that the beneficiary receives funds from the trust incrementally, then taxes are not assessed until those funds are actually in the hands of the beneficiary. At that point, they become taxable, just like many other types of income. Assuming that the trust is structured in a manner that allows it to generate income over the long-term, this means that the beneficiary must only pay taxes on the funds received during the tax year.