Executive Global Winter 2021

www.executive-global.com | Winter 2021

Productivity | Strategy | Profitability

JOHN WILLIAMS

Comments on Fed policy under Yellen

CRAIG HEMKE

Delivers his forecast for precious metals

BILL HOLTER

MMT is the proof of QE to infinity

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ADI SEFFER

Strategy in mergers and acquisitions

THE SILVER STANDARD David Morgan analyses the impact of asset bubbles, fiscal policy and macroeconomic trends in the U.S. economy

INSIDE

UK £10 Europe €12 USA $14

FINANCE | LEGAL | FDI | TECHNOLOGY | STRATEGY | EXECUTIVE EDUCATION | HNW LIFESTYLE

www.

MaureenAtkinson.com The Finest Collection of Luxury Homes

EXCLUSIVE PROPERTIES LUXURY LIFESTYLES California Desert || Indian Wells | Rancho Mirage La Quinta | Palm Desert | Palm Springs | Thermal California Coastal || Beverly Hills | Brentwood | Bel Air Pacific Palisades | Malibu Beach | Newport Beach | Newport Coast Corona Del Mar | Laguna Beach | Dana Point | San Juan Capistrano Carlsbad | Encinitas | Del Mar | La Jolla | Rancho Santa Fe | Coronado *Maureen is a member of California Desert Association of Realtors, Hawaii Association of Realtors, and National Association of Realtors.

My Concierge Magazine *Maureen is the recipient of many coveted awards and is a highly accomplished professional representing discerning clients with real estate acquisitions, dispositions, trades or exchanges.

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Contact

Maureen Atkinson

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Maureen Atkinson President, Principal Broker CA (760) 883-0202 HI (808) 268-8833 maureen@maui.net

MAUREEN ATKINSON INC. PRIVATE OFFICE

CALDRE# 02119088 | CALDRE# 02015337

Luxury Homes for Ultra High Net Worth Buyers

How would you say your early career as a prominent Executive Director at an international accounting firm helped prepare you to later succeed in the higher echelons of luxury real estate?

Early in my career I was in a very prominent position, had many responsibilities and reported directly to the MA Founding Partner. This is where I was first introduced to many affluent families and business owners with significant Real Estate holdings.

Also, being the Marketing Chairperson for all of Canada and sitting on the Communications Committee for Nexia International I learned a lot about marketing and its importance to the success of these companies. I remember sitting in board meetings in London, UK with 30 Nexia Partners and I was the only woman at the table, you quickly learn not to be intimidated. Most the Partners were men at that time and they always showed me the utmost respect.

That gave me a lot of self-confidence, so yes, my corporate background allowed me a smooth transition into the higher end of luxury Real Estate. Industry.

EG

You are a Founding Member of REALM. What is REALM and what unique attributes does it bring to luxury real estate buyers and sellers?

I am one of the original Founding Members and participated in the beta before REALM was officially released.

MA REALM is brand agnostic, it is by invitation only, and is comprised of the most elite luxury real estate professionals globally. REALM is a relationship enhancer, and includes a game-changing technology that uses artificial intelligence to match buyers to your property based on lifestyle and location.

The properties are viewed and matched by clients of the most accomplished real estate professionals ever assembled. REALM offers properties from $1M up to $250M. My Listings are showcased on REALM and receive client matches based on the property profile within minutes of going live.

EG

What has it been like selling real estate in 2020 -- the year of the pandemic?

Early in the year everything was normal until COVID-19 appeared in MA the US. We then had to be mindful of the State mandates and Local City regulations for showing properties. As 2020 was the year of transition, the wealthy relocated to markets with personal appeal based on lifestyle and moved away from cities looking for space, wellness, and safety.

EG

Our interview with MAUREEN ATKINSON, President, Principal Broker with Maureen Atkinson Inc. Private Office casts the spotlight on a successful real estate professional showcasing the finest luxury properties across the Southern California Desert and Coastal communities, as well as Hawaii. Executive Global sits down with the award-winning luxury real estate broker who is presenting the Crème de la crème of luxury homes to Ultra High Net Worth Individuals, while forging relationships based on honesty, ethics, integrity, and trust.

What is it about the state of California and Hawaii make it such an attractive location for vacationing and for affluent home buyers to live?

Being an active Real Estate Broker in both states I can tell you it is all MA about the Lifestyle. While both states are expensive to live, they also provide life qualities that are dreamed of by many. When I was growing up in Canada I would dream of living that life and I am truly grateful to be doing what I love.

EG

You have a proven track record of closing numerous homes for High Net Worth individuals. You were the recipient of many Chairman’s Circle awards for being in the Top 1% for Prudential nationwide and was ranked in the Top 35 Elite in the State of Hawaii.

What can affluent clients expect when being represented by you?

My first thoughts are do not get caught up with awards. Now do not MA get me wrong they show you have a successful career, but do not rely on that moving forward.

The best advice I ever received was from the first Broker/Owner I ever worked for. No matter what happened he would always say be professional, always be ethical and never cross that line.

I have based my career on that advice so clients can expect loyalty, honesty, and know I have their best interest at hand. I never name drop, and I operate with absolute confidentiality. I do not deviate from this as trust is everything. They can be assured all necessary details will be provided to make an informed decision regarding buying or selling of a property.

EG

You are also a philanthropist, having generously donated $100,000 to the Maui Preparatory Academy. How important is it to give back to the community, having been so tremendously successful?

I have a lot of clients who are philanthropists as there is always a need for charitable donations. Maui Preparatory MA Academy was in its infancy and they needed funding to continue to grow the school. My donation was to help develop much-needed programs and to assist deserving children an opportunity to attend such an academy.

EG

For further information, please visit: www.MaureenAtkinson.com

CONTENTS

WINTER 2021

EXECUTIVE GLOBAL

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF John Marshall HEAD OF PRODUCTION Peter Green EDITORIAL Thomas Hughes, Rachel Smith, Oliver Taylor, Shannon Berkley, Vincenzo Morello ART DIRECTION & DESIGN Stormcues Limited BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Steve Williams, David Warmann, Jack Moore, David Goldwin, Mike Walsh COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR Luke Francis PHOTOGRAPHY James Drake, Sarah Dean Executive Global Magazine is published by: Stormcues Limited 405 Kings Road Chelsea London SW10 0BB Tel: +44(0)207 993 4782 www.executive-global.com ADVERTISING advertising@executive-global.com EDITORIAL editorial@executive-global.com The information in this publication has been obtained from sources the proprietors believe to be correct, however no legal liability can be accepted for any errors. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the consent of the publisher.

Executive Global is registered trademark ® of Stormcues Limited.

Copyright © 2021 Stormcues Limited. All Rights Reserved.

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• Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

FRONT COVER FEATURE The Silver Standard

The crime of 1873 24

Our cover feature and CEO Profile on The Silver Standard, analyses the upside potential for the intrinsically undervalued asset of silver bullion in our interview with David Morgan, publisher and founder of The Morgan Report.

Strategy in mergers & acquisitions 20 Executive Global’s bespoke series of interviews on Productivity, Strategy, and Profitability. We caught up with Adi Seffer, Partner, at Germany’s pre-eminent law firm, Prime Partners.

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Bill Holter of JSMineset explains how Modern Monetary Theory masks quantitative easing.

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John Williams of ShadowStats explains the perils of unlimited monetisation and deficits.

Market bubbles and excessive debt 22 Michael Pento, Founder, Pento Portfolio Strategies on U.S. debt and inflation levels.

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Shannon Berkley on the notion of CBDCs, centralisation and the implications for privacy.

2021 gold and silver forecast Capitalism needs preservation

32 34

Oliver Taylor looks at how ‘The Great Reset’ may merely just be a euphemism for neo-feudalism.

LEGAL & ADVOCACY How to retire in Panama

FINANCE

Money creation and the dollar

Cryptocurrency vs CBDCs

Craig Hemke, TFMetals Report, delivers his annual predictions for precious metal assets.

STRATEGY

QE to infinity

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Thomas Hughes reports on bimetallism in history, drawing contemporary parallels.

36

In recent years, Panama has become a popular retirement destination. Abel Gomez, walks us through the steps.

International trust legislation Oliver Taylor looks into the benefits and advantages of trust law in the Bahamas.

38

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CONTENTS

WINTER 2021

EXECUTIVE GLOBAL

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FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT Investing in Saint-Maarten

44 Maine Real estate strategy

Thomas Hughes gets acquainted with this idyllic island in the Caribbean Sea.

Tourism in Malta

LUXURY LIFESTYLE 58 Four green houses, one red hotel 70

Steven Shelton, CEO, Acadia Realty Group, on strategy in Mid Coast Maine luxury real estate.

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Rachel Smith looks at the island archipelago offering many benefits to HNWIs.

Taiwan business and investment 48 We report on Taiwan as a jurisdiction for tourism, business and investment.

The Future of MBAs

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The EFMD chart a significant shift towards online tuition for business schools.

Andrew Main Wilson, CEO of the AMBA, looks at sustainability in management education.

The sustainable innovator

52 Effective global business managers 66

Laura Jones, CEO, Regent Power, on innovative new technologies powering sustainability.

Cryptocurrencies & DeFi

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Oliver Taylor looks at five exciting alternative currency and decentralised finance projects.

How customers leverage FMEAs 56 Dr. Lynn Johnson, President, APiS North America, LLC delivers her expert insight.

• Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

Oliver Taylor reports on some of the most successful managers in modern business.

Comparing the game of Monopoly, Shannon Berkley examines multi-unit investing.

Lead a luxury lifestyle abroad

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION

Two trends for business education 64

TECHNOLOGY

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ASK THE EXPERT

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Andrew Henderson, Managing Partner, Nomad Capitalist on the benefits of living intentionally.

Joey Burns, the real deal

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Martha Cargill on the professionalism of Joey Burns, Co-Founder of Eagle Land Brokerage.

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EDITOR NOTE

Foreword

EXECUTIVE GLOBAL Editor’s Note

Revaluation: A Guide to Saving the U.S. Dollar and Fiat Currencies Fiat currencies and monetary policy itself are being devalued all around the world, and humanity is suffering an unprecedented rodeo of rolling printing presses, overall debt figures and a broadly lost approach to matters fiscal from authorities. There are some steps that sound economic policy and common sense dictate banks should be taking for a return to sanity, but they seem at odds with central banks’ current agenda. n order to restore prosperity, sovereignty and profitability as components of broad economic activity, the money houses, led by the Federal Reserve, will need to take a divergent route from where they are now.

Saving the United States dollar and other fiat currencies from their current mindless trajectory of practical ruin would firstly entail contraction of the monetary supply, along with an immediate and rather dramatic upwards revaluation of gold to $10 million per OZ, and pegging silver at $1 million per OZ. It’s the most painless route to re-establishing a normality that will keep the wheels on capitalism as we know it, and with every passing day it becomes more obvious, necessary, and urgent.

Now if that sounds extraordinary, it is actually the most painless route to re-establishing a normality that will keep the wheels on capitalism as we know it, by backing fiat currency with a valuable form of hard money that is limited in supply to offset the sheer amount of debt monetisation that has taken place since 2008.

In order to compensate for the amount of currency printed and credit issued over the last decade, such a revaluation would force fiscal discipline and provide the reset necessary to perpetuate the currency systems we have had for hundreds of years. Ideally, such a revaluation would be accompanied by an explanation to the world’s people that these reset values on precious metals are as a direct result of the amount of money that has been printed from 2008 to the present day.

Alongside such a revaluation of precious metals, the establishment of a fiat Liberty dollar, backed by gold and silver, would become an essential and hugely prudent measure that would be alone in its ability to restore and generate the faith in the new US Liberty dollar, allowing the world to avoid the chaos and upheaval that would otherwise inevitably follow.

The revaluation of precious metals needs to be accompanied by a downward revaluation of overvalued asset classes like real

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executive global • Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

estate and stocks. Combined with limiting the currency in circulation, such measures would prevent deficit spending and make increasing deficits (and war) practically impossible.

Plans for the $1.9 trillion and other future monetary easing programmes, along with universal basic income and MMT, simply pass the buck to someone down the line. Upward revaluation becomes a mathematical inevitability as such measures erode the value of current specie in circulation.

There is thinly veiled opposition to revalued silver and gold — not to mention overall fiscal discipline — by the banking fraternity and Wall Street, those who prefer elasticity of money.

The impact and ensuing activities of billions of others, those who will suddenly gain spending power under the dramatic revaluation that’s needed, will allow GDPs to soar.

Precious metals are fairly evenly distributed worldwide, and although the geopolitical implications with other nations would be buoyed or ruined in direct proportion to their metal reserves, those are manageable outcomes in comparison to globally destitute citizens and an ill-functioning system of trade and industry.

With the US Debt Clock approaching $28 trillion, we long passed the point where the revaluation and reset became overdue.

Executives must take heed that there is now indeed, no greater wealth preservation strategy than to be invested in precious metals for the next decade. EG

John Marshall John Marshall Editor-in-Chief, Executive Global

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Welcome to Elk River, Minnesota!

Elk River is located just 35 miles northwest of Minneapolis-St. Paul between the Twin Cities and St. Cloud on the Mississippi River. As the Sherburne County seat, the city covers an area of 44 square miles making it one of the largest land-based cities in the state and the largest city within the county with nearly 25,000 residents.

The city continues to develop while retaining its historical perspective and small-town flavor. Highways 10, 169, 101, nearby Interstate 94, and the Northstar Commuter Rail provide fast and easy access to the greater metropolitan area as well as the gateway to Minnesota’s lake country.

Designated a Minnesota Energy City, Elk River is internationally recognized for innovative and progressive leadership in energy conservation, alternative energy, public education, and environmental stewardship.

Elk River is a great place to live and work.

The city has invested in parks, facilities, and recreation opportunities for all ages to enjoy. Educational opportunities exist

at highly-regarded public, charter, and private schools serving residents from kindergarten to post-secondary education.

The community is proud of its full spectrum of housing options for all ages and lifestyles.

The city has 41 parks totaling nearly 1,444 acres ranging from neighborhood and community parks, playfields, and beaches to vast acres of primitive green space. A river city, the community has public access to the Mississippi and Elk Rivers as well as Lake Orono.

Elk River has 75 miles of paved and unpaved walking trails including access to the Mississippi River Trail (MRT). The MRT courses along America’s backbone, the Mississippi River, from its headwaters in Itasca, Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico.

A truly Powered by Nature community, Elk River offers numerous seasonal outdoor activities including hockey, ice skating, and downhill sledding at the historic Handke Pit, disc golf, Hillside Park mountain bike course, trails, cross-

country skiing, fishing, swimming, beach volleyball, lake and river boat launches and a splash fountain.

Rivers Edge Commons Park, overlooking the Mississippi River in the historic downtown district, is host to free weekly outdoor summer concerts that are a favorite of young and old alike! The city also owns and operates the new Furniture and Things Community Event Center that houses two indoor ice arenas, a fieldhouse and its Senior Activity Center.

Community Quick Facts Population Median Age Land Water Area Parks Trails

25,213 37.1 44 sq. miles 1.52 sq. miles 41 parks covering 1,444 acres 35 miles of paved trails

For more information visit: ElkRiverMN.gov

Where Business and Community Come Naturally.

Elk River’s Economic Development Authority (EDA) strives to proactively facilitate business growth, redevelopment, housing diversity, and reinvestment in the community. The EDA’s successful Business Microloan Program continues to assist the growth of local businesses. It also supports a successful grant application on behalf of our highly-regarded school district.

Microloans Industrial Incentive Encourages industrial and high technology business development that supports the tax base and brings quality jobs to the city.

Energy Efficiency Provides low-interest loans to businesses to invest in energy efficiency and improve their profitability through reduced energy costs.

Micro-Brewery Available to business and property owners located within the City of Elk River.

Job Incentive Provides financial and technical assistance for the creation and retention of new employment.

Downtown Revitalization Encourages business and property owners in the downtown area to rehabilitate and restore older buildings, as well as new business development.

Financing Tools Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Encourages desirable development or redevelopment that would not otherwise occur.

Tax Abatement Encourages desirable development or redevelopment that would not otherwise occur but-for the assistance provided through the tax abatement.

Energy Incentive This program offers a savings to qualified applicants on their Elk River Municipal Utilities (ERMU) electric bills for up to two years.

Commercial Blighted Properties The goal is to spur new construction, create and retain employment opportunities and promote the sale and redevelopment of structurally substandard properties.

More information available at ElkRiverMN.gov/EconDev

BUSINESS Elk River’s Economic Development Authority Call today! We are eager to assist you in any way we can.

Colleen Eddy Economic Development Specialist • 763.635.1000 • ElkRiverMN.gov

COMMUNITY

FINANCE

JSMineset

Photo: Javen / Shutterstock.com

QE to Infinity!

Modern monetary theory is the new name for, and the proof of QE to infinity. We have been told for a dozen years QE was temporary and only for emergency use. We now know QE can never end or even be curtailed.

Article by

Bill Holter

PARTNER, JSMINESET

revious blasts of central bank QE served only to extend the day of reckoning while enlarging the already existing asset bubbles with each episode. Monetary authorities are intent on doubling down time and again, with policy already discredited in current time as well as the history books. Even though monetisation has never worked and always ended in disastrous failure, they believe...this time is different. It is not!

Many things socially, economically, and financially have occurred over the last year or so. A global pandemic leading to the virtual shutdown of the real global economy while financial markets crashed. We have seen negative interest rates, and unbelievably, even a brief negative price for oil.

But equities roared back to make all-time highs in many markets. Before getting to the meat of the matter, something else happened as a precursor to the spectacle.

On Sep. 17, 2019, the ”repo” market went into

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complete meltdown. Overnight rates were trading sub 1% and showed few overt signs of stress until that fateful evening. Rates blew out to 10%. Never before has the overnight repo market seen a 10-fold rise in rates and a virtual seizure of THE most basic credit market in the world. To this day, we still do not know for sure ”who” had the problem- but that is not important. What is important were the reactions of central banks, in particular the Fed. The Fed was forced to supply $50-$100 billion each and every evening from that point forward, just to keep the repo markets from imploding.

Along came the coronavirus pandemic. The official reactions to shut down the real economy were disastrous, but ”timing” was quite fortuitous for the powers that be. First, a shrinking economy lessens the pressure for credit, so think of the shutdowns as a relief valve for credit demand. The shutdowns also provided cover for central banks to open their credit and money supply spigots wide open. If you recall back in 2008-09, the public pushback to TARP and all the other free money fiascos, was quite fierce. But not this time...because the populous was included with individual checks. $Trillions were literally spewed from central bank firehoses without barely a whimper of protest!

The resumption of new QE was something we

• Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

knew had to happen as the Fed’s lack of balance sheet expansion during 2018/19 led directly to the repo train wreck. The danger of course was repo problems spilling over to the bill markets, then notes, and finally to long dated bonds. Something had to be done and done large. Under cover of the pandemic, the public cheered as the Treasury was opened wide.

THE POINT OF NO RETURN QE and ZIRP are now entrenched as far as the eye can see, but there will be ramifications not seen during previous QE episodes. In the past, money was only given to financial institutions, who then either sat on the funds to bolster and repair their balance sheets, or invested the largesse, blowing the asset bubbles ever larger. Now, individuals, corporations and probably even state and local governments will receive funds which will be ”spent” and create a huge problem, namely inflation and visible debasement of the dollar.

We have already seen some unintended consequences spawned by the multi $trillion handouts. A buoyant stock and bond market was their hope. The biggest credit/asset bubble of all time was the result. Until this point, it has been thought that inflation had remained under control. The

FINANCE

JSMineset

done, that 300 or more paper ounces of silver have been sold short for every real, one ounce that exists!

In other words, many who believe they own silver or gold via paper products, will find out they only own contracts representing metal which does not exist. Now might be a good time to ask themselves, what is the value of a contract that cannot perform?

The answer, once you include the consternation and emotional distress of being hoodwinked...is less than zero!

dollar has remained somewhat firm when viewed via the USDX average, versus foreign currencies.

Nothing could be further from the truth! All one needs to do, is look to where the freely printed new money has gone. On any valuation model- whether

IT HAS BEEN CLAIMED AND PROVEN FOR YEARS THAT SILVER (AND GOLD) HAVE BOTH BEEN MANIPULATED DOWNWARD IN PRICE VIA THE SALE OF NAKED PAPER CONTRACTS.

PE ratio, price to book, price to cash flow etc., equities have never been here before. Bonds? Zero percent or negative yields are all you need to see.

Real estate has also been part of the party. www.executive-global.com

The real proof of dollar/currency debasement is gold. Since the GFC low of $700 per ounce, gold has nearly tripled. The factual way to state this is as follows, the dollar has lost nearly 65% of its purchasing power relative to ”barbaric” gold in only a dozen years. And just recently the entire commodity complex has begun to rise, this is a worry to even mainstream economists, because it signals the beginning of inflation. What they do not understand is, inflation of the money supply has already occurred. Inflation is defined as the increase in money stock, what we await now are the unintended consequences of their ”financial engineering”.

NAKED SHORTING VIA DERIVATIVES We at JSMineset.com have long held that derivatives (the use of extreme leverage) have allowed this game to continue far longer than it should, or would without the leverage. Mass malinvestment has been the result. Derivatives have been used to prop up ”good” (paper) markets and to depress ”bad” (markets for real goods). Silver is a perfect example.

It has been claimed and proven for years that silver (and gold) have both been manipulated downward in price via the sale of naked paper contracts. It will not be surprising to find out when all is said and

SILVER A FAR GREATER SHORT SQUEEZE We finally are beginning to see hedge funds attack over shorted individual equities. Take the darling Gamestop for example. Clearly a buggy whip producer in an age of online gaming. They purportedly had a 140% short to total stock outstanding ratio. By definition, 40% is naked, which also by definition is absolutely illegal. It is illegal because the stock does not exist to borrow, to then sell short. Regulators? Nowhere to be seen so far. In this instance, a failing business model was bid to $500 and many many billions of market cap, by creating the mother (so far) of short squeezes.

I just mentioned ”so far”, because it looks like the hedge funds have now set their sights on silver. Silver has a short to actual stock ratio many multiples of any of these shorted stocks, but, with a very large difference. These stocks were heavily and illegally shorted, because their business models were failing with declining sales while saddled with too much debt. Silver is a totally different story. Silver (nor gold) can ever fail. Silver is merely a monetary/ industrial use asset, with no liability and thus can never default.

Herein lies the problem. Silver was originally sold short and suppressed, because it is gold’s little brother. Gold is THE direct competitor to the dollar and all other fiat currencies for that matter. What would the optics be if gold were to explode higher versus currencies? Would not confidence be shaken violently if gold were $10,000 per ounce? Could silver trade to $100, $500, $1,000 or more and not light a fire under the gold price? Silver being a very small market, cannot be allowed to trade freely because the ripple effects to gold, and then to currencies/ credit, which would unmask the fractional reserve nature of the entire system!

We are now extremely late in the ”game”. Since 1971 when the U.S. went off the gold standard, the global financial system has become more and more fractional reserve and thus Ponzi in nature. The danger, and with mathematical certainty, is that the monetary and financial systems get outed for what they are. It is no longer if, but when this occurs.

Savings, investments and assets in general, will be crushed as credit enters a domino like failure, please remember this, our daily lives rely on the use of credit in anything and everything. A loaf of bread arriving at your grocery store, may have a dozen or more instances of credit, not to mention ”distribution” of any and all products. EG

For further information, please visit: www.JSMineset.com Winter 2021 •

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FINANCE

ShadowStats

Unlimited Money Creation and Deficit Spending Will Not Save the U.S. Dollar Outlook for the U.S. Dollar Continues to Darken, One Month Into the Biden Administration.

Article by

Walter J. ”John” Wlliams FOUNDER & ECONOMIST, SHADOWSTATS.COM

s this article goes to bed in the last week of February 2021, U.S. President Joseph Robinette Biden has just completed his first month in office, with his Democrat Party also having taken control of both Houses of Congress. Where the popular U.S. stock market indices crashed one year ago, as the COVID-19 Pandemic hit full force, they now have recovered fully and are trading at or near record highs.

While soaring equity prices may appear inconsistent with a continuing, horrendous economic outlook, they are perhaps not so inconsistent in inflation-adjusted real terms, given rapidly mounting inflation and Dollar-debasement pressures. The U.S. Dollar debasement continues, triggered by extreme Monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve, exacerbated by extreme Fiscal stimulus from the U.S. Treasury and Congress during the Trump Administration, and as pending under the Biden Administration. In the new Administration, former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen has taken over the U.S. Treasury from Steven Mnuchin.

The U.S. Dollar also crashed in the currency markets a year ago, as the Pandemic hit, with a brief, partial rebound. Yet, the Dollar broadly has continued to sink anew, since then, down yearto-year by about 7.9%—near a three-year low— against the British Pound as of February 22nd. It also is down year-to-year by about 8.0% against the Chinese Yuan, 8.4% against the Swiss Franc, 10.8% against the Euro and by 16.2% against the Australian Dollar. Measured on a trade-weighted basis against the Federal Reserve’s Advanced Foreign Economies (AFE) Index, the U.S. Dollar is down by about 8.0% year-to-year, down by 4.2% since the day before Election Day 2020. As an aside, the plunge in the U.S. Dollar against the Australian Dollar largely

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has been post-election, suggestive of some capital flight from disgruntled U.S. voters to outside the United States.

Currency Strength Depends on Positive Relative Economic Strength, Political Stability and Contained Inflation, with Conservative Underlying Fiscal and Monetary Policies. The U.S. dollar effectively remains, and should continue to remain, the world’s primary reserve currency, yet it has been roiled recently in an unprecedented manner by the Pandemic and related domestic economic and financial-market turmoil.

Resurgent U.S. economic activity will be limited for at least the next year, with the U.S. trade deficit continuing to explode (the fourth-quarter 2020 deficit was the deepest in U.S. history), and with the domestic economic “recovery” in third-and fourth-quarter GDP activity possibly relapsing into a first-quarter quarterly decline, as reflected in softening January 2021 payroll reporting.

That also was suggested by Pandemic-disrupted unemployment levels (unemployment including the four million or so who cannot look for work due to the Pandemic, and who otherwise are excluded from formal unemployment calculations). So adjusted, the Pandemic-distorted unemployment rate held for the third month at around 12% in January 2021, the worst level seen since before World War II, outside of the Pandemic.

That said, the U.S. economy has suffered serve disruption with extreme psychological and financial stress on its population. I anticipate minimally five years, possibly a full decade or more, before U.S. economic activity and consumer conditions regain pre-Pandemic levels. Consider that the Manufacturing and Residential Construction Sectors of the U.S. economy still have not recovered pre-Great Recession (2007) levels of activity.

HYPER INFLATIONARY PRESSURES ALREADY ARE BEGINNING TO BUILD Actions already taken or underway by the U.S. Federal Reserve, actions already taken by the former Trump Administration and actions pending by the Biden Administration, already may have doomed the U.S. economy to an eventual hyperinflationary

• Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

economic collapse, in the next year or two. Yet those government and central bank actions and continuing actions to “salvage” the U.S. financial system and economy were needed to prevent an even more severe, immediately disruptive economic implosion to, and displacement of, public economic activity due to the Pandemic.

The Federal Reserve’s emergency, unlimited expansion of the Money Supply continues, with annual growth in traditional Money Supply M1 hitting an unprecedented, inflationary 70% in January 2021, with M2 at a record 26%, and Currency in Circulation at a record-high 17%, other than for Alan Greenspan’s emergency cash provisions for the one month of December 1999, leading into Y2K. New U.S. Treasury Secretary (former Fed Chair) Janet Yellen has advocated creative Monetary and Fiscal Policies in the past. She is in the same philosophical camp as former Fed Chairmen Greenspan and Bernanke, and the current Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, that “we always can create inflation.” More aggressive money creation lies ahead, well into 2022 and possibly 2023, per recent minutes of the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).

Where the U.S. Government debt level ratio to GDP already was at its highest reading ever (exceeding World War II levels), coming out of the Trump Administration, promised and pending new stimulus from the Biden Administration will set new record highs in the months ahead. There is no circumstance in place, at the moment that will pull back on these extraordinary Monetary or Fiscal Stimulus measures. As such, again, the United States likely will see continuing debasement of the U.S. Dollar and accelerating upside pressure on domestic inflation.

Repeated from prior Executive Global (Autumn 2020) and Executive Global (Spring 2019), “...with U.S. federal debt levels up against the [currently suspended] debt ceiling, a euphemistically entitled Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) has generated some political turmoil in Washington. Largely

“Yield Curve and Recession, Unfettered Creation and Hyperinflation,” Executive Global (Spring 2019).

FINANCE

ShadowStats dismissed out of hand by mainstream economists and politicians, MMT offers a rapid downhill ride into a U.S. hyperinflation. In contrast, mainstream U.S. politicians already have the U.S. on a slower, albeit just as calamitous downhill ride into hyperinflation.” “... MMT centers on the concept that a sovereign state, such as the United States, can print its money at will, no need to balance a budget or to sell bonds.

The theory goes that the U.S. cannot default on debt denominated in its sovereign currency, the U.S. Dollar, since the U.S. simply can print any dollars needed to cover its obligations.

“Applied to the United States, the theory advocates that the government simply print whatever dollars it needs to provide a guaranteed minimum income and/or employment to the general population. There is no need to issue bonds.

Should inflation pick up and become a problem, the U.S. government simply has to take excess cash out of the system to contain it, by raising taxes or then by selling bonds, per MMT. “Having reviewed the MMT approaches, I find that this system effectively guarantees a hyperinflation, and a full debasement of the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar, rather quickly.

“Nonetheless, the MMT concept has been embraced by Democratic Socialists in the U.S. Congress. That circumstance could foment particularly contentious and tumultuous political conditions coming into the 2020 Presidential and Congressional elections, where elements of the popular U.S. media already have embraced the MMT concepts. In contrast, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell indicated, ‘The idea that deficits don’t matter for countries that can borrow in their own currency I think is just wrong.’ MMT largely has been denounced and dismissed out of hand by establishment economists, politicians and Federal Reserve officials, who otherwise have brought the U.S. economy, U.S. fiscal conditions and the U.S. Dollar to their current [pre-Pandemic] states of extreme peril.”

Indeed, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, Senate and the Biden Administration appear to be looking seriously at MMT. Explosive new growth in Fiscal stimulus is promised, which should further exacerbate domestic hyperinflation pressures.

I ANTICIPATE MINIMALLY FIVE YEARS, POSSIBLY A FULL DECADE OR MORE, BEFORE U.S. ECONOMIC ACTIVITY AND CONSUMER CONDITIONS REGAIN PRE-PANDEMIC LEVELS.

Photo: REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo www.executive-global.com

SALVAGING THE U.S. DOLLAR POST-HYPERINFLATION Continuing “salvage” of the U.S. financial system eventually should lead to efforts at to revive a fully debased U.S. currency, from some form of a hyperinflationary depression. “Saving” of the U.S. Dollar at that point, likely will reflect a rebasing of the Dollar, along with other currencies, in some form of a new Gold Standard, backed by sovereign holdings of gold, where the United States remains the largest sovereign holder of physical gold. An implication here for current investors, otherwise, is to hold physical gold as an investment and hedge against price inflation and currency debasement. EG

For further information, please visit: www.ShadowStats.com Winter 2021 •

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PRODUCTIVITY STRATEGY PROFITABILITY

Prime Partners Wirtschaftskanzlei

STRATEGY

Strategy in Mergers and Acquisitions Interview with

Adi Seffer

PARTNER AT PRIME PARTNERS WIRTSCHAFTSKANZLEI WWW.PRIMEPARTNERS.DE

Our dedicated interview on Strategy with ADI SEFFER, Partner at PrimePartners Wirtschaftskanzlei, examines strategy, business mergers, acquisitions and corporate legal advisory, as Executive Global take an exclusive look behind the operations of one of Germany’s pre-eminent law firms.

How fundamental is the role of the client in mergers and acquisitions within both the domestic and global marketplace?

M&A is a complex and exceptional transaction AS even for highly experienced entrepreneurs. It is crucial for the clients that they may rely on their advisor not only for their professional approach and knowledge, but even more importantly that they fully understand their individual needs and provide them with an individually tailored and professional support.

This applies particularly when international players or counterparts are involved. You can rely on us with our experience from many years with international law firms and numerous successfully completed deals, that we understand the customs and traditions which are diverse in all countries of the world and guide our clients as their personal and trusted advisor.

EG

What are some of the greatest challenges involved in implementing an effective strategy for your clients and their businesses that are engaged in mergers and acquisitions?

Our honourable clients form Europe, the U.S., AS China, India or South America, have to cope with quite a challenging situation when making contact with German customs and market standards. We ourselves held offices and have been responsible for many years abroad and in international law firms. We therefore completely understand and know these differences from our own experience. Apart from the legal framework EG

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in international acquisitions, we focus on addressing and aligning the cultural diversity of foreign investors or managers to assist them in doing business (successfully) in Germany.

As a matter of fact, the M&A transaction/ acquisition shall be viewed only as the start of the effective business strategy. The integration of the acquired target into the (business) organisation of the investor, is key for its success. With our experience from many deals, we know that the purchase agreement is not a one-time contract, but often shall allow the seller’s help and assistance to start a successful integration process immediately upon signing/closing.

What pertinent macroeconomic trends do you see impacting the world of mergers and acquisitions within the next 12-24 months?

With the Covid-19 crisis many companies AS will not be able to continue as before.

Necessarily, this will have a very significant impact on the M&A activity we will see within the next 12-24 months. We expect an enormous increase of at least of 20-30% of last years’ basis.

EG

What has been the most challenging restructuring task you have accomplished within distressed M&A, and how did this result benefit your client?

With the Covid-19 crisis, many companies AS will not be able to continue as before or during the crisis. The state-aid programs will stop, part of the market will consolidate through M&A

• Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

EG

transactions and many will have to restructure their businesses. Consequentially, we will profit from our experience in the financial crisis (2009), although not only through financing , but fundamental factors will have to be redefined.

Germany and many other EU countries, have an excellently developed restructuring (legal) tool-box.

We know many of the players and will navigate our clients safely and professionally through these troubled waters.

Tell us about the Prime Partners Academy and how this may benefit clients?

With the Academy, we continue our long AS standing practice that legal and entrepreneurial topics deserve a profound basis and academic support. For more than 20 years, we have organised workshops and symposiums for the legal community and more recently for clients, such as corporate governance, going international, implementing a second management level and - recently digitalisation and its impact on the workforce/ personnel. Another goal is practical advice to manage complex projects, such as (legal) project management. The feedback from our clients and colleagues who are regularly involved, are clear and very encouraging: they admire the atmosphere, quality and also the stimulating exchange between participants. We definitely are very motivated to continue this practice. EG EG

For further information, please visit: www.primepartners.de

FINANCE

Pento Portfolio Strategies

Market Bubbles & Excessive Debt Our Nation’s debt to GDP ratio has now climbed above 130%.

More importantly, that debt has surged to equal 800% of our entire federal annual revenue. We have basically become an insolvent nation with annual deficits that mimic a banana republic.

Article by

Michael Pento

PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, PENTO PORTFOLIO STRATEGIES, LLC

hey are adding 15% of GDP per year to the whole insolvent dung heap. This record amount of debt will soon be held in the context of rapidly rising inflation due to the Fed’s monetisation of direct government payments to the private sector.

President Obama took a full eight years to add $9 trillion to the outstanding debt load. The MAGA President accomplished this baleful deed in only four. Now, Joe Biden indicates he wants to “go big” with spending over the next four years. It took over two hundred years’ worth of US history to accumulate $1 trillion in National debt. We did 4x that amount in the past 12 months alone, with the promise of trillions more in debt already on the way.

The Fed is enabling the Federal Government’s proliferate spending with low rates. The problem here, is that each Fed-induced boom/bust cycle has served to addict the economy and market to lower and lower interest rates. The historical average Fed Funds Rate (FFR) has been about 5.5%. However, it only took a 5.25% FFR in June of 2006 to collapse the real estate market and the entire global economy. The FFR was still 25 bps below average, but that was too high to sustain the housing bubble and its related debt. Likewise, in December 2018, the FFR was inched back to just 2.5%.

Nevertheless, that lower rate was enough to crash the REPO and stock market–pushing the Fed once again into retreat on its rate hiking cycle. This was true, even though that rate was far less than half its average.

The simple truth was, asset-price valuations had soared to a level that only made sense in an environment of ultra-low interest rates. It’s the same for debt, which had climbed to a level that was untenable without near-zero servicing costs.

T

INTEREST RATES CAN NEVER BE RAISED The fact is, Mr. Powell and his cohort of counterfeiters will never be able to normalise interest rates—not even remotely close. Forget about raising rates; they most likely will not even be able to exit

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QE this time around without cratering the markets.

The next time the Fed reduces its bond purchase program, the market reaction should be more like a nervous breakdown, rather than just a tantrum.

First let’s review a bit of the historical histrionics surrounding the initial Taper Tantrum. Back in September 2012, the Fed’s Quantitative Easing program was running at the level of $85 billion per month. The asset purchase program consisted of both Mortgage-Backed Securities and Treasuries.

Then, in December 2012, Fed Chair Ben Bernanke expanded his massive QE 3 scheme by making its duration unlimited. But by May 2013, the time

PRESIDENT OBAMA TOOK A FULL EIGHT YEARS TO ADD $9 TRILLION TO THE OUTSTANDING DEBT LOAD. THE MAGA PRESIDENT ACCOMPLISHED THIS BALEFUL DEED IN ONLY FOUR.

had finally arrived to start discussing the tapering of its asset purchases. And in December of that year, Tapering officially began; with QE ending by October 2014. Of course, the Fed would be back in the QE game six years later. But at the time, the overwhelming consensus thinking was that the 100year economic storm had passed and we would never witness such extraordinary actions by our central bank ever again.

While the S&P 500 did drop by 5% in just a few weeks after Bernanke first discussed reducing asset purchases, the carnage was much worse in the sovereign debt market. In May 2013, after just a mere suggestion of an imminent reduction in bond purchases, panic spread throughout global bond markets. The 10-year U.S. Treasury took it especially hard, sending bond prices plunging. The Benchmark

• Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

yield gained 140 basis points between May and early September 2013. According to PIMCO, the yield on the 10-year Note was 1.94% on May 13th, the day before Bernanke’s testimony. But less than four months later, that yield surged to 3.34%.

As bad as that Tantrum was, there are three reasons why the next Taper Tantrum should make the previous markets’ hissy fit look like a state of tranquility.

MARKET BUBBLES AND EXCESSIVE DEBT The first difference is that the Fed is now buying $120 billion worth of assets each month instead of the $85 billion during QE 3. It was buying MBS and Treasuries during the run-up to the last Taper Tantrum. But now, the Fed is not only buying those same types of assets, it has thrown in (for the first-time ever) new types of debt including municipal and corporate bonds— even junk-rated debt—with its current QE 4 program. This humongous market distortion

FINANCE

Pento Portfolio Strategies has forced bond yields much lower than they were seven years ago. Back in the Taper Tantrum days, the thought that there could ever be negative yielding sovereign debt was absurd.

The second reason why the next tantrum will be worse than before is that equities are in a much bigger bubble today. The price to sales ratio of the S&P 500 back in March of 2000 (the previous peak of stock market valuation) was 2.1; and this metric was just 1.3 prior to the Taper Tantrum. Today, it is at an all-time record high ratio of 2.7. The other most important and revealing valuation metric is the total market cap to GDP ratio. The total market cap of the Wilshire 5000 to GDP was 1.4 at the March 2000 peak. This ratio was just about 1.0 in the Taper Tantrum days. However, it is now over 1.85.

Therefore, the stock market is not only at a much higher valuation than at any other time in history, it is immensely greater than its 2013 levels. How bad could it get? For those investors who bought the NASDAQ at its peak; the ensuing plunge was over 80% and you would have to wait 15 years to break even in nominal terms. When adjusting for inflation the waiting time was even longer.

Both the Dot.com crash and Taper Tantrum were the result of the Fed taking away the punch bowl. Jerome Powell tacitly admitted during his December press conference that the continuation of

near-zero borrowing costs, is the only thing keeping the stock market bubble from bursting. Hence, it is imperative to avoid making the mistake of buying and holding stocks at these levels once the Fed starts draining its liquidity.

HIGH INFLATION & INTEREST RATE RISES Finally, there is now a record amount of total debt that is clinging precariously to the Fed’s artificially-induced low yields. The more debt there is outstanding in relation to the underlying economy, the more unstable the economy becomes–and the more damaging its eventual reconciliation will be.

The National debt to GDP ratio now stands at 128%.

It was “just” 100% in 2013 and a mere 57% in March of 2000. Most importantly, the ratio of Total Nonfinancial Business Debt to GDP, is both daunting and ludicrous. Back in the lofty days of the Internet Bubble, this ratio reached 67%. But it declined to 42% during the days leading up to the Taper Tantrum.

Today, Total Non-financial Business Debt has soared to become a full 82% of the overall economy (sources: Z.1, World Bank). There is now a record amount of high-yield corporate debt outstanding and that yield is the lowest in history. And remember, the Fed wasn’t buying junk bonds back in 2013.

The common catalyst for previous bubble explosions, has been a central bank that has removed

its massive and indiscriminate bid for the bonds it buys. For it is exactly that process which indirectly inflates those asset bubbles to begin with. It is a rapidly rising rate of inflation, as measured by the Core PCE Price Index, which will prompt the Fed into reversing its easy monetary policy stance.

To sum up: we will have higher taxes, much higher interest rates and rapidly rising inflation.

All this will occur at the same time the market will be worrying about front-running the Fed’s exit from record manipulation of bond and stock prices.

Powell may be rendered powerless to stop the market from plunging precipitously. It may only be in the wake of the carnage of a deflationary depression that Powell’s move to buy stocks has any real benefit. Only then will his printing press become effective. Alas, that will be way too late for those who suffered going over the cliff and the multiple years you have to wait to make up the loss.

PPS is ready to protect our gains and profit from the coming gargantuan reconciliation of asset prices. In contrast, the deep state of Wall Street will buy and hold your retirement account into the abyss. EG

For further information, please visit: www.pentoport.com

Photo: Steve Heap / Shutterstock.com www.executive-global.com

Winter 2021 •

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CEOPROFILE

David Morgan Publisher & CEO, The Morgan Report

THE SILVER STANDARD Our special interview on The Silver Standard with David Morgan, financial analyst, consultant, precious metals aficionado and publisher of The Morgan Report, analyses the impact of asset bubbles, fiscal policy and macroeconomic trends in the American economy. Against the backdrop of global bond monetisation, Executive Global gain a fundamental insight into silver allocation as a tool for hedging against geopolitical and fiat currency risk, as we investigate how the dramatic upside potential for the intrinsically undervalued asset of silver bullion, may be the most exciting opportunity for High Net Worth institutional and private investors.

In an era of unlimited QE, Yield Curve Control (YCC), MMT, Zero and Negative Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP), how could not investing in commodities like silver be a lost opportunity?

With all that has occurred in the financial DM system, the basics have been overlooked for a very long time. The old adage to ‘buy low and sell high’ however, is still valid and applies to commodities more than any investment sector. The commodity sector taken as a whole, is at an inflationadjusted low that occurs once in a century.

The money metals- (particularly silver) do BEST during a currency crisis, which the world is experiencing right now. The run into money of historic value that cannot be debased, needs no phone or computer to transact, remains private and is universally known, will be sought with a vengeance once the velocity of money increases based on knowing tomorrow’s currency unit will be worth less than today’s.

EG

Tell us about the demonetisation of silver with the crime of 1873 and the current impact on economic life today?

Silver was, and has been- the money of the DM people since humanity decided that precious EG

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• Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

metals made the best form of money. The bankers at that time in 1873, wanted complete control of the monetary system and forced a bill through to take silver out of the money supply. There is a film about this called The Secret of Oz by Bill Still.

Furthermore, I did a lecture on this, titled – What If Silver was Treated Like Gold?

And why may silver actually be more exciting an opportunity than gold?

Silver has a dual purpose, one is money, the DM other is the best, most useful element in a high tech society. This second reason puts a demand floor underneath silver, regardless of economic conditions.

The amount of silver used in industry has generally been increasing over the past two decades, to where now it is more than half of the available silver mined each year.

Because we are in a currency crisis, silver in 2020 had monetary (investment) demand that set a record. The silver market experienced an offtake even greater than industrial demand. If this big move into silver continues, we will reach a point where industry and investors are competing for an ever-shrinking supply of silver.

EG

CEOPROFILE

David Morgan Publisher & CEO, The Morgan Report

Silver has a dual purpose, one is money, the other is the best, most useful element in a high tech society. www.executive-global.com

Winter 2021 •

25

CEOPROFILE

David Morgan Publisher & CEO, The Morgan Report

Monetary policy has been a failure and most astute people in finance know this. All that can be done is to ‘‘print more’’ and pray.

CV DAVID MORGAN BORN USA ALMA MATER La Verne University EXPERIENCE 2020 Consultations - Bullion Banks, Family Offices and Alternative Investors 2019 Keynote Speaker - Prospector and Developers Association of Canada 2019 TD Ameritrade TV Commodity Segment - Gold 2019 London Presentation Gold and Silver for Life 2018 Merged Lemuria Royalty with Refining firm 2017 Chief Executive Officer, Lemuria Royalties 1985 Aerospace Engineer - B1 Bomber & F-117

EXECUTIVE RECOMMENDATIONS

» PRODUCTIVITY

Balance—I am a morning person, get my exercise and spiritual practice done early and work the rest of the day.

» STRATEGY

Keep it simple, stick to what you do best improve that and be careful of expanding too fast.

» PROFITABILITY

All businesses ebb and flow, maintain a positive and realistic attitude at all times.

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What impact will current U.S. Fiscal policy have on an ageing generation of Baby Boomers with their nest egg in 401Ks, Roth IRAs and pensions plans?

Monetary policy has been a failure and most DM astute people in finance know this. All that can be done is to “print more” and pray. On the fiscal side, most governments have done very little and it may be of some value if new infrastructure, repairs, upgrades, and projects providing for the general welfare are established. However, from my perspective- it seems governments are being very lazy and simply wish to paper over the problems with stimulus checks, that eventually turn into Universal Basic Income. Paying people to survive with no commensurate economic benefit to them or their fellows, leads to a poorer society.

EG

With the emergence of Central Bank Digital Currencies, there is clearly a push towards digitisation of the economy. How may this be bad for wealth preservation?

This would be bad for wealth preservation DM because the currency issuer has complete control you could be prevented from buying something you want or need, just because your ‘social behaviour’ does not match some algorithm that determines if you are a “good” citizen or not. If you cannot access your savings just because Big Brother says so, then it does nothing for the saver at all.

EG

Stocks. Bonds. Real Estate. Commodities.

Given the amount of currency and credit that has been monetised now, where should asset valuations, along with the price of gold and silver, really be right now as of this year?

By any standard metric used- Bonds, Stocks, DM and Real Estate (with few exceptions) are all over valued at this point in monetary history.

Commodities are near a 100 year low as stated earlier. Gold in U.S. “Dollar” terms, would measure over $15,000 USD per fine ounce, based on the Base Money Supply divided by the amount of gold reported in Ft. Knox.

If we look at the US Debt Clock, we find the dollar to gold ratio to be $34,000 per ounce and silver to be $4,500 per ounce. This number is determined by taking the year over year increase in the U.S. money supply divided by the annual production of gold (silver) in ounces.

What is interesting here, is the gold/silver ratio. If

• Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

EG

we divide the gold price by the silver price produced by the debt clock entry, we find 7.5, which is the true ratio of gold to silver, which means silver is seven or eight times more plentiful than gold but sells in today’s market for TEN times less on a ration basis, because the current ratio is about 75. Something to think about if you are going to purchase or add to your precious metals holdings.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, mining shares skyrocketed. Tell us why Swiss and other Central banks have invested in gold mining stocks and how the next economic depression may provide similar upside returns?

During the Great Depression gold was DM outlawed for citizens to own, so the only way to gain exposure to gold was through the proxy of mining shares. Today, this is not true and my guess is that the Swiss especially know what is coming, have a studied view of the possible future and want exposure to future supply.

Shares are primarily leveraged to the asset price of gold or silver. As earnings increase, the share price increases. The leverage at a certain point becomes extraordinary in a rampant bull market.

EG

JP Morgan famously once said ‘Gold and Silver is Money. Everything Else is Credit.’

How may Exeter’s Pyramid be fundamental to gaining a greater understanding of asset valuations and markets today?

John Exeter’s Pyramid is inverted (upside DM down) and is used to visualise the organisation of asset classes in terms of risk and size. In Exeter’s idea the concept is that gold as an investment, forms the small base of the most reliable assets and that other asset classes on progressively higher levels are riskier. The larger size of asset classes at higher levels, is representative of the higher total worldwide value of those assets.

Exeter’s original pyramid placed Third World Debt at the top, but today derivatives hold this dubious honour. We would place silver at the very tip of the base of the pyramid, because it is far more liquid than gold and will be used in far more transactions in the economic collapse that Exeter wrote about.

As the currency crisis unfolds further, we move down the pyramid to the ultimate money, which means the monetary metals. These two metals have thousands of years of history as the money that is most trusted.

EG

CEOPROFILE

David Morgan Publisher & CEO, The Morgan Report

or from the need to digitise currency?

That is a tough one. In theory we could go DM back to a silver standard and the value of silver would need to be established by the market. This would mean that one ounce of silver is equal to a skilled labour job. So, you might think $150 per ounce. If we go back to Roman times, we would see 1/10th that amount, which means a Roman Soldier received 1/10 ounce of silver per day.

Almost all of the silver in artwork, silverware, and a large supply of silver jewellery would come back to monetary form. Even with that, the total supply might be 6 to 10 billion ounces. Since this would be a fixed supply and likely to grow annually by roughly one billion ounces per year, the increase in production would be met with an increasing silver supply- but it would be limited.

In other words, it is highly unlikely that there would be inflation due to a huge amount of “new” silver being mined, there simply is not much to be mined. Mining supply has decreased the past few years in a row.

A fixed money supply coupled with a growth rate that matches real physical economic growth, would in theory be a system that is fair across the whole spectrum of humanity.

ABOUT DAVID MORGAN David Morgan is a widely recognised expert on silver. He is author of the book The Silver Manifesto and Second Chance. In addition to advising private clients and fund managers, he writes The Morgan Report, covering economic news, the global economy, currency debasement, and stellar opportunities in precious metals and mining stocks.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

» 2020 - Featured on podcasts including- Sprott Money News, Kitco News, Cambridge House International, Stansberry Research

» 2020 - Featured on podcasts including- The

Investor’s Podcast Network and The Decrypt Daily

» 2019 - Featured on Fox Business TV - Rare Earth Elements Update

» 2018 - Author of three books- Get the Skinny on

Silver Investing, The Silver Manifesto and Second Chance - How to Make and Keep Big Money from the Coming Gold and Silver Shockwave.

» 1998 - Founder, The Morgan Report www.executive-global.com

When the dust settles, the smoke has cleared, the U.S. Federal Reserve and other Central Banks finally raise interest rates in a meaningful way- what does that world look like?

A First, let me state for the record that this is DM what all the bankers are trying to avoid and depending whether or not all nations are forced on to a CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) will determine what the world will look like.

If the market forces do take hold, and interest rates do rise because the risk of sovereign bond defaults is almost 100 percent, it becomes a game of Old Maid.

No one in their right mind would want to own a bond backed by a government that will be inflated away to being absolutely worthless, no matter how high the yield.

We were close in 1980, and the U.S. Fed under Volcker raised U.S. Treasuries to about 20 percent.

This saved the financial system from ending in a hyperinflation at that time. The best place to invest and park currency long term, was the U.S. Bond Market. Now that thirty plus years of a sure thing has become impossible as an investment and guarantees that those left holding the bag (or bond) will see their currency destroyed.

This is the BIG TRUTH that no one dares speak about at all. Will it happen soon? It could, but the bankers are good at maintaining control, just go back to the Wizard of Oz. Expect the unexpected, and learn real value, the value in the physical economy. Align your-self and your financial house as much as possible with real things, real value, and real money. EG EG

If you were secretary of the U.S. Treasury tomorrow, what would your first three major legislative acts concerning banking, taxes and fiscal policy be, and why?

First I would abolish the Fed and have the DM Treasury “print” United States Notes, because it would put the money power back into the hands of the people and away from the privately held Central Bank.

Re-establish Glass-Steagall to have commercial banking separate from investment banking, because money used for real tangible assets with little risk would not be mixed with speculation funds run by Wall Street.

I would then Abolish the income tax and put a general tax on the point of sale, because this would eliminate tons of fraud and an outdated, convoluted, and unnecessary system.

EG

EG

What role, hypothetically, could silver play in saving the U.S. dollar from hyperinflation

For further information, please visit: www.themorganreport.com Winter 2021 •

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FINANCE

Monetary Policy

Bimetallism, Silver and The Crime of 1873 The dollar’s future is uncertain, the status quo of world currency is being thrown off balance by the inherent flaws of fiat money…

So, in this context, would it perhaps make sense to reconsider the benefits of long-gone bimetallism right now, when dissatisfaction with the current international monetary system is becoming hard to ignore, writes Thomas Hughes. or starters, what is bimetallism? The bimetallic standard is a monetary system where gold and silver coins circulate together, with a fixed exchange rate (e.g. 16:1, silver to gold). Like any monetary system, bimetallism includes certain institutional agreements that are in effect by law, and the practice of monetary circulation.

Those institutional agreements are based on two main components: the law of coinage and the law of monetary circulation. Financial authorities may allow free minting of one or both metals. “Free” minting does not mean literally free, however, as a government (or private mint) will charge a certain fee for converting a kilogram of precious metal into a kilogram of coins.

While the free minting of gold and silver coins is a necessary part, it isn’t an exclusive condition for the bimetallic standard. The Law on Currency Circulation also outlines such requirements as the denomination of coins, units of measurement, conditions of circulation, etc. With free money circulation and liberal exports and imports of both metals, the coin becomes an unrestricted legal tender.

As such, bimetallism is based on the free minting of coins, the unlimited circulation of coins and precious

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metals, and a fixed exchange rate between them.

If each one of these three conditions is met, bimetallism thus becomes a double standard system - a system of dual currency. In its purest form, such a monetary structure was in effect primarily in the USA, and the Latin Monetary Union which was led by France in the 19th century.

BIMETALLISM IN HISTORY The bimetallic standard actually existed in its natural habitat for many centuries, thus its sudden ”demise” in the 1870s may raise a few questions.

In 1873, Congress carried out a revision and codification of the Coinage Act. It should be emphasised that these measures were taken during the period of the paper standard, when there were almost no silver coins in circulation, and the paper dollar was worth less than the gold or silver dollar.

Moreover, from 1806 to 1872, not even $10 million worth of silver dollars was produced, and almost all of this money left America for the East as part of trade transactions with the Old World.

All this led to the fact that in 1873, the American public was no longer familiar with the American silver dollar and had no particular interest in its circulation within the country. Accordingly, when

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Congress codified the coinage laws and removed the standard silver dollar from the list of currencies, the move received little public attention. It was perceived as nothing more than a legal recognition of something everyone had already accepted.

However, what transpired from this law was the fact that the unrestricted minting of silver coins would cease, and while its respective paper standard existed in the country for another seven years allowing the standard silver dollar, like all gold coins, to continue being used unrestrictedly as a legally recognised means of payment, it was stripped from its status as standard money. Thus, bimetallism, which had legally existed in the country since the adoption of the Coinage Act of 1792, was effectively abolished, and when the country returned to the metal standard on January 1st, 1879, it had transitioned to the monometallic gold standard.

From this point forward, only unlimited minting of gold coins was authorised.

Many proponents of bimetallism subsequently argued that by removing the standard silver dollar from the list of American coins in 1873, lawmakers abolished bimetallism covertly and even fraudulently, which earned it the nickname ”the crime of 1873”. At first, the new coinage did not

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Monetary Policy Photo: a98ntfp / Shutterstock.com

cause any disagreements in society, but soon enough, a rise in the price of gold in relation to silver became quite apparent. As such, if the ratio of the price of gold to silver in 1870 was about 1:15, by 1896 it had reached 1:40.

PARALELLS WITH CURRENT TRENDS The rise in the price of gold led to deflation - that is, an increase in the purchasing power of money - about 1.7% per year. Deflation, in turn, causes a number of macroeconomic issues. Namely, the unemployment rate reached 18% in 1896 and consequently, credit became hard to come by, which mostly affected farmers and the petty bourgeoisie.

Observing the current events, such as the digitisation of money and the erosion of the currency’s value through monetary hyperinflation and zero interest rate policies, it’s impossible not to draw parallels between the abolition of bimetallism in 1873 and today…In both cases, the middle class stood the most to lose and, first and foremost, the resulting instability has hurt private property by abrading its value. www.executive-global.com

T h e m o n o m e ta l l i c g o l d standard in itself is problematic, as it is essentially monistic. Without counterbalance, the gold standard alone is simply an unsecured standard in disguise. Bimetallism here is the only solution where the price of gold is determined in relation to silver, and the price of silver - in relation to gold. This provides us with a self-correcting mechanism capable of maintaining the fair value of currencies.

The gold standard is linked to fiat money, which is va lue d in relation to gold, and the price of gold itself is determined in relation to unsecured currencies, and there is no independent assessment (such as silver) to maintain the fairness of this system.

Meanwhile, the bimetallic system’s ability to self-correct has been proven by the millennia that it has been used by the people. After all, since when did we embark upon the path of the most significant monetary and financial instability in the history of mankind? With the introduction of the monometallic gold standard in the 19th century.

Bimetallism actually maintains fair ratios in the system and eliminates the possibility of unsecured currencies, which constitute, in great part, the root of today’s most trying economic issues. The gold and silver system governed itself for nearly thirty centuries, and no single government could interfere with the natural flow of currency. Today’s bimetallic market operations could prove to be even more efficient, considering the advances in communications technology. The truth is that the question of money is too delicate and important for the health of mankind as a whole, to entrust it in the greedy hands of the governmental elite.

The bimetallic standard allowed anyone to settle a transaction, providing payment in silver, gold, whatever, without doubting the legal standing of their possessions. And nobody was forced to accept inflated banknotes that are backed by no value of

their own. And there was no central bank...

Alas, in 1873, bimetallism was declared cancelled in America, and thus its legacy worldwide seemed to come to an end.

On one hand, many adherents of bimetallism never stopped fighting for its return, like the American presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, who, in 1896, delivered his ”Cross of Gold speech”, which criticised the gold standard and Eastern monetary interests, and fought for inflationary policies based on the expansion of minting of silver coins. On the other, it was a little too late to undo the damage of the U.S. Coinage Act of 1873, and neither Bryan nor The Silver Republican Party’s free silver movement could overturn the established gold standard.

A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR SILVER Today, the official reserve assets that make up international liquidity include the US dollar, pound sterling, IMF SDRs and gold. There is no silver among the foreign reserves of central banks.

However, during the times of bimetallism, silver was a worthy competitor to gold, and it could once more take this place, because silver remains part of state reserves in most countries. Assigning silver to the official reserve assets would allow the financial authorities to increase the volume of foreign reserves and thereby reduce the likelihood of the emergence and spread of currency crises. During the period of bimetallism, the combination of the two metals provided large reserves and increased currency stability, which is something the world now desperately needs.

In this regard, the prospect of a dollar crisis is forcing market players to look for alternative reserve assets. Silver, along with gold, can act as a last resort asset and help support the normalisation of global economic development, even in the event of a reserve currency crisis. The use of silver as an official reserve asset, would stimulate the development of a silver-based financial market: silver-backed securities, silver certificates, silver derivatives, etc. Meanwhile, new opportunities for investment diversification would strengthen national banking systems and financial institutions. EG Winter 2021 •

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FINANCE

DeFi

Cryptocurrencies vs CBDCS It seems that, alongside the complete abandonment of scientific standards pertaining to the visibly false narrative around COVID-19, another insidious tactic of our current descent into an Orwellian hell is the notion of CBDCs. At a time in history when authorities are able to say, “Yes, we’ve seen the science disproving it, but do it anyway!” about so many things, them also saying, “Yes, of course central banks’ issuing a centralised digital currency makes it no cryptocurrency at all, but it’s fine!” makes sense too, writes Shannon Berkley. or anyone still a little lost when it comes to crypto, one of its sterling features is the anonymity; the self-control it enables — it’s real people’s currency when applied as a transactional lubricant between citizens.

Having had their appetite whet by Nakamoto’s Bitcoin for a decade or more, the citizens of the world are ready for cryptocurrencies. What was never part of the deal, however, was any notion of centralisation in a blockchain-based, smart contract cryptocurrency. Bunging a centralised control figure at the top of it all — especially the figure of the toxic money masters whose rampant greed cost more human lives in the last century than we’ll probably ever know — was never a part of crypto.

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WHAT WAS NEVER PART OF THE DEAL, HOWEVER, WAS ANY NOTION OF CENTRALISATION IN A BLOCKCHAIN-BASED, SMART CONTRACT CRYPTOCURRENCY.

Whether because Nakamoto really was Nakamoto — a solitary genius outside of the halls of power who bequeathed his idea to the world — or whether Nakamoto was actually a globalisation think-tank whose initial sampling of the population with Bitcoin now needs to be reined in and brought back under the masters’ control, is irrelevant. The facts around cryptocurrencies “versus” CBDCs remain the same: one is freedom for mankind, and the other is the loss of all real freedoms modern man could hope for.

That’s not an overstatement. One can’t compare cryptocurrencies “versus” CBDCs, because they’re

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utterly and entirely different, notwithstanding the chameleonic cleverness of the central planners of copying crypto almost down to the last detail.

MONEY FOR THE PEOPLE, OR POWER FOR THE POWERFUL The unfortunate final detail they’ve included, means that every other detail counts for nothing.

Crypto is inherently decentralised, immutably recorded by all of the users, and beyond any possible centralised manipulation. CBDCs, on the other hand, walk and talk like cryptos, but enforce the maximum possible centralised control, right down to whether you have any money at all, based on how they’re feeling about you at the time, and, really, whether you live or die a modern life.

The push from governments or central banks — it’s hard to disting uish parties sometimes, so incestuously entwined and obligated are they to one another — to control the autonomy and ultimate prosperity of citizens worldwide, ought to present as repugnant to any thinking person.

Crypto is liberty, CBDCs are slavery.

More than dramatic, t h a t ’s a s p o t - o n encapsulation of the fundamental difference between them. Would you hand your cash to someone with the shameless self-interests and corrupt, murderous tendencies of the average government for safe keeping? Well, that’s exactly what CBDCs ask of you. Divorced from power, you’ll put all of your

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faith, your life, your ability to exist, in the hands of the local crime boss (more formally known as the government) with their money masters’ vice grip on all of them.

Cryptocurrencies are possibly the most liberating and enabling currency notion that humans might ever have had. CBDCs are the false prophets, the interloping charlatans who look like crypto, taste like crypto, work like crypto, but can split your head with

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DeFi

a rock in a heartbeat, stripping you of any wealth overnight, isolating you even while you live within society, and forcing your family onto the streets.

That last part isn’t supposed to be a possibility with cryptocurrency, in case you’re wondering.

Can you see what the addition of just that one tiny element of centralisation does to CBDCs? It makes poison from honey. Not only would CBDCs ideally eliminate cash, literally taking the money out of your hands, they intrinsically eliminate all of the advantages of decentralised currency. Gone is any notion of privacy or autonomy — your credit card will work as long as you toe the line, whether of the central bank or current regime.

Indeed, far more than merely a “loss” of privacy, CBDCs invoke slavery. When an entity has absolute control over your finances — including the ability to make them all disappear at the tap of a key — the only appropriate term to describe what ensues, is slavery.

LIMITED SUPPLY VERSUS ROLLING THE PRESSES An interesting phenomenon is happening right now, with central banks doing their bit to bankrupt fiat by printing however many trillions of dollars they need to blame the economic collapse on anyone but the terminally greedy — the institutionalised

warmongers, investment bankers and other giant capital concerns. It provides a rather stark contrast to crypto’s principle of limited supply, something that assures its value and, well, currency over the long term. Central banks are doing the opposite of providing value. They’re debasing fiat in an unprecedented hyperinflation agenda, as it would seem that the old common sense rules no longer apply.

The utility of cryptos such as Bitcoin, for example, as a storehouse of wealth for humanity is sound. Ironically, should the part of the CBDC agenda where they eliminate fiat succeed, cryptocurrencies’ employment as a store of value — even issuing certificates of deposit, among other rather bank-like uses — would get a serious boost.

In fact, it’s likely that a sadly comic scenario of primitivism in the form of hoarding gold will exist, right alongside the emerging cryptocurrencies of the near future. Take fiat out, and legacy says precious metals, while modern life says swap it with crypto.

Real, private, people crypto, that is.

What no one except central banks is saying is: “Don’t worry, give it all to us, we’ll give it back to you of course when you need it.” After the past century’s disgorgement of the mountains of evidence of the rampant greed and corruption that has sent millions to their graves poor, while enriching investment

Photo: In Green / Shutterstock.com www.executive-global.com

banking interests almost as much as being able to print the money themselves, are the same makers of CBDCs the people who we should trust with our entire financial wellbeing?

Bitcoin and other cryptos can only successfully be seen as a “digital gold” if they remain utterly devoid of centralised interference. Stores of value for people are by definition a consensus on what’s valuable — that requires the complete absence of any single entity being able to drastically manipulate that value, ergo the fallacy of a CBDC. Nothing but decentralised control, signalled by complete anonymity, can enable a safe house for citizens against the increasingly authoritarian lean of the financial establishment.

CRYPTO ISN’T CRYPTO UNLESS IT’S DECENTRALISED Truly private cryptocurrencies like Dash, Zcash, and especially Monero (still rated the most anonymous crypto) exist far from any notion of one big central authority running the show. In fact, everyone runs the show with cryptos, but with CBDCs, the bank runs the show.

Hasn’t humanity had enough of that charade by now? The rise of Decentralised Finance (DeFi) will need to be intelligently carried by the millennial majority, or we’re heading for a two-camp globe.

Central banks stronger than ever, having absorbed the concept of cryptocurrency and used their authority to bluff the sheep that their version is better, and in the other camp, citizens utilising genuinely private blockchains like those above.

Until they’re banned as a ‘terrorist’ threat, that is.

The disadvantages inherent to CBDCs range from the wholesale — it’s centralised, and so not a crypto but rather a digital currency, one that will replace your fiat and give the banking establishment utter and complete control over how much money you have, if any — to the myriad of compounding issues like eroded consumer privacy, the stripping of personal sovereignty and the ability to direct your own prosperity, and the repulsive prospect of massive state control in individuals’ lives.

First prize? Hold onto cash for as long as possible.

The truly nefarious concept of CBDCs simply cannot co-exist with physical money, because paper money gives citizens a freedom and anonymity that will forever buck greater control. A sincerely horrific scenario is promulgated by CBDCs, where possible regulatory action against genuine cryptocurrencies in a fully digitised, zero-cash society will lead to complete, wholesale control over people’s lives.

Really what’s at play here, in the final analysis, is the survival of individual monetary freedom and self-control, or the dominion and extinguishing reality of government-centralised “money”. When you consider how inept and simultaneously barbaric governments can be, this is really no money at all.

Money has to remain the currency of the people — in print, in the hands of the citizenry. Any digitisation of that reality has to follow a decentralised path, if we are to avoid a nightmarish future that would make even previous Soviet philosophies look positively tame in comparison. EG Winter 2021 •

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TF Metals Report

2021 Gold and Silver Price Forecast Well, here we go again. It’s January so that means it’s annual forecast time...that time of year when I walk the plank knowing full well that I may end up plunging into the sea. And for what reason? I’m not sure. The statement below is taken from the opening paragraph of our 2020 macrocast and this same sentiment holds today: Article by

Craig Hemke

PROPRIETOR, TFMETALS REPORT

hese annual forecasts are risky business.

Get it wrong and you create a paper trail for trolls to poach for years to come.

Get it right and you get a few back-slaps while being told that anyone could have foreseen the predicted events so get over yourself. Which leads me to wonder why I started making these forecasts in the first place…but here we go again.

So let’s begin by recalling the past. Though TFMR has been around for over over a decade, I only began the habit of printing these annual ”macrocasts” back in 2017. Thus far, the track record has been pretty solid but, and as with everything else in investing, past performance is no guarantee of future results.

• As 2017 began, we were told that the election of Trump would crash gold prices due to a soaring dollar, a surging U.S. economy and a bursting of the bond bubble. This narrative seemed ridiculous at the time and we were right...it was. And we wrote about it on January 17, 2017: https://www.tfmetalsreport. com/blog/8103/questioning-generally-acceptednarrative • The following year, even more supposed experts were calling for triple-digit gold prices and a resumption of the bear market. They were proven wrong. At TFMR, we expected prices to be steady and rising instead as three themes would support prices. This was posted on January 4, 2018: https://www.tfmetalsreport.com/blog/8755/threethemes-2018 • In early 2019, all of the 8-figure Wall Street economists were insisting that gold would crash as

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the Fed hiked rates as many as four times in 2019.

These same clowns expected the yield on the US 10year note to rise to 5%! This was utterly ridiculous for reasons we’ve discussed here for the past decade.

So instead, we figured that 2019 would play out a lot like 2010 and forecasted ”the best annual gains since 2010” in this post dated January 14, 2019: https:// www.tfmetalsreport.com/blog/9151/2010-9 • And in 2020, we knew that the macro conditions which prompted the break out and renewed bull market of 2019 would continue. Thus it was entirely logical to predict another 20% rise in COMEX gold and an even greater percentage rise in COMEX silver. What we couldn’t have anticipated was The Covid Crisis and, as such, price overshot our goals by considerable margins. In the end, COMEX gold posted a gain of 25% and COMEX silver rose by 48%: https://www.tfmetalsreport.com/ blog/9858/2020-foresight THE ”ANALYSTS” WILL BE WRONG So that’s nice. Now what? More of the same?

In a word, YES. And why would that be? Once again, there are an abundance of Fed shills, stock pumpers and

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permabears who are proudly proclaiming that ”gold and silver have topped” and that other investments are a much better safe haven in the final stages of the great Keynesian Experiment. Last year at this time, many of these same ”analysts” proudly projected that interest rates would rise, the dollar would rally, the US economy would grow and that precious metals were dead money. They were wrong last year and they’ll be wrong again in 2021. Why? For the answer, we simply need to look back to the final months of 2018. What occurred then that has pushed gold and silver prices higher ever since? Simply put, the final change in Fed policy.

For the five years between 2013 and 2018, The Fed was able to support an illusion. And what was that?

That all was well. That their balance sheet would be reduced back to pre-2009 levels and that interest rates would soon head back to historical norms, too. The Fed was able to pretend that this was the case until, finally, their beloved ”stock market” broke under the pressure of a contracting money supply.

Do you recall December 2018? Have you already forgotten? It was so bad that Treasury Secretary Mnuchin had to convene an emergency meeting of The President’s Working Group On Financial

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TF Metals Report Photo: Jan_S / Shutterstock.com

Markets...AKA ”The Plunge Protection Team” on Christmas Eve! From that moment, everything changed. Bonds began to rally and real interest rates began to fall. The Fed formally announced a reversal of their tightening scheme in June of 2019 and we have had a consistent bull market in the precious metals ever since.

Recognising the sea change that occurred in late 2018, our forecast for 2019 was for an upside breakout from the range that had contained the gold price since 2013. This was a pretty lonely branch to sit at the end of...but the forecast was proven correct. Our goal was a gold price between $1,480 and $1,520 and, after a sharp summer rally and autumn consolidation, COMEX gold finished at $1,519.95.

We expected the same conditions that drove price in 2019 to continue into 2020 and published a forecast back in early January of $1,800 COMEX gold. As you know, price peaked near $2,100 last summer and finished the year at $1,901. That’s another pretty substantial annual gain and in line with what you’d expect dur-ing a bull market. See this chart below courtesy of Ronni Stoeferle and his team at Incrementum AG:

www.executive-global.com

Given the old trader’s adage, perhaps this macrocast should simply be titled ”Don’t Fight The Fed”? In the end, it may not be a whole lot more complicated than that.

RISING GOLD PRICES ARE INEVITABLE And then keep in mind two other very important macro factors. First, after decades of fighting against a higher gold price (as diligently documented by GATA), The Fed and the other major central banks could actually benefit from a higher gold price going forward. These central bankers are not only desperate to spark price inflation, they are equally desperate to slay the ghost of disinflationary expectations. Powell stated this explicitly in his Jackson Hole speech of last August. A rising gold price would clearly help with them reach both goals.

But what about inflation in real time as measured by the faulty CPI? How can The Fed spark rising prices? One of the simplest ways is to encourage a lower dollar, which in turn leads to higher input costs for commodities such as crude oil and copper.

If producers are then able to pass along these higher costs, they will then push inflation higher. This is the classic definition of ”Cost-Push Inflation” that

you may recall from that Econ 101 class you slept through in college: https://www.investopedia.com/ terms/c/costpushinflation.asp So again, this isn’t complicated. Don’t fight The Fed. And this leads to a very interesting situation for silver, too. If we are indeed in the early stages of a general commodity bull market resurgence as expert analysts such as Ronni Stoeferle and Tavi Costa suggest, then we should expect silver...which 99% of the world sees as a ”commodity”...to perform quite well in 2021. https://www.sprottmoney.com/blog/ If-You-Cant-Beat-Em-Join-Em-Craig-Hemke-20October-2020 As with most bull markets in the precious metals, you should expect silver’s 2021 gains to exceed, and even double, gold’s. So I guess we should next consider just how far gold prices might rally in the year ahead.

Please look at the chart from Ronni Stoeferle and be sure to note the period 2005-2011...the most previous extended bull market run for gold. Notice that, even if you include the crazy year of 2008, the average annual gain for gold was 20.4%.

First and foremost, once COMEX silver exceeds its 2020 highs and begins trading in the 30s for the first time in eight years, it should rapidly move toward $35. If that’s all the farther it gets, the gain for 2020 would be about 32%. But that seems a little light, since I expect something north of 20% for COMEX gold. Addition-ally, last year saw quite an overshoot of our goals during the late summer.

So this year’s macrocast concludes with a warning and some advice...be patient. Do not allow yourself to get aggressively caught up in the day-to-day and tick-for-tick. Instead, maintain your focus upon the long term and The Big Picture. For the past decade, we’ve warned you to ”prepare for the end of The Great Keynesian Experiment” and the events of 2020 have only served to accelerate its demise. You must continue to plan for the monetary event/shake-up/reset that is most assuredly coming. It’s only a matter of time. The math is the math.

With The Great Keynesian Experiment barreling toward its inevitable conclusion...and with even higher prices ahead...you’d be wise to continue to add physical precious metal to your stockpile in 2021. EG

For further information, please visit: www.tfmetalsreport.com

Winter 2021 •

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Market Outlook

Capitalism Needs Preservation, Not ‘A Great Reset’ Take a moment to imagine this scenario…How would you like to have absolutely no rights to any of your possessions? How happy would you be if you had to depend on the government for housing, transportation, even food rations? Would you feel free? Asks Oliver Taylor. he Great Reset’ is the most trending phrase right now. Everyone is talking about it - economists, politicians, corporate magnates…But what does it truly mean? What do these affluent oligarchs- who rose to power thanks to the free market, want to achieve by “resetting” capitalism? In no uncertain terms, to end the world as you know it - the world where you could achieve your goals, grow your business, build your life, despite all its flaws. It will also be the end for you as a free, independent individual. All of this, of course, in your “best interest”, for a “bright future”. The individuals pushing this rhetoric, position themselves as altruistic forces supporting progress, that reserve for themselves the right to decide what you can own, where you can go and whom can you become.

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A EUPHEMISM FOR NEO-FEUDALISM Does such a notion as ‘The Great Reset’ make you feel like a slave yet? A slave has no freedom, property and personality. The reason this kind of euphemistic nomenclature has been a cause for concern is because it merely masks the intention for the implementation of top-down authoritarian control under a classical socialist tyrannical paradigm- cynically replacing the proven benefits developed by free-market capitalist economies as evidenced by unprecedented wealth creation, home ownership, improved Gross domestic product, Gross national product, a flourishing middle class, employment, freedom, autonomy, prosperity and opportunities, with a nightmarish alternative, presented in the form of a more centrally-planned economic model resembling the despotic regimes of yesteryear and underpinned by a ‘green’ variety of socialism. A ‘Green New Deal’, if you will.

This is exactly how the World Economic Forum run by Klaus Schwab, envisages your future in a notorious policy article by former Minister for the Environment of Denmark, Ida Auken which states: “Welcome to the year 2030. Welcome to my city or should I say, ”our city”. I don’t own anything. I don’t own a car. I don’t own a house. I don’t own any appliances or any clothes.”

So how do you get those necessities of modern

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life? By begging the state, of course! But what if I want a bigger car for my large family? Or a better car, because, well…I like cars? Or fancier clothes, because I am passionate about fashion? Or a bigger house because I want more space for my large family?

Who will decide what I’m allowed to have, and based on what factors? Actually, why should any other human being, as flawed and biased as I am, have the power to allow or deny me possessions that I could otherwise legally purchase, with money that I worked hard to get?

A society of government-regulated consumer equality is incompatible with democratic rights and personal freedoms. Therefore, the WEF’s projections for 2030 should be seen as nothing less than a direct attack on your civil rights. You will no longer have any privacy. Everything that you say or do will be recorded, analysed and judged by the state. But sure, this is a “bright future”. You will be ‘safe’ from the same capitalism and market conditions that the proponents of ‘The Great Reset’ enjoyed to establish their own wealth and status, but which they now seek to dismantle for you! Pot calling kettle black, much?

Studying history, it is almost impossible not to draw parallels between the WEF’s manifesto and the radical ideas that thrived in Leninist Russia, Maoist China, Pol Pot’s Cambodia or Weimar Germany... Complete rejection of personal property, socialisation of labour products, total control over the consciousness and behaviour of people.

Dressed in progressive terminology and packaged as beneficial, when in actuality- represent nothing more than dictatorship and state slavery. In Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR, Joseph Stalin promised that advanced socialist production would adequately respond to the ever-growing material and cultural needs of the people (there is an awfully uncanny affinity for radical socialist regimes sweeping the reigns of power, to subsequently engage in the democidal extermination of the very citizens such aforementioned socialist policies purportedly aim to protect!). Naturally, the social policies did not include a single word about the elimination of individual freedoms and possessions in the name of the promised universal prosperity. The WEF seems

• Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

Photo: Rumir / Shutterstock.com

FINANCE

Market Outlook to one-up socialism in this regard: the abolition of personal property is being openly advertised.

Mind you, this is not just any socialism that we’re being offered; these aren’t the social policies of the Nordic model, but a Stalinist, totalitarian assault on individuality, supported by allpervading modern means of electronic control and surveillance. In order to make everyone in the world happy, they say, ‘all you need to do is give up your personal rights and possessions’.

This is not only false, but highly hypocritical.

Human freedom, is the freedom of choice.

Due to the lack of this freedom, any coercive system of invasive state socialism is doomed to collapse. In fact, any totalitarian initiative is essentially unsustainable and will crumble, but not without ruining an innumerable number of lives under its despotic reign.

If you think that the notion of ‘The Great Reset’ has your best interest at heart, think again. The political and oligarchical class tell us that capitalism has outlived its usefulness, and offer to build in fact- communism.

For our own good, allegedly. Having consolidated power in their hands by viciously abusing and manhandling the free market for decades, any oligarchy sooner or later, will start trying to strengthen and perpetuate their control. This is exactly what is happening here. Coercion always seems to be the most effective method when striving to achieve power, does it not? Whip and feed are the best ways to manage your cattle. And in our case, the whip is the economic struggles of the middle and lower classes as a result of sustained mismanagement by those same elites, while the feed is a promise of a brighter future.

A THREAT TO LIBERTY This topic became especially relevant in Canada after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s speech at the UN. Trudeau stated that the pandemic provides an opportunity to reset - to “change the economic system and truly respond to global challenges, including poverty, inequality and climate change”.

However, it is impossible to meaningfully change the existing economic system without completely abandoning the very freedoms and democratic foundation on which it stands!

This unmitigated hypocrisy merely represents a form of class warfare and an attempt to prey on and eliminate the middle class so that oligarchy cannot be competitively challenged. A centrally-planned authoritarian socialist paradigm, inevitably manifests as a result of the state acquiring unprecedented levels www.executive-global.com

of control over the liberty of its citizens and over the economy without checks and balances. Pursuing multilateralist policies at the expense and degradation of national progress, can merely be deemed ‘for the greater good’ with as collectivism running roughshod over individual prosperity- despite being enforced in an authoritarian regime.

FREEDOM IS NON-NEGOTIABLE But the problem is not so much in what they are planning, but just how ready they are to force this “bright future” upon the world by coercion and cheating. Capitalism doesn’t need a “great reset” - it needs preservation! What is driving the world into yet another economic collapse isn’t capitalism, but its abuse at the hands of institutional corruption, lobbying and cronyism. Klaus Schwab’s Neocommunism is not the answer! What we need is a true, unadulterated free market!

HUMAN FREEDOM, IS THE FREEDOM OF CHOICE. DUE TO THE LACK OF THIS FREEDOM, ANY COERCIVE SYSTEM OF INVASIVE STATE SOCIALISM IS DOOMED TO COLLAPSE.

A free market, is a market that does not suffer from government interference, regulation, coercion and meddling. The only responsibility of the government in a free market is to protect the people: our freedoms, our ability to go out into the world and do what we want, in pursuit of the wealth we need to live and prosper. In this regard, the government’s sole purpose should be to protect individual rights. And this is what an ideal government looks like: upholding our freedoms and not trying to intrude or control anything; it has no business telling us what to do in our private lives or how to run our companies, if everything is done according to the law.

Capitalism needs preservation, not a Great Reset. The hypocrisy of resetting the global economy and shifting to a radical socialist regime under the guise of ‘sustainable’ policies, not only represents a severe threat to our freedom and prosperity, but will fail to create a better world for all, because the state cannot simply whip out a magic wand to replace entrepreneurs and the wonderful incentives that free-market capitalism provides in an open democratic society, with yet another centrallyplanned alternative. Human beings are individuals, yet systems like the proposed “Great Reset” merely reduce the individual to numbers, stats, livestock.

This form of collectivist ideology is certainly not humanity’s best way forward. EG Winter 2021 •

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LEGAL & ADVOCACY

Gomez Tomiczek International Group Photo: Fotos593 / Shutterstock.com

How to Retire in Panama In recent years, Panama has become a popular retirement destination. The constant economic growth, the warmth of the locals, the pleasant climate, the extensive beaches, as well as attractive investment opportunities, and the US dollar as local currency are among the many advantages that Panama offers newcomers. Besides that the country offers one of the best discount programs for retirees worldwide: This includes discounts in restaurants, hotels, theatres, cinemas, airline tickets, medical services and much more.

Article by

Abel Gomez

FOUNDING PARTNER, GOMEZ TOMICZEK INTERNATIONAL GROUP

ensioners and retirees who receive a monthly pension or annuity from a state or private institution or company can apply for a permanent residence permit in Panama under the “Jubildado Pensionado” visa program. There is NO legal minimum or maximum age to qualify for this migration program. The main require-ment to qualify for this visa program is the proof of a lifelong pension of at least US $1,000 (US $1,250 for a married couple) a month.

In case of a married couple where both partners receive a monthly pension, the joint monthly income can be used. In this case, the necessary proof and documents must be provided for both.

The pension does not necessarily have to be paid out by a state institution. To qualify for the ”Jubilado Pensionado” visa, the applicant may also submit a private pension plan, paid out by a bank, an insurance company or similar institution.

However, the private company must be specialised in

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the payment and administra-tion of pension funds, a private company pension will not be accepted by the National Migration Service of Panama.

STEP BY STEP: HOW TO OBTAIN YOUR JUBILADO PENSIONADO VISA IN PANAMA Here you will find the steps to apply for a residence permit as Jubilado Pensionado in Panama.

The individual procedures may vary in detail, depending on the personal situation of each client: Step #1: Choosing a lawyer and first contact: The Immigration Law in Panama requires that all applications within the ”Jubilado Pensionado” visa category, must be submitted by a licensed attorney in Panama.

Step #2: Define your immigration category: Together with your attorney confirm that you qualify for the “Jubilado Pensionado” visa, or if there is another immigration category that suits you better. You attorney will also provide you a list of all required documents.

Step #3: Compilation of documents: Collect all necessary documents and papers required for the application. Pay attention to the validity of the various docu-ments and take care of the necessary certifications (apostille) in time.

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Step #4: Review of documents: It is best to email all documents and papers to the lawyer in Panama in advance for review, in order to be sure that everything is complete and nothing is missing.

At the same time, the documents can already be forwarded for translation in Panama.

Step #5: Trip to Panama: Once all documents are ready, a personal trip to Panama is necessary to complete your file and submit the application in person together with your lawyer.

Step #6: Completion of your file: Once you have arrived in Panama you will meet with your lawyer and hand over all original documents, sign the lawyer’s power of attorney and any other documents necessary, make copies of your passport, fill out the immigration forms, and complete any other procedure where your person-al presence is required.

Step #7: Filing your application at the immigration office: As a rule, the file must be 100% complete and all applicants must be present in person, in order to submit the application.

Step #8: Registration of the passport (”registro de pasaporte”): The registration of the passport is done in advance online by your lawyer. During the application process, all information is checked again and an immigration officer stamps the registration

LEGAL & ADVOCACY

Gomez Tomiczek International Group Department to the Tribunal Electoral. Subsequently, an appointment at the Tribunal Electoral is required to verify the personal data of the applicant and to take a photo for the Cédula E. The Cédula E is not printed immediately and will be available for pick-up after approximately two to three weeks.

It is not mandatory to have a Cédula E. However, in daily life, it facilitates many administrative, legal and/or business procedures such as opening a bank account. Furthermore, the Cédula E is a prerequisite to register with the tax authorities in Panama and to apply for a personal tax number.

stamp (”sello de registro”) in the passport of each applicant.

Step #9: Temporary migration card (”carné de migración”): Once the application has been submitted, your status in Panama also changes.

You are no longer considered a ”tourist” but a ”resident”. All applicants receive an identity card from the immigration office. This card is valid for six months (enough time to pro-cess the application within this period). A photo is taken on-site for the ID card. From now on, your migration ID card must be shown at passport control every time you enter or leave Panama.

Step #10: Multiply Visa (”visa multiple”): The multiple entry and exit visa is a stamp in the passport, that allows you to enter and exit Panama while your resi-dence permit application is being processed. The multiply visa is valid for six months (just like the migration ID card). The Immigration Department takes about 48 hours to issue the Multiply Visa. They will hold your passport for this period. Foreigners (with ongoing immigration proceedings) who leave Panama without having a Multiply Visa stamped in their passport, or whose Multiply Visa has expired, must pay a fine of USD $2,000 (per person) to the Immigration Department upon re-entry into Panama. www.executive-global.com

Step #11: Processing your application: Upon receipt of the application, the National Immigration Service assigns a case number to the file and transfers it inter-nally to the responsible department in Panama City. After the application has been successfully processed by the responsible caseworker, the decision (”resolu-ción”) is reviewed by the head of the department. Then the Director of Immigration signs your resolution and the file finally moves to the Notifications Depart-ment. The processing of the application usually takes three to four months.

Step #12: Receiving your residence permit and a second trip to Panama: Once the residence permit has been approved, you will be notified by your lawyer. A second trip to Panama is required in order to undergo the notification process and obtain your new migration ID card. Upon completion of this procedure, you will be a permanent resident of Panama.

Foreigners who hold permanent residence status in Panama can also apply for a Panamanian identity card (Panama E-card or Cédula E) at the Civil Registry (Tri-bunal Electoral). This process is a separate procedure and is not done automatically as part of the application process. The application for the Cédula E must be submitted separately and the decision is forwarded internally by the Immigration

HOW TO KEEP YOUR PANAMA VISA AS A PART-TIME RESIDENT The good news is: Panama does not require that foreign residents stay a minimum amount of time per year in the country in order to keep their resident status. There is only one golden rule: ”Having to travel to Panama every two years to maintain your resident status”. This said, traveling to Panama every two years just for a couple of days is enough to keep your residence permit. But even so, given the current restrictions implemented on international air traffic, border closures, and controls due to COVID-19 it is difficult for many temporary, part-time or permanent residents to travel to Panama and thus maintain their current residency status. So are there any exceptions to that rule?

What are the consequences if, due to the global situation, I cannot travel to maintain my status as a resident in Panama?

The Law stipulates that there must be a reason for the absence. It is presumed that a global pandemic is a sufficient reason to justify the absence since the National Immigration Service of Panama has suspended all terms for the time being.

Are there any legal procedures to recover my residency if it is canceled?

If the National Immigration Service decides to cancel your residency in Panama (remembering that in our country nothing happens automatically), there are legal procedures to request the reactivation of your status as a resident, in case you have been out of Panama for a period of more than two (2) years and up to a maximum of six (6) years.

What happens if I can not travel to Panama for more than six years?

Foreigners who have remained more than six (6) years outside of Panama and whose residency has been canceled by the National Immigration Service, will lose their status permanently and must start a completely new immigration procedure in accordance with current regulations at that time.

THERE IS ONE EXCEPTION TO THE GOLDEN RULE If you are an Italian citizen and obtained your residency in Panama under the ”Panama - Italy Treaty” Visa (available to Italian citizens only), you will not lose your status. This is a special cause protected by the Law. Bella Italia! Stay safe and healthy! EG

For further information, please visit: www.gomitom.com Winter 2021 •

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LEGAL & ADVOCACY

Bahamas Legislation

Photo: Osman Bugra Nuvasil / Shutterstock.com

Private Client & International Trust Legislation The Bahamas lie in the Atlantic Ocean, within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies.

Although the region as a whole has been highly attractive as a smart business and investment venue for years already, renewed impetus is being placed on attracting foreign trust formation, as more and more countries raise their hands to be counted in the same way, writes Oliver Taylor. ahamian law is largely based on English common law, and various supporting acts that govern trust formation have also passed into legislation. Rather than a tax evasion destination, the Bahamas has moved to shed its offthe-radar image of late, instead opting for a more comprehensive money management basket of goods — as opposed to people avoiding tax by investing or setting up a trust there. Today, trust and investment management fees are transparent and competitive, as the Commonwealth tries to shed any illicit implications and stand tall as a fintech and money management hub or destination in its own right.

Trusts are capably established and serviced in the Bahamas, with the following points to keep in mind: • There is definite protection for Bahamian trusts — no foreign country has legitimacy with any civil claims. Thus, immune to foreign judgments and managed according to global standards, Bahamian trusts have become a little more polished over the last 10 years or so.

• Similarly, creditors face a two-year withholding period, and they need to prove fraudulent activity

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before any action is taken against resident trusts.

• Trusts without local real estate assets which have non-resident beneficiaries are wonderfully exempt from all taxes, including the ubiquitous stamp duty so typical elsewhere on money deposited in trust. The mandatory $50 revenue stamp can be a cash purchase devoid of disclosure of any kind, too.

BAHAMIAN LAW IS LARGELY BASED ON ENGLISH COMMON LAW, AND VAROUS SUPPORTING ACTS THAT GOVERN TRUST FORMATION HAVE ALSO PASSED INTO LEGISLATION.

• Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

• A great amount of control is enabled in Bahamian trusts, where trustees enjoy extensive statutory investment and management power, thus making any kind of local obligation or interference a non-issue.

A wide range of trusts are allowed under Bahamian legislation, including accumulation trusts. Exchange control regulations do not apply to non-resident beneficiaries, and a proactive and extremely sleek local fraternity of trust managers has emerged over the years, with the foundational offer always asset protection.

Although the global offshore financial services industry has taken blows recently from Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), and the Common Reporting Standards (CRS) protocol, the Bahamas must be said to have come through it all with the least egg on its face. While the loss of bank secrecy’s hedge was an upsetting component of shifting global legislation and cooperation, it has not translated into much in the Bahamas, and an asset protection trust still performs its obligatory and desired duties admirably. EG

DELIVERING RESPONSIVE AND EFFECTIVE IMMIGRATION STRATEGIES Employers/Employees • Investors/Entrepreneurs • Researchers • Individuals/Families

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Offered at: $39,998,000 For video tour & more photos, please visit: www.27500LaVida.com Listed by Michael Repka of the DeLeon Team, the #1 Team in Los Altos Hills, CA

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Entertainer’s Dream Home on 0.835 Acres • 3 Bedrooms • 3.5 Baths • 4,625 Sq. Ft. Home • 0.835 Acre Lot

• Luxurious Interiors • Entertainment Room • Great Backyard w/Deck • Close to Top Schools

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M i c h a e l R e p k a , D R E # 0 1 8 5 4 8 8 0 | 6 5 0 . 9 0 0 . 7 0 0 0 | m i c h a e l @ d e l e o n r e a l t y. c o m w w w . d e l e o n r e a l t y . c o m | D e L e o n R e a l t y, I n c . | D R E # 0 1 9 0 3 2 2 4

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FDI & INWARD INVESTMENT

Saint-Maarten FDI

Investing in Saint-Maarten Saint-Martin…Let’s get acquainted with this idyllic island in the Caribbean Sea, the eastern side of which is washed by the rich waters of the Atlantic Ocean. This also happens to be the smallest piece of land inhabited by people in the whole world. Historically, it has been owned by the Netherlands and France for 350 years, since its discovery by European colonisers, reports Thomas Hughes. he Dutch part is called Sint Maarten, the French - Saint-Martin. Since it was settled, there have been no military conflicts or even territorial disputes between the two countries, and the people here have a chance to enjoy life in a friendly and carefree environment. Thanks to this, its culture - the cuisine, architecture and philosophy of the inhabitants of the island are the perfect melting pot of traditions drawing from both the Dutch and the French alike.

It is a land where harmony reigns between different people, and the concept of a “border” is present exclusively on the map.

Let’s talk about the Dutch part. Sint Maarten is one of the four constituent countries which, together with the Netherlands, Aruba and Curaçao, form the conglomerate of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Sint Maarten is located in the Lesser Antilles, on the island of Saint-Martin, constituting about 37% of its territory, while the rest - the Collectivity of Saint-Martin is part of French overseas collectivities.

The island of Saint-Martin is surrounded by the Caribbean Sea; it is located south of the island of Anguilla, northwest of the island of Saint-Barthelemy, and east of Puerto Rico. Its capital is Philipsburg.

Despite the fact that no more than 1,500 people live here, the main infrastructure is located in the city. A key transport hub Princess Juliana International Airport, which is considered one of the largest airports in the region, is located in the Dutch part of the island. English is the second official language after Dutch. As such, each document can be written in English, which makes life much easier for foreign investors and entrepreneurs who may not speak Dutch.

Initially, the country belonged to the autonomous state of the Federation of the Netherlands Antilles, within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. After the collapse of the Netherlands Antilles, Sint Maarten became an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, obtaining a status similar to that which had been granted to Aruba upon its withdrawal from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986. The authorities that govern the island received powers in all areas that relate to the jurisdiction of the central government.

The country’s main sources of income are tourism,

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casinos, international trade and the service industry.

The currency of Sint Maarten is still the Netherlands Antilles guilder (ANG), which is also called the florin. At the time of writing this article, 1 ANG traded for 0.56 USD. INVESTING IN SAINT-MAARTEN Sint Maarten enjoys the best kind of tropical climate - here, it is mostly warm and dry. During the summer, the maximum temperature reaches +32 celsius. In the winter, the thermometer drops to about +25, rarely less. The majority of the rain season happens between the months of September and November. As a tourist, if you’re looking to get the most out of your trip, it is recommended to take a vacation anywhere between December to April during this period, the climate on the island is most favourable.

• Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

When it comes to activities for tourists, Sint Maarten is rich with things to do. You can enjoy a variety of water transport, surfing azure waves, exciting hikes in the rainforest, fishing, horse riding, sports and a great deal more... The nature on the island is remarkably gorgeous, but the options for shopping in the city are also worth talking about. You may be delighted to find out that all stores are duty free. The municipalities are home to a wide variety of boutiques and shops, making the location ideal for going on purchasing sprees in the Caribbean.

Clothes, cosmetics, perfumery, electronics, jewellery, cigars, wines - you will find anything that money can buy within its businesses, so make some time to explore everything the island has to offer.

The beaches of Sint Maarten are a whole other topic altogether. Snow-white sand, colourful bars and cafes, restaurants, souvenir shops and many more attractions will leave you with unforgettable emotions.

Despite the small size of the island, there are a great deal of hotels. Here you will find prices for holidays for every wallet and budget. Read reviews of any hotel on the territory of Sint Maarten: they offer excellent quality and good living conditions, regardless of price.

The island will also appeal to those who are looking to

Photo: Multiverse / Shutterstock.com

FDI & INWARD INVESTMENT

Saint-Maarten FDI

party. Clubs and bars open closer to sunset, and the Dutch part of Saint-Martin is famous for its world renowned casinos. As mentioned above, a large part of the economy of Sint Maarten is based on tourism and gambling. Fun fact: it has the largest number of slot machines per capita in the world.

BUSINESS, TAXES AND INVESTMENT The Sint Maarten Chamber of Commerce and Industry has 17,000 registered economic entities.

Formally, Sint Maarten is not included in the ”black lists” of offshore companies of the OECD. However, the members of the Netherlands Antilles, which Sint Maarten was part of until 2010, are part of the list of offshore companies that do not provide for disclosure and provision of information when conducting financial transactions. OECD experts assigned the Netherlands Antilles to a “gray list” of jurisdictions that have officially committed themselves to adopt such standards and exchange tax information, but have not sufficiently implemented them in practice. Technically, the offshore system was canceled in Sint Maarten in 2001; it remains partially valid only for companies registered on the island up to this point. Business activities on Sint Maarten are governed by the Corporate Law

THE MUNICIPALITIES ARE HOME TO A WIDE VARIETY OF BOUTIQUES AND SHOPS, MAKING THE LOCATION IDEAL FOR GOING ON PURCHASING SPREES IN THE CARIBBEAN.

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among other regulations. The legal system as a whole is based on the Netherlands.

Now, the wonders of tourism aside, let’s talk about the taxation system, trusts, and other investment opportunities for those who may be interested in the island’s financial sphere. Typically, the corporate tax rate is 34.5% on all profits, however, if there is no business operated locally, there is also no income tax and passive investments are not defined as such either.

While gift tax is 25% of an asset’s value at the time of transfer, if the founder and all beneficiaries are not residents of Sint Maarten, this tax is exempt. When it comes to income tax, it is not applicable to nonresident beneficiaries who receive recurring payments from the trust. The same exception applies to assets that are transferred to non-resident beneficiaries.

So what kind of company can you open in Sint Maarten? According to the administrative and tax legislation, these companies include corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, limited partnerships, as well as foundations, associations, private enterprises and branches of foreign companies.

The company register of Sint Maarten maintains and carries out the registration of enterprises by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Sint Maarten. The documents for the creation of the company are initially drawn up with a notary, after which a business license is requested from the Executive Council. Then, the company is registered with the Chamber of Commerce & Industry and entered in the commercial register of Sint Maarten. It is thus recommended to enlist the help of local experts for legal support when opening a company on the island.

The Sint Maarten Trust law was passed in 2014, allowing the establishment of trusts on its territory. Trusts formed within the

country enjoy a number of advantages, such as full foreign ownership, which lets outside investors create trusts for out-of-country beneficiaries and assets; a tax-free system that alleviates taxation from passive investments outside of the territory; same-day formation of trusts; no governmental registration requirements; the absence of any public records pertaining to trusts; estate planning; and the protection of a trust’s assets, which are owned exclusively by the trustee in question.

A EUROPE IN THE CARIBBEAN All things considered, today the Caribbean Netherlands represent one of the most beautiful and promising regions for living life to the fullest, whether as a tourist or as an entrepreneur. Consider its clean ecology, beautiful beaches, wonderful climate and sea, an eternal mild summer with the European way of life, free education and medicine, and a prosperous environment. It is no wonder that 85% of its population is European in nature - its legal framework, culture and values make it a ”Europe in the Caribbean” even though it isn’t part of the EU. In addition, it is very safe to live on the islands - there is little to no significant crime, it is outside of the hurricane zone, there are no sharks in the waters, and you are safe from snakes and other poisonous animals. EG

Winter 2021 •

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FDI & INWARD INVESTMENT

Malta Tourism

Photo: ZGPhotography / Shutterstock.com

Tourism in Malta Malta, formerly Melita, is officially known as the Republic of Malta. Afloat in the Mediterranean Sea, Malta lies some 80 km due south of Italy, and just over 280 km east of Tunisia, writes Rachel Smith. small country indeed, the resident population of around half a million people is spread out across land totalling just 316 km2 in extent. Malta is hot, sunny and humid in the summer months, and still pleasantly warm in its winter. By way of comparison, London gets a meagre average of around 1,461 sunshine hours every year, while Malta boasts more than double at 3,000 hours.

Apart from the climate attracting tourists from particularly European countries — those who value the getaway weather and ocean proximity — Malta has some less obvious benefits for high-net-worth individuals looking to incorporate or establish a trust on the island archipelago.

Although the lingua franca of the world’s tenth smallest country remains Maltese (a descendant of Sicilian Arabic), English provides a handy second language, and most people encountered on the main Malta island — residents and tourists — speak English comfortably. Many residents are also proficient in Italian, which was an official language in Malta up until 1934.

Three UNESCO World Heritage Sites are situated in Malta, and the megalithic temples found there are also some of the oldest surviving freestanding structures anywhere in the world. Officially, the “best places to visit” already make a long list, but the only real final verdict is that tourists are spoilt for choice in Malta. There are innumerable small nooks and (all the way through to) grand buildings of historical and architectural interest, and outdoor venues that have their own appeal, too.

Being an island surrounded by the sea, Malta is lovely wherever you stop and take in the view, although there are more typically tourist beaches like

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Mellieħa Bay and Golden Bay. There are also many quieter, smaller beaches, notably at the tip of Malta, where one overlooks neighbouring Gozo Island.

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN MALTA More for a combination of factors rather than any one glaring magnet, Malta presents as a favourable jurisdiction for high-net-worth individuals with a penchant for foreign direct investment. Business by foreigners varies but tourism ventures are

MEDICAL SUPPLIES, ELECTRICITY AND A SMATTERING OF OTHER GOODS ARE RATED AT 5% WHILE SOME MEDICINES AND OTHER SUPPLIES ARE ZERO-RATED.

• Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

common and typically lucrative, although a host of more discreet business activity happens on a daily basis, too. The Maltese economy continues to be significantly buoyed by its growing financial services sector, which survived the 2010 ruckus with aplomb — indicative of a steely resilience in Maltese matters financial.

Foreign investment is supported by progressive government policies, while Maltese banking and finance has also kept apace with the officially welcoming stance towards investment by foreigners.

The Central Bank of Malta abandoned exchange controls in 1994 and capital controls were similarly dumped as a precondition to EU entry in 2004. Prior to this, Maltese corporations ostensibly utilised as non-resident or offshore entities were all exempt from exchange controls anyway.

Malta also joined the EU’s Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) in 2005, allowing for the ensuing seamless adoption of the euro. As for interest rates, these were freed from central control in the mid-90s, although some interest rate controls are still relevant to residential property loans.

More than merely tolerant, the Maltese government has since the turn of the century, actively developed an offshore sector. Prompted

FDI & INWARD INVESTMENT

Malta Tourism

some capital gains.

Companies that are non-resident or not Maltadomiciled attract taxation of any income (and some capital gains) arising in Malta only, although foreign earnings banked in a Maltese account will be taxed as well. Residents pay personal tax of 15% and there are no municipal rates charged.

by the British departure, in the 1980s, the Maltese authorities were being pushed by rising unemployment and limited options to adopt the country’s current welcoming stance towards external investment. Under the auspices of the International Business Activities Act of 1988, the Malta International Business Authority was established, and the country has been proactive in facilitating its offshore business sector ever since.

The Malta Development Corporation offers many highly attractive investment incentives. The Industrial Development Act has been tweaked over the years in terms of its delivery of new incentive packages, at first primarily focused on the manufacturing sector, which together with services and tourism forms the backbone of the Maltese economy.

While the Act’s founding aim was creating jobs in shipping and manufacturing, the development of financial services soon took precedence, as it became apparent that the dividends for residents and the overall Maltese economy would be greater than if attention was focused on limited opportunities in traditional employment. There is now also a modern legislative structure that governs the most important www.executive-global.com

financial activities on the island, and Malta has earned a reputation for being savvy and polished when it comes to business dealings.

MALTESE TAXATION As an EU member, the country has to toe the line and comply with certain broad principles, but this has not eliminated its sovereignty with regard to facilitating financial and business dealings in such a manner that they attract a discerning clientele that values the relative freedom and taxation certainty.

On that point, VAT exists in Malta at a rate of 18% standard, although a lesser rate of 7% is applied to tourist accommodation and the letting of sites for cultural or artistic use. Medical supplies, electricity and a smattering of other goods are rated at 5%, while some medicines and other supplies are zerorated.

Malta’s EU membership has raised its profile among investors and double taxation agreements exist with dozens of other countries, limiting liability for companies incorporated on the island. With that said, a 35% corporate tax rate is in practice for almost all forms of incorporation in Malta. The tax harvest on resident companies domiciled in Malta will include taxation on global income as well as

MALTA IS EASE OF MOVEMENT, WITH NO ONEROUS FINANCIAL BURDENS The potential for citizenship by investment for high-net-worth immigrants is prominent in Malta, due largely to its balancing act of EU-type taxation and legal framework, but with far greater simplicity and largesse towards business as a whole. Its enviable proximity to the European and African landmasses — and the fact that as an EU member, Malta applies no restrictions on the movement of EU nationals — count, too.

For most countries, a single-entry visa will cost €60 in Malta. Such visas are typically valid for 90 days, and anyone looking for permanent residence will need to apply for a residency permit.

The requirements are not onerous: a minimum income €24,000 per annum, or a net worth total over €350,000. Importantly, any applicant will also need to within a year- rent or purchase property in Malta. Wary of skulduggery on this front, Maltese legislation mandates that such purchases must be in line with prevailing prices at the time, and in the case of rentals, the annual rent must equal or exceed €4,200. Ensuing accommodation cannot be shared by non-family members.

There is a network of professional advisors surrounding Malta, that can facilitate business or relocation. Highly competitive, many foreign investors find that the services provided give great value for money as they enable smooth business or trust establishment, and also enable business activity through extensive local contacts.

When it comes to trusts, Maltese law requires that both local and foreign trusts register with the Maltese Financial Services Centre (MFSC). It costs €250 for an application and a further €100 for approved establishment. Note that foreign trusts which fail to register with the MFSC cannot take advantage of their tax-exempt status and will be seen as taxable entities.

Rather than morph into a mini-European facsimile on issues of trusts, corporate tax and VAT, Malta’s entry into the EU has rather elevated its status as being like Europe, but different in many ways. As greater flexibility and higher certainty has followed EU membership and its own internal policies, so has Malta’s appeal to both foreign and local businesses and individuals looking to trade, incorporate, or establish a trust.

Indeed, Malta’s overall prospects for the future look bright, and the progressive facilitation of financial services as well as foreign investment, has paid dividends to date. For some- the perfect balance between tax haven and compliant EU member, Malta is likely to further expand financial services while tweaking its corporate tax structures to attract more and larger concerns to the island over the next decade. EG Winter 2021 •

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FDI & INWARD INVESTMENT

Taiwan FDI

Business, Investment & Digital Nomadism in Taiwan Taiwan seldom makes the radar of international news, which is surprising when one considers that it’s home to the 18th largest GDP in the world. It’s less surprising when looking at a map of Taiwan, as it’s inevitably dwarfed by massive neighbouring China, writes Oliver Taylor. or a relatively tiny island (although Taiwan is a massive island in comparison to many other business destinations), it’s impressive that the Taiwanese economy shouts so loudly across the world stage.

Two out of three of the world’s laptops are made in Taiwan, and local infrastructure and overall quality of life is good.

Taipei has two international airports and Taiwan boasts an extensive high-speed train network that is both fast and effective. Very business orientated, Taiwan is very much like China, except without the Gestapo, neat, clean, and West-welcoming.

The Taiwanese people are gregarious and friendly, unlike the hostility and distrust often shown towards foreigners in China, and a vastly more cosmopolitan attitude pervades Taiwanese society. As the fifth largest economy in Asia, Taiwan is more akin to Thailand in its attitude to life, and more economically like Hong Kong than Beijing.

Taipei presents as an obviously Asian city, but much like Seoul, Korea, has had the good fortune to have adopted a welcoming approach to foreign influence.

Possibly motivated by the acrimonious separation of Taiwan’s people from mainland China not that long ago, Taiwan has always needed international friends.

Research and development in a number of fields is high in Taiwan, and although China is gaining the reputation of tech whizz on the international stage, Taiwan at least matches if not exceeds China’s manifestation of cutting edge technologies.

Very business orientated, Taiwan looks out from the happy base of its domestic economy and shows

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a collaborative face to the world, while China looks out to consume the world’s resources for internal gain. This difference in approaches is manifest on the ground, as is the fact that Taiwan has been more relaxed and also development-minded for almost 100 years longer than China. Full of vibrant green inner-city and urban spaces, Taiwan lies just over 2,000 km from China’s coast, and has a population of around 24 million people.

The relatively low cost of living makes Taiwan attractive to foreigners — and the Taiwanese government’s initiatives that are geared towards attracting foreign talent have recently taken an upswing. The New Taiwan Dollar (TWD) is currently trading at around 0.03-0.04 to the USD. THE TAIWANESE GOLD CARD Prime among those initiatives has been the Gold Card visa — a digital nomad programme that seeks to attract professional performers in a host of fields. Although imagined as a more general business visa to enable foreign business research and conduct on Taiwanese soil, many freelancers who gain employment in a Taiwanese company enter through the programme, as well as self-employed freelancers who have a registered agency and draw a salary from the business.

Unfortunately, the visa won’t be granted to freelance workers who seek to settle in Taiwan for the three years allocated by the visa — there has to be an employment offer or business proceeds on the table. No matter this single catch to the deal, applicant numbers were low to begin with, but are

• Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

now doubling every year.

The Gold Card programme begun in 2018 and includes the option of sponsoring a spouse.

Successful applicants gain access to public schooling and public healthcare, which in Taiwan is decent.

Well organised and broadly serving the interests of citizens, Taiwanese local government has a good social contract with the people.

Many come to Taiwan not to work, but to relax and take in the sights, and here visitors are also spoiled for choice. Luxury tourism in Taiwan is

WELL ORGANISAED AND BROADLY SERVING THE INTERESTS OF CITIZENS, TAIWANESE LOCAL GOVERNMENT HAS A GOOD SOCIAL CONTRACT WITH THE PEOPLE.

FDI & INWARD INVESTMENT

Taiwan FDI

Photo: tenklh / Sutterstock.com

something of a best kept secret, as China’s dynamism and massive size demands attention, while many other exotic Asian destinations surrounding Taiwan have a well-established tourism sector.

Those in the know, however, avail themselves of Taiwan’s beautiful beaches and culturally exquisite small towns, as well as the luxurious hotels that dot the landscape. Touring and standalone travelling on the island state is hugely enabled by a well-established rail, bus, and overall touring infrastructure, and extremely modern facilities greet tourists wherever they go.

Possibly a direct result of the competition between Taiwan and China, the country has sought to present a far more international look and feel.

Polished and professional, Taiwan is like a slice of China with genuine free market principles in play, as well as a far more established cosmopolitan, friendly approach to life.

BUSINESS IN TAIWAN Before looking at the benefits of incorporating a business, investing, or establishing a trust in Taiwan, it’s worth looking at the processes involved to gauge ease of use.

There are typically eight steps to establishing as an existing or new business in Taiwan. Ever practical, www.executive-global.com

the Taiwanese route starts with checking name availability on the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ website, whereafter filling in an application form is easy via the www.moeaic.gov.tw link. You will need to visit your chosen Taiwanese bank in person with your identity documents and proof of business (if established) to set up your business bank account.

Details here need to be squeaky clean, and might include some kind of authorisation from the home country confirming your intentions to incorporate in Taiwan.

You will be required to transfer the exact amount stipulated in the application process to your new account to start the ball rolling, and then be able to visit the MOEAIC (the business and investment body dealing with foreign business matters) with the relevant forms, proof of bank account and remittance.

You will also need to be certified as having the capital deposited by a local CA, whereupon you can search for business premises and glean additional certification from the economic affairs agency.

Finally, after all of these steps have been completed, you’ll visit the Ministry of Finance to complete business registration.

It might sound long-winded, but the process is quick and covers all needed bases for you to establish

a business on the island. Taiwan’s proximity to several key markets and trading stations is not lost on the many foreigners who have established businesses there. Many tax incentives are offered to business that runs from special economic zones established by the government, and establishment in one of these zones comes with import and export commodity and VAT tax breaks, lease concessions, and a host of other subtle and overt incentives to set up shop and get busy.

INVESTING IN TAIWAN Taiwan has a proactive approach to foreign investment, and the Statute for Investment by Foreign Nationals promulgated circa 1954, is testament to a long history of seeking investment and trade. This was followed in 1968 by the Program for Strengthening Investment Screening Agencies, something that further streamlined foreign investment, and which today makes for a brisk and effective protocol for foreign investors.

High Net Worth Individuals will find that banking services and overall investment facilitation are good in Taiwan. The government has matched its talk with the walk, and investors in Taiwan will experience a withholding tax rate on dividends of 21%, while interest and royalties due to a nonresident are both pegged at 20%.

The withholding tax rate for bond interest is 15%, as it is for securitised products, as well as shortterm commercial papers. There are a variety of details that enable treaties concerning royalties, interest and dividends that can bring the withholding tax rate down as low as 15–5%. Not the cheapest bundle of costs for similar activity elsewhere in the world, but the local infrastructure and dynamism compensate capably.

Returning to business, legitimately established businesses will pay a VAT rate of between 5% and zero, depending on the concessions available to the industry. The personal tax rate of 20% for residents also illuminates that for a highly functional country with extensive public works and an ongoing development programme, tax is not onerous, and tax receipts are effectively reinvested in building and development.

Trustees will find costs comparably low in Taiwan, and a highly efficient and established fintech sector provides competitively priced services around trusts and investment vehicles. As with Hong Kong, Taiwan has a reputation of being transparent and dynamic, with no real fears around skulduggery in financial circles.

Taiwan is a clean country in more ways than one.

An inheritance tax of 10% is in play, while capital gains are viewed as income and attract the prevailing tax rate only.

Finally, those wishing to make Taiwan their home base can apply for a Resident visa for Investment. A $200,000 investment will secure your and your family’s residency, as long as a minimum of 183 days per annum are spent in Taiwan, and the investment capital is maintained via an investment fund, active business, or by any vehicle identified by the authorities as contributing to the country’s economy as a whole. EG Winter 2021 •

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OUR MISSION REVOLUTIONIZE how clients leverage FMEA’s within their risk management and functional safety efforts to improve their products and processes with our innovative, high quality software products, expert training & consultation.

ELIMINATE • audit non-conformances in your design & process FMEA control plans • surprises of missed failures & ineffective control actions • waste in your team’s risk analysis activities

STAND • in front of your customers with confidence knowing that quality and efficacy of your risk analysis

OUR VISION RETHINK the way FMEA’s are approached, by understanding where the risk is and prioritize activities to stay focused and develop a functional model for a better company continous learning.

APiS North America, LLC 938 N. Washington Avenue Royal Oak, MI 48067

”CUSTOMER DRIVEN, SOLUTIONS FOCUSED” BENEFITS OF WORKING WITH THE APIS, NORTH AMERICA TEAM & THE IQ-SOFTWARE

DR. LYNN JOHNSON

CHAD JOHNSON

PRESIDENT

VICE PRESIDENT

• 20+ years of experiences in Healthcare Industry with technology Business Development knowledge.

• 29+ years of system and mechanical engineering experience in the automotive and aerospace field.

• Doctorate of Pharmacy and earned the Dean’s Award for Highest Academic Achievement Class of 2000.

• 20+ years with ZF/TRW automotive as System Engineer and Sig Sigma Master Black Belt certified.

• Experience in not-for-profit and for-profit delivery of healthcare, provides the business aspect paramount to the mission of APiS North America.

• Expert in the IQ-Software and FMEA methodology through years of developing its methods.

TELEPHONE: 1 (800) 470-8970 FAX: 1 (888) 857-3137 EMAIL: info@apis-iq.com WEBSITE: www.apis-iq.com

TECHNOLOGY

Regent Power, LLC

Strategic Sustainable Innovation A renewable energy storage integration and asset development firm specialising in various applications integrates advanced technologies that reduce crime and improve quality of life. We caught up LAURA JONES, CEO and technological visionary at Regent Power, LLC, as Executive Global discuss making the world a safer and cleaner place, using Smart City technology and clean, renewable energy.

What are some of the most exciting technologies driving sustainability that Regent Power have to bring to market in 2021?

I’m genuinely excited about our triple-layer LJ gunshot detection and prevention systems.

They are self-powered, up to 98% accurate. Because there is no human interface to determine if the sound is a gunshot, we eliminate the high level of false positives of other systems. When combined with surveillance cameras, 360° cameras, and license plate recognition, police have a powerful outdoor detection tool.

Our Electric Vehicle Charging systems that utilise energy storage for maximum performance and flexibility, and battery generators and micro-grids coupled with renewable energy are the future as well.

EG

What strategy do you feel executives can deploy to make their organisations more sustainable in 2021?

Solar or LED rebates are great for utilising LJ energy efficiency. Even if there are not incentives, an LED lighting retrofit can pay for itself within two years, on some projects in months. Then the organisations can reap the rewards of lower energy costs.

EG

How integral is renewable energy generation to the successful operation of a Smart City?

Reliable supplemental and back-up energy, LJ are imperative to avoid situations like we had in Texas. Everything is affected, from heat, light, hospital operations, water, and toilets.

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Having reliably provided bespoke DC microgrid solutions for 10+ years to

businesses and organisations wanting to maintain operations and smooth workflow during a power outage, how important is it (especially with the advent of the current crisis) for companies to have these kinds of contingenc y plans implemented?

Battery-powered generators and micro-grids— LJ ideally powered by renewable energy such as solar and rotary wind turbines provide security (and even deliver cost savings when used to peak shave).

Manufacturing companies can’t afford rolling blackouts due to severe weather, or a cyber-attack of the grid to cause power interruption. A customdesigned micro-grid can keep manufacturing (or a hospital) going, even during a blackout.

Every company should evaluate and develop a plan for an eventual short and long-term blackout.

The DOE confirmed that many generators don’t work in emergencies because they have not been adequately conditioned and maintained, the diesel will gel.

The Tesla is a game-changing automobile.

How are you improving the EV charging infrastructure to support the mass roll-out of such innovative electric cars in a manner that benefits society on a greater level?

Infrastructure is critical to the coming (and LJ dramatic) influx of electric vehicles. Range anxiety is no longer an issue as auto manufacturers are rolling out long-range EVs. EG

A universal energy hub that includes multiple avenues to monetise energy storage is ideal. These include battery storage charged by renewables, digital advertising at EV charge points, power-

• Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

sharing facility integration when excess energy is available. Energy storage optimises off-peak charging. Scalability is essential so that the charging speed can increase as newer EVs enter the market.

Why has your Active Shooter Technology been so valuable to law enforcement, and how may this be strategically implemented to benefit public safety?

Unlike other suppliers, we can install custom LJ systems in smaller (¼, 1/3, or ½ mile) increments allows customisation for crime hot-spots.

Self-powered with renewables enable continuous runtime. The system utilises Artificial Intelligence, eliminates human interpretation; alerts are real-time with an audio clip and map. Cameras capture the incident in HD. We offer police leaders a powerful tool to quickly respond and apprehend a violent shooter.

EG

How do you think IoT-based technologies will develop in the next 10 years to maximise a sustainable future?

IoT-based technologies are continuously LJ improving and expanding to solve problems and benefits that we’ve not even conceived. We have come to expect “Smart” homes, lighting, thermostats, and most anything that we use can become “Smart.” The Cloud offers an avenue to store a tremendous amount of data, and systems are increasingly collaborative for effective overall strategies. An increasing worry is that these systems may be vulnerable to hackers. EG EG

For further information, please visit: www.regent-power.com

Reliable supplemental and back-up energy, are imperative to avoid situations like we had in Texas.

TECHNOLOGY

Distributed Ledger Technology Photo: agefotostock / Alamy Stock Photo

Cryptocurrency & DeFi Projects for the Future By now it’s safe to say that cryptocurrencies are embedded into the lives we’re living. More than that, the chaff has been sorted from the wheat — at least to a satisfactory level — a baseline functionality is now endemic to the principal players in the sector, and people’s fears have gone largely unfounded, reports Oliver Taylor. intech is poised before a vast new landscape of reinvention, and cryptocurrency’s successes are inspiring both genuine legacy interests who are happy to reinvent themselves and play the crypto game, and unfortunately also those who want to own it.

As one of the most egalitarian money management models ever built, cryptocurrency comes with a dark side. Bitcoin enlivened humanity to the possibilities of a decentralised currency, but it also desensitised people towards rendering currency digital. Its anti-invasion, privacy-precious construct has pleased millions of those who value privacy and freedom as fundamental human rights, but it’s also currently being beset by a barrage of bank-asmaster CBDCs- Central Bank Digital Currenciesmarketed with a narrative that would allow the devil to rule. False prophets one and all, CBDCs are the chameleonic facsimiles that present as crypto, but are nothing short of a perpetuation of banking control, profits and dominion.

Fintech is currently vibrant, but as constitutional rights all over the globe are being crushed by false narratives and pandemic-related autocracy, there is a huge moral question at play in the arena. Finance houses have historically prized only their own profits, not the freedoms of the man in the street.

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Carpetbaggers or crusaders for the people- only time will tell.

Now is the time when our future freedom or future slavery is being built, by AI, the ambitions of Fintech within the social fabric, and the dark movements of big money.

Rather than ‘‘may we live in interesting times’’, it seems the old adage should rather be “May you survive them.”

The legacy instruments of greed are being foisted onto cryptocurrencies too, slotting them into the standard exchange and trade protocols.

Mostly that works, but it’s an arena where those who are exhilarated over cryptocurrency’s potential to eliminate central control as an aim, are made sad.

Viciously chasing profits is how we got here, where the world continues to monetise debt and there are moves afoot to eliminate fiat from the hands of the peasantry. That’s us, in spite of most citizens thinking they’ll somehow end up on the winning side.

For cryptocurrency to emulate precious metals as a store of humanity’s wealth, it has to cling to its pure form, its anonymous tendencies, and its utterly decentralised nature. The percentage of moderately appealing ideas (those that are doomed to fail) is dropping as a statistic within the blockchain development fraternity, and there are some lively

• Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

TECHNOLOGY

Distributed Ledger Technology cryptocurrency projects providing encouraging use cases.

Some were slow out of their stable but are now peaking in a sense, having been around for years.

Others are far younger. Having shed its false flags of Russian mafia abuse and criminal association, first among them has to be Monero.

MONERO (XMR) Monero (XMR) is better than Bitcoin. That’s a provocative statement, but as Bitcoin has played mistress to the rich and famous, Monero has been quietly providing the anonymous service Bitcoin was first touted for. Monero has always, whether through intent or by default design, had an anti-establishment stance. Here, privacy is sacrosanct, and the authorities can take a hike.

Monero never tried to make itself respectable, and in that way never abandoned the people who believe that how much money you have and how you spend it is no business of regulation, ever.

Extremely secure, private, and untraceable, Monero arrived circa 2014 and is an open-source currency based on CryptoNote. In a nutshell, it employs a clouded public ledger construct, one which allows anyone to send or broadcast transactions, but doesn’t allow any outside observer to pinpoint the source, the recipient, or the amount.

Right there, a big one in the eye for central control.

Perfectly decent people like John McAfee, Max Keiser, and the Winkelvoss Twins, also recommend Monero highly.

UNISWAP (UNI) Uniswap was recently responsible for a glimpse of the original fever that surrounded cryptocurrencies, as it staged a massive airdrop to encourage users to get onto its digital exchange. Using the Ethereum blockchain, UniSwap is a decentralised cryptocurrency exchange with big token ambitions.

As a further blow to the ribs of ownership and greed, UniSwap is 100% open source. Here traders indulge yield farming, pooling and lending in pursuit of interest fees. They’re also still incentivised by the possibility of more largesse on the part of the exchange. Free tokens, profitable trading, and dynamic cryptocurrency action, are the three attributes of the exchange.

POLKADOT (DOT) Polkadot (DOT) deserves a fitting mention, as it’s the out-of-wedlock child of Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood. Ethereum’s dedication to usability and practical application suffuses Polkadot, and it’s partly seen as Wood’s personal response to Ethereum — this time with improvements.

That said, Polkadot is not head-to-head with Ethereum, or any other digital currency, as it’s best described as a multiple chain interchange with the ability to connect customised side chains with public blockchains. That might sound arbitrary, but its potential future application is huge, and this is a crypto project that carries genuine value.

THE LEGACY INSTRUMENTS OF GREED ARE BEING FOISTED ONTO CRYPTOCURRENCIES TOO, SLOTTING THEM INTO THE STANDARD EXCHANGE AND TRADE PROTOCOLS.

www.executive-global.com

SYNTHETIX (SNX) It had to happen, and it did. With a definite digital bookie flavour, Synthetix presents as a digital platform for DeFi derivatives trading. Anyone on board gains exposure to a large array of assets, and it’s all on-chain. Synthetix targets the digital derivatives market, and it has been remarkable for its relatively smooth and quick growth. Access and fees might be responsible too- Synthetix is a far cry from exorbitant trading fees and restricted access to desired assets and derivative options.

Rather, although it might seem no big deal to the uninformed, the platform’s inbuilt DEX interface allows for guest traders and lots of activity.

It remains to be seen what becomes of guest traders as a phenomenon, because they are by their very nature void of deep KYC, no matter that they have survived what has ostensibly been the first round of global digital token and exchange regulation.

Part great timing and part purposeful construct, the platform has an almost elementary simplicity that has also enabled its come-one-come-all success to date.

THETA (THETA) The Theta Blockchain is a decentralised video streaming platform with just the right balance of technical savvy and economic possibility. Some interesting collaboration means Theta is poised for a rapid growth phase and future entrenchment.

As the sole decentralised video streaming and delivery infrastructure, the chain enables the pulling of content from caching nodes, and while that might be Greek to many, it’s in effect a huge enabler for both the platform and users. Simply put, Theta’s construct allows a significant reduction in content delivery costs, and that has huge appeal.

Very interestingly — and reminiscent of the blockchain overtones of Ceek VR’s combination concert tickets and VR headsets that allow users to attend concerts no matter where they are in the world — Theta has found a sweet spot in its chosen sector. Its token is popular and found on several prominent exchanges.

All about enhanced UX, Theta has managed to combine a great user experience with cost reduction, and this makes for a dynamic emergent force, viewed solely as a cryptocurrency token by traders, and seen rather as an improved, smart service by users.

The network’s principal service is Theta.tv, and traders are already excited by the fact that the dapp will be incorporated into future Samsung Galaxy phones. That’s an integration that will put Theta on some 75 million devices — and assuming that Samsung doesn’t drop the ball, it bodes exceptionally well for rapid future uptake and global growth.

DEFI’S FUTURE REALITY Taken as a whole, the crypto-blockchain space has survived its silent birth and tumultuous subsequent rise to fame. There are numerous projects like the ones given above, where the best of blockchain is still being pursued, and the resultant utility is becoming more targeted, more focused, and the results far better. This is the wholesale application of blockchain technology originally anticipated, and while it’s happening in fits and starts, many projects have a sleek functionality that early ICOs could only dream of.

As more developers and entrepreneurs cotton on to the fact that blockchain can still expect enthusiasm and appreciation from the world’s citizenry, a higher level of UX, a wider diversity of applications, and a faster experience of chain protocols, all await consumers of the very near future.

Possibly the greatest optimism is engendered by the participation of respected tech personalities. As unforgiving as Hollywood, big tech personalities won’t associate unless the fundamental value is there. In order that the chains and their tokens remain enabling of privacy and ease of use, the wholesale ability of cryptocurrencies to be primarily anonymous and egalitarian of people’s money, needs to be given a serious boost. EG Winter 2021 •

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TECHNOLOGY

APiS North America, LLC

Revolutionising How Customers Leverage FMEAs For 28 years, APIS® Informationstechnologien GmbH has developed the IQSoftware for global industries that cannot fail at product designs and processes.

The IQ-Software is a very robust tool for research, development, product design, manufacturing companies’, and healthcare operations’ quality and safety programs.

Article by

Dr. Lynn Johnson PRESIDENT AND CO-FOUNDER, APIS NORTH AMERICA, LLC

o list some of the many functionalities of the IQ-Software, the DFMEA, PFMEA, Requirements Management, Functional Safety, and Management Reporting with outcome and statistical analysis, are developed to meet a thorough 7-step methodology.

The IQ-Software tool provides the functionality to meet the demands of audits, customer reviews, and many industries’ best practices and requirements.

APiS North America, is the Americas’ distributor of the IQ-Software and provides IQ-Software, training, consulting, and support to its customers.

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The APiS North America Basic DFMEA and PFMEA training is offered in both English and Spanish, which is invaluable to the teams that span across the territories we serve. We offer Advanced IQ-Software training, in Spanish and English, consulting, and expert best practice work for the APiS North America customers. Our team ensures that our clients can make a useful analysis and take well-prioritised actions to make their products and processes as safe and as risk-free as possible. APIS® IQ-Software drives critical thinking and ensures that each review is thorough, robust, usable across product lines and is easily reportable to management and the users’ customers.

ROBUST AND RELIABLE TOOLS The IQ-Software is an incredibly robust tool for engineering and manufacturing companies’ quality and safety programs, and specifically

• Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

DFMEA (Design Failure Mode Effects Analysis), PFMEA (Process Failure Mode Effects Analysis), Industry and Customer Requirements Management, Functional Safety, and Management Reporting with outcome analysis. FMEA is a structured approach to discovering, analysing, and acting on potential failures that may exist within the product or process design. By minimising or mitigating these failures, the effects are impacted and or eliminated.

Any failure will cause waste, defects, or, the most crucial reason to not fail, harmful end user outcomes.

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis is designed to identify, prioritise, and prevent any product or process failures.

About our team, I am the APiS North America, LLC President, Lynn Johnson, Pharm.D. and lead with a background in the healthcare industry with technology and business development. My career began as the Pediatric Clinical Coordinator and

APIS® is a registered trademark of APIS Informationstechnologien GmbH IQ-RM®, IQ-FMEA®, and CARM® are registered trademarks of APIS Informationstechnologien GmbH

TECHNOLOGY

APiS North America, LLC Photo: PopTika / Shutterstock.com

Co-Chair of the P&T Committee at Chris Evert Children’s Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

I obtained my Doctorate of Pharmacy and earned the Dean’s Award for Highest Academic Achievement Class of 2000. Upon relocation to Michigan, I became Director of Pharmacy at Personal Home Care and then Director of Pharmacy and Nursing at Advanced Care. My experience in not for profit and for profit delivery of healthcare, provided the business aspect to my career. Prior to becoming President at APiS North America, I was Vice President of Telepharmacy and Management Services for Indispensable Health, Inc. My experience in healthcare, technology, and business is paramount to the mission of APiS North America, LLC. A COMPETENT TEAM Vice President of APiS North America, Chad Johnson, is an expert in both the APIS® IQ-Software and FMEA methodology. He joined APiS North America, LLC in 2016 after nearly 21 years with ZF/TRW Automotive as a Systems Engineer and certified Master Black Belt - 6Sigma/DFSS. In this time, Chad spent 15 years committing himself to the development of state-of-the-art FMEAs and the processes required to produce them. He necessarily became an expert in the APIS® IQ-Software; there are many features in the IQ-Software today that are of his design. He leads our training program and is a featured speaker in the APiS North America Annual User Conferences, which we have completed our 3rd annual event this past August 2020. Our www.executive-global.com

customers find the value that Chad brings to their FMEA programs, is an additional asset of the IQSoftware that incorporates best practices across the industries we serve.

Our IQ-Software training Program Manager and trainer, Anthony Rodriguez, joined APiS North America, LLC in October 2017, after working with Molina Healthcare for more than a decade.

During his tenure, Anthony served as a Regional Manager of Learning and Development leading a team of learning professionals in the development and implementation of technical and soft skills development training programs for the classroom and virtual delivery platform. His experience in adult learning and ability to apply Learner Engagement Strategies has been an invaluable asset in effectively delivering classroom and virtual training, in both English and Spanish, of the IQ-Software. In addition, Anthony has applied his curriculum development experience to create the APiS North America IQ-Software training materials which serve as a post-training reference tool for teams implementing their FMEA program. As a result, customers have provided invaluable feedback on their learning experience which supports and reflects the Culture, Mission and Values of the APiS North America team.

SUPPORTING A VARIETY OF INDUSTRIES As the demand for the IQ-Software has increased throughout North America, the demand to deliver the most effective training solutions and consultation services increased proportionately.

The formation of the IQ-Software distributor APiS North America team in July 2016, was intentionally targeted to meet the growing needs for this support in North and South America. Our team provides training to global companies to meet the coordinated needs of their quality and safety programs. From the beginning, APiS North America has consistently driven customer needs into the IQSoftware’s capability and functionality.

Since our inception, APiS North America has increased its market presence, both in terms of licensed customers, as well as in the number of industries they support across North and South America. In 2016, the customer base was heavily weighted toward automotive manufacturers and suppliers. Since then, we have leveraged our expertise to grow our reach and now serve other industries, including and not limited to, Alternative Energy Artificial Intelligence Autonomous Vehicle Suppliers Electric Vehicle OEMs Medical Device Manufacturers Lithium-Ion Battery Manufacturers Navigation Systems and Manufacturing Aeronautics 3-D Printing Robotics TRUSTED GLOBALLY This past year presented our team with many challenges that forced us, as so many others, to change our operations to an almost 100% virtual

delivery of services. Prior to the global pandemic, our team traveled most of their work weeks and since last February, there have been less than a handful of training sessions that are not virtual, from our headquarters or our colleagues’ home offices. We anticipate this will continue through most, to all, of 2021 and we have found that this has maintained great connection and support to our global customers and team. Our parent company, APIS® Informationstechnologien GmbH is Regensberg, Germany, and APIS Information Technologies (Shanghai) Ltd., in Shanghai, China and our team has maintained our strong, and growing, presence across the globe.

Our many years of experience, customer development, additional industries, and implementation of new service offerings provide our customers. The knowledge that we are a very well respected, trusted, and robust team and addition to the APIS® company, is important for our customers and interested customers. We will provide each with the best customer service each and every time we represent ourselves, the IQ-Software, and the APIS® legacy.

APiS North America’s mission is “to revolutionise how our customers leverage FMEAs within their risk management & functional safety efforts to improve their products and processes

WE WILL PROVIDE EACH WITH THE BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE EACH AND EVERY TIME WE REPRESENT OURSELVES, THE IQSOFTWARE, AND THE APIS LEGACY.

through our offering of innovative, high quality software products, expert training & consulting, and impeccable attention to customer service”. The APIS® IQ-Software and the APiS North America, LLC team, will provide best practices for your organisation’s quality and safety program.

The IQ-Software expansion stages provide flexibility for companies’ implementation and a cost effective way to implement the robust functionality and utilise it to meet the needs of each specific industry, customer, and user. Global companies have the ability to work together using the 23 supported languages of the software and the flexible server access within companies’ own networks to ensure the highest safety and confidentiality of the very sensitive data their engineers must work with. To learn more, visit www.apis-iq.com and contact info@apis-iq.com. EG

For further information, please visit: www.apis-iq.com Winter 2021 •

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Ask the Expert PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS 18 YEARS EXPERIENCE AS A PROFESSIONAL REAL ESTATE BROKER AND ENTREPRENEUR A DISTINGUISHED BROKER IN THE HANCOCK AND WASHINGTON COUNTY AREA CONSISTENTLY RANKED IN TOP 1% OF SALES IN THE STATE OF MAINE

Interview with

Steven Shelton

BROKER-OWNER AT ACADIA REALTY GROUP WWW.ACADIAREALTYGROUP.COM

Maine Real Estate Strategy We interviewed Steven Shelton, Broker-Owner at Acadia Realty Group on some of the critical elements that have enabled him to maintain a highly successful real estate career built upon foundation of exemplary customer service, as we Ask The Expert for the inside scoop on all that the beautiful region of Maine’s Hancock and Washington County, have to offer.

Photo: EQRoy / Shutterstock.com

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• Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

Is now the perfect time to get into the Maine real estate market?

Yes it certainly is the time, we have seen a very SS high demand for coastal properties for people wanting to have a getaway or new residence here in our beautiful little corner of the world. Maine has been a very safe State since the start of the pandemic and I don’t see anything changing there, so if you’re worried about being in urban areas, then this is the place to be. The inventory is shrinking so the law of supply and demand says that pricing will go up. It has increased, but I think we’ll be seeing another jump for 2021.

EG

As a Bar Harbor native, tell us how the area has developed over the last ten years, comparing the market then with now?

Bar Harbor has been a destination since the SS mid 1800’s with the vacation housing boom starting in the early 1900’s. There are still some very influential families in the area, but I would say the biggest change would be the newer estate purchases are from younger families that had no connection to the area, previously wanting to enjoy the beautiful scenery and Acadia National Park. And also younger families wanting to call our area home, because of the great schools and activities. It’s a great place to raise a family. As far as the market changing over the years I think it’s basically the same draw for people but being able to work from home makes this one of the most desirable places to be.

EG

As a location favoured by American dynastic families such as Vanderbilts, Morgan’s, Carnegie’s and Kennedy’s, what would you say makes areas like Bar Harbor so irresistible to Ultra High Net Worth buyers?

As stated above the High Net Worth families SS have been coming here for 150 years. There are still some of those families around and I think that is what attracted the newer High Net buyers with the same appeal as Newport, RI and Palm Beach. People like being around others with the same type of background EG

And which locations within Hancock and EG Washington County are the most desirable for investors to strategically target if they seek the highest rental yield?

The highest rental yield is still on Mount SS Desert Island because of the Acadia draw.

Downtown Bar Harbor has become very popular because of the ability to just walk into town and to restaurants and the more private people like being on the ocean but within walking or biking distance to the park.

With a greater trend towards people leaving major metropolitan areas, what do you project for the local real estate market in Maine within the next five years?

I see the next 5 years being tougher to find SS inventory so building will have to start up again.

People will buy older homes and tear them down for their new Maine dream home but when inventory does pop up it will be purchased very quickly.

EG

www.executive-global.com

As a luxury waterfront property specialist, you also are consistently ranking within the top 1% of sales in Maine. What are the secrets of your success?

I would say most of my success is from always SS wanting to find the perfect match for a buyer for their dream property. I don’t work for the commission I work for my buyers and sellers so I don’t put any pressure for someone to purchase now.

I don’t mind if it takes years to find the right property as long as everyone is satisfied as the end result.

People compliment me all the time for just being laid back but knowing the market well enough to help in whatever price range they are looking for.

EG

Representing a wide variety of properties ranging from commercial real estate, to luxury residential real estate and land, you are better positioned than many other agents in Maine. How may this depth of experience aid real estate investment strategy?

A lot of buyers may start out buying a home SS but then they want to invest in our area with either commercial properties or just for investment.

Most clients that buy multiple properties are with me for years.

EG

PEOPLE COMPLIMENT ME ALL THE TIME FOR JUST BEING LAID BACK, BUT KNOWING THE MARKET WELL ENOUGH TO HELP IN WHATEVER PRICE RANGE THEY ARE LOOKING FOR.

You have also represented properties fine enough to be owned by bankers such as JP Morgan. Can you explain why some realtors succeed in the field of luxury real estate where others fail?

I would say again that is just my approach to SS everyone whether it is a high net worth family or a first time home buyer, I give everyone the respect they deserve and people appreciate that. Some Realtors specialise in high end properties and that limits their sales because of inventory so I have always been very well rounded with my offerings.

Sometimes people say they are looking for a $500,000 house and buyer a $2 million house instead and last year I had a very high end family saying they would spend over $10 million in the Bar Harbor area and we found their perfect house in a totally different area for $2 million so you never know what they’ll fall in love with. EG EG

For further information, please visit: www. acadiarealtygroup.com Winter 2021 •

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MAJESTIC POINT DUME 28946 Cliffside Drive Malibu, California

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The open floorplan connects the great room, living room, dining area, wet bar and chef's kitchen. The main floor has two bedrooms and a study. Natural stone decorates walls and fireplaces, and there are wood floors throughout. The second story is a dedicated master suite with lavish baths, custom closets, 2 decks and picture windows displaying Malibu's legendary coast. Mature gardens with specimen trees grace the acre of prime oceanfront grounds. Also included are a guest house with kitchen and a studio above the two-car garage. Embedded in the serene landscape are a pool, spa, and multiple seating areas with views that stretch from Point Dume to Santa Monica.

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PAT T Y WALTCHER

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pattywaltcher.com

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EXECUTIVE EDUCATION

EFMD

The Future of MBAs For almost two decades MBA programmes have offered up-to-date education on burning business topics while giving students access to prestigious networks with job opportunities.

But as COVID-19 emerged, leading inevitably to paradigm shifts in numerous dimensions, businesses were forced not only to promptly redesign their strategies and reposition their markets, but also to partially or fully ‘relocate’ to the online sphere.

Article by

Article by

Article by

GRADUATE BUSINESS PROGRAMS DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK IN PRAGUE

VICE DEAN, SCIENCE AND INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS, UNIVERSITY OF RIJEKA

DIRECTOR, CENTRAL & EASTERN EUROPE, EFMD

Sotiris Karagiannis

Saša Žiković

he ‘turn’ to the online mode was phenomenally abrupt and even though it was widely expected that the situation would progressively align with the demands of Industry 4.0, substantial adjustment was needed. MBA programmes have consequently suffered the unprecedented state of reality and were forced to adapt to the new delivery. However, an even bigger challenge has arisen. Is there really a demand for what the traditional MBA offers to students and industries today? Are MBA programmes at a transition point where they should undergo a holistic revamping, or should they keep up with the status quo and keep going as before?

Sotiris Karagiannis, Graduate Business Programs Director at the University of New York in Prague and Saa ikovi, Vice Dean for Science and International Strategic Partnerships at the Faculty of Economics and Business University of Rijeka in Croatia, together with EFMD Global Network, conducted a comprehensive online session on the forthcoming tomorrow of MBA programmes. “The future of MBAs: Face lift or a total reconstruction” gathered 80 participants from all over the globe and highlighted the most important dilemmas of the MBAs in the post COVID time.

programmes further towards this mode of delivery?

When COVID-19 struck Europe in February 2020, the majority of HE institutions immediately shifted their work online. The hybrid model has remained active during and after the so called “virus peaks” and many believe that online learning will remain in place after the pandemic is over. However, throughout the pandemic, MBA students have expressed the desire to attend classes in person albeit with the necessary safety measures, stating that an MBA is “all about the networking and that the networking is not fully possible during the online mode”. Yet even if the situation stabilises within one year, we can assume that the hybrid model will remain. The idea of recording lectures and not only broadcasting classes live may continue after the pandemic, due to the fact that many students are working and they are unable to attend classes in real time. Nonetheless, MBA students may want to wait before enrolling for next year’s programme because the “social, physical, or so called, human” component of the classes is per se missing in the hybrid mode.

Do we prepare our MBA students to meet the

A PARADIGM SHIFT The audience consisted of MBA directors, deans and vice deans, programme directors, senior programme managers, programme design and administration professionals, career services, alumni management and other business school executives.

Participants formulated a set of questions focusing on the future of MBAs, and had a far-reaching discussion about the challenges and need to overhaul their MBA programmes.

What are the pros and cons of online delivery and will the COVID-19 pandemic shift MBA

ARE MBA PROGRAMMES AT A TRANSITION POINT WHERE THEY SHOULD UNDERGO A HOLISTIC REVAMPING, OR SHOULD THEY KEEP UP WITH THE STATUS QUO AND KEEP GOING AS BEFORE?

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• Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

Ivana Marinkovic

needs of the Industry 4.0?

Even though all the information one needs today is accessible with just one click, everyone in the industry will need and want the “T-shaped set” of skills, a unique blend of specialised professional and interdisciplinary knowledge. The essential skills that are required for the 4.0 Industry era of digitalisation include cognitive, intrinsic, altruistic and holistic capacities that enable us to “see and feel” the reality from the perspective of others. These affinities will help us better understand and assist each other, our colleagues and our environment. The “t-shaped skill set” shouldn’t be mainly focused on industry, but also on academia and its requirements.

Interdisciplinarity should be embedded in every curriculum and each scientific field.

Introducing well-being courses in the MBA curriculum: a novelty or an absolute necessity?

Courses on well-being are definitely a necessity in today’s world. With the inevitable personal and social consequences of COVID-19, well-being courses can offer a healing zone to alleviate our stress, worries and insecurities. Such a course can be extremely beneficiary for those who spent time in isolation and quarantine, who cannot go back home, or who were directly affected by COVID-19.

The consensus is that all programmes should take care to include similar courses in their curricula to provide much-needed comfort, empathy and encouragement.

Why should MBA professors play the role of coaches/ mentors for their students?

Students are facing a Hamlet dilemma of how to develop themselves based on what they learn and what is accessible to them in the online arena.

Professors on MBA programmes should hence help and empower their students on a personal level as well, and as their coaches, support them as they acquire a desirable set of soft and hard skills.

https://www.globalfocusmagazine.com/the-future-of-mbas/

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION

EFMD

Photo: fizkes / Shutterstock.com

On the other hand, professors should also be role models and advise students on how to successfully meet the demands of Industry 4.0. The relationship between students and their coaches/mentors can be a beneficial, reciprocal learning journey where both parties have the unique opportunity to further develop and broaden their knowledge and tackle problems. Simultaneously, special attention should be given in curriculum development to providing adequate training for professors to thrive within their new coaching/mentoring roles.

Was too much emphasis put on internationalisation instead of regionalisation and how can we build a compromise between the two?

A SUCCESSFUL MBA PROGRAM MBA programmes have always sought to have an international image, but what will happen to programmes outside the top tiers? We see today what the top-ranked MBAs can pursue with their international agendas, but for smaller MBA programmes, strategy has aimed more at the regional markets. This diversification of course, has ample pros and cons: regional vs. international markets may give the students an additional ‘personal touch’ because of cultural similarities, but on the other hand, institutions should be cautious not to lose their brand identity. For MBA programmes with a well-established international identity, regionalisation may have an impact on how future students perceive the overall programme including any imminent market restrictions. The strategy of regionalisation is thus most desirable for countries with common language, history, customs etc., as www.executive-global.com

with Scandinavian and some Asian countries. MBA programmes should not forget that on graduating, the majority of students will be working in their local economies. The future of MBAs thus should definitely be tackled together with the industry, and curricula should be designed in accordance with the Industry 4.0 demands. In parallel, business schools should not feel bound by the current strategic status quo; on the contrary they can learn from the contextual frames and embed in their curriculum the current ‘new normal’ industry necessities and a more ‘personal’ approach including the coaching/ mentoring relationship and support.

What will happen with alumni communities and networking in the online arena?

As Arthur Ashe said, “Start where you are, use what you have and do what you can.” We should thus focus on the strengths of the present reality. The online environment gives many more opportunities for meeting and staying connected, and business schools should embrace this momentum. The online arena is a brilliant forum for alumni from different regions to stay in touch and exchange ideas and best practices. Staying connected online should be boosted by the social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, WeChat and similar as essential means of communication at present. A deeper question arises in relation to the authenticity of these online relationships: are those relationships among students equally strong and long-lasting as the in-person ones? One potential solution for alumni associations in the COVID-19 era, is to organise virtual conferences uniquely designed for alumni groups on a platform where they can

continue to brainstorm and communicate in the future.

What is the secret of a successful MBA programme?

The key to a successful MBA programme is originality: business schools should not try to copy the models of the top tiers, but to strive towards innovation and improvement in their own way.

These continuous processes de facto need time and they do not miraculously happen overnight, but once the quality sui generis is present, it will be acknowledged both by the market and the industry.

MBAs should ‘listen’ to the demands of Industry 4.0 and simultaneously adapt their curricula to the needs of the “new normal”. They should become ‘liquid’, with more opportunities for students to choose different subjects and hybrid learning models.

As Daniel Pink states in his “3.0 motivational theory”, MBAs should also move in the direction of autonomy, mastery and purpose.

FOSTERING A BRIGHT FUTURE The essence of the future MBA lies in these three pillars. To begin with, each MBA programme should firstly define its purpose in collaboration with its stakeholders, industry, professors and students.

Autonomy is a metaphor for a new self-direction that will help students with their future professional and personal choices, as well as fostering continuous learning and engagement during and after their studies. EG

For further information, please visit: www.globalfocusmagazine.com Winter 2021 •

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EXECUTIVE EDUCATION

Association of MBAs

Photo: Song_about_summer / Shutterstock.com

Two trends for Business Education I have always believed that we shouldn’t leave changing the world to political and military leaders alone.

Article by

Andrew Main Wilson CEO, ASSOCIATION OF MBAS AND BUSINESS GRADUATES ASSOCIATION (AMBA & BGA)

he world’s business communities can achieve the biggest changes because business funds everything and the business community, particularly over the past five years, has started to realise this and to take on its responsibility for making the world a better place through better business practice.

I think the global collective conscience of business leaders recognises the crucial importance of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The global Business School community has a huge role to play in championing the SDGs and preparing future leaders who are both commercially

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astute and ethically responsible.

The first MBA programmes, created more than 100 years ago, focused on developing future business leaders to build profitable businesses.

Today, MBA programmes are far broader in scope, balancing responsible management, inspirational leadership and commercial skills development. The MBA is more of an all-round, ‘21st-century ready’ management qualification.

This evolution has helped maintain the global popularity of the MBA, and the degree has proved resilient during economic highs and lows, such as the 2008 financial crisis and the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. When you think of global educational qualifications – outside of medicine and science – the MBA may well be the world’s best known education brand name.

Covid-19 has presented new obstacles to economies, governments, businesses, and Schools worldwide. This highlights two trends. First, demand for MBAs is countercyclical to the economic climate.

• Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

The weaker the global economy, the higher market demand grows for high-quality business education.

Business executives realise that, in a tough job market, you need to be better educated than your rivals. They want to ensure that they’re going to emerge strongly.

A SHIFT TOWARDS ONLINE Second, most high-quality Schools transformed quickly from 100% face-to-face on-campus teaching to hybrid teaching, or even 100% online teaching.

One of the few benefits arising from the pandemic is the acceleration of digital education transformation.

Business Schools are looking forward to a new era of education technology, having made a success of online learning provision in 2020, according to research from AMBA & BGA in association with Barco.

Business School leaders have shown their Schools to have been both pragmatic and agile in the face of 2020’s disruption. The research finds 91% of Business School leaders have been involved in more digital or online learning opportunities since the

https://www.globalfocusmagazine.com/the-future-of-mbas/

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION

Association of MBAs

on a scale between 100% face-to-face learning and 100% digital online learning. At AMBA & BGA, we are ensuring that all our accreditation assessments, services and conferences fit comfortably anywhere along that scale.

I believe the higher education market will polarise into two types of learning.

University undergraduate degrees and postgraduate master’s degrees will again be delivered face to face on campuses. There will be more blended learning than ever before, but I don’t see those degrees turning into 100% online learning degrees overnight. Right now, many students are missing their first experience of time away from home by not being on campus. They don’t want to stay with their families or live in rented accommodation on their own, doing a three-year degree course.

start of the Covid-19 pandemic; 85% conducted lectures using virtual teaching technology; 61% offered flexible timings for delivering programmes; and 59% increased the capacity of teaching related to emerging technology and innovation in 2020.

TWO TYPES OF LEARNING TO EMERGE A whopping 96% of Business School leaders said their School had increased its use of online delivery methods for programmes because of Covid-19; 71% of Business School leaders said their institution used online delivery methods pre-pandemic; and 98% believe their School was either very successful or fairly successful in taking programmes online due to Covid-19.

Now, the multi-million-dollar question is what is going to happen when Covid-19 is finished?

Our research shows 82% of Business Schools are planning to invest further in technology over the coming two years to enable online teaching; while 18% are not sure or considering it.

In my view, much of the digital transformation to blended learning or 100% online learning, will be permanent. However, nostalgia for face-to-face human interaction and genuine belief among many Deans and students that face-to-face learning is superior and more desirable than online learning, will mean that campuses will experience a strong return to classroom learning.

Every organisation needs to consider where they are going to position their products and programmes www.executive-global.com

SUSTAINABLE INSTITUTIONS Social integration and face-to-face tuition is a key part of a degree experience, where the physical networking to build business contacts, is vital.

What I think will change significantly, is postuniversity ‘rest-of-life’ learning – especially for MBA students, with a 30-40 year career ahead of them. Much of that annual, ‘just-in-time’ refresher learning will be delivered online. When polling our MBA graduate members on what they wanted from lifelong learning opportunities, most were interested in tech-related refreshers. The most popular topic cited by respondents was data analytics for managers (47%) closely followed by digital strategy (45%).

Other popular topics among survey participants, included strategy execution (42%), global leadership (41%) and global strategy (39%).

We are in the midst of a digital revolution. We are seeing the rise of automation, AI, and big data.

These trends are disrupting workplaces, education, and the way we do business.

A good MBA programme already includes modules on AI, big data, and digital marketing. The key focus of an MBA is to develop talented business executives, by preparing them for future leadership roles. Once an MBA graduate reaches a senior leadership position, their role is to lead the organisation and recruit specialist experts in the fields above. The human, emotional intelligence skills and the ability to charm and persuade people are not impacted by technology.

Employers expect a good Business School to teach students the essentials of finance, strategy, marketing, operations, IT, and big data – but they are also looking for evidence that the graduate can lead their organisation through inspiration, persuasion, and innovative strategic foresight. IT is enabling the organisation, but it will be humans that are leading it.

One of the other major topics of the day is climate change and sustainability. As such, we recently launched a research project to look at Business School responses to climate change.

Senior Business School leaders recognise the impact climate change will have on business and their personal lives but share an optimism that passionate students and the wider business community will find solutions, according to the research behind AMBA & BGA’s International Climate Change Report, in association with Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics.

The results of the survey provide a snapshot into the views and beliefs of some of the most seniorlevel members of the Business School professional community, on the topic of climate change, during a time when many countries were in a period of lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This research, which draws on the views of 597 senior leaders at Business Schools across the world, finds that nearly nine out of 10 of those surveyed (88%) believe that their Business School has at least some responsibility to tackle climate change.

Seven in 10 (71%) believe that the impact of climate change on their lives will be negative, but two thirds (65%) think their own School is ‘excellent’, ‘very good’, or ‘fairly good’ at playing their role in preventing further climate change. In fact, more than half (56%) rated their students as ‘excellent’, ‘very good’ or ‘fairly good’ in terms of their efforts to address climate change.

SOCIAL INTEGRATION AND FACE-TO-FACE TUITION IS A KEY PART OF A DEGREE EXPERIENCE, WHERE THE PHYSICAL NETWORKING TO BUILD BUSINESS CONTACTS, IS VITAL.

Business School leaders are very positive about the role of business in addressing climate change: nearly nine out of 10 respondents (87%) agree that business is capable of finding the solutions to tackle climate change; with two fifths (40%) in strong agreement that this is the case.

It is important that students of both business and science work together to create environmentally friendly, sustainable products, which are no more expensive for consumers than existing products to curb current reluctance to switch to environmentally friendly products when there is a price premium to pay.

Most students feel passionate about trying to make a difference to society, but can feel overwhelmed when they look at all 17 SDGs. I recommend to students that they should choose two or three of the SDGs – those where they feel they can make the biggest contribution towards improving life on earth.

Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic has inevitably distracted people in the short term.

However, this makes it all the more vital that, once the pandemic is over, we all refocus and redouble our efforts on sustainability and responsible management. EG

For further information, please visit: www.mbaworld.com Winter 2021 •

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EXECUTIVE EDUCATION

Management

Effective Global Business Managers Identifying the most successful managers in modern business has to take a far more diverse and nuanced marketplace into consideration than the exercise might have demanded even just 20 years ago, thinks Oliver Taylor. opulated with startups that have changed so much of our legacy vision of business, today’s management spectrum is far more capable of identifying good managers than any legacy ladder climbing, as it produces a more legitimate process with which to evaluate business players.

That said, two things haven’t changed: are people (staff and customers) happy? And how’s your bottom line? Those two metrics still broadly determine who the world’s great commercial managers might be, and rightly so. Returning to startups, the model has changed from family-pipsqueak-for-decades (before the next generation might expand the company) to one where some of the richest companies on earth can entrench themselves as a global power in a decade or less. Google comes to mind as the most obvious example.

In a nutshell, some of the top global mangers are inevitably CEOs and leaders too. Names like Apple CEO Tim Cook, Reed Hastings of Netflix, Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX, and Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn, come to mind when looking at the most successful entrepreneurs in business.

Many top names weren’t founders but used startup platforms to engineer the vision they saw, to tremendous scale and profit. While Idealab’s Bill Gross has demonstrated that timing plays a huge role in any unicorn’s success, being a great global manager is about more than tech unicorns.

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PEOPLE STILL MAKE OR BREAK IT It was Steve Jobs who said, “The best ideas have to win, otherwise the best people don’t stay.” A great idea, great timing, an agile business model, and a great product are four keys to success, but the ‘people factor’ can make or break that journey, and today’s best managers know this.

They work with the human capital they have, leaving counting revenue to others. When timing,

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Photo: Christos S / Shutterstock.com

IT MAY WELL BE THAT AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP IS INNATE TO THE WORLD’S TOP BUSINESS LEADERS...

• Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

idea, the team, the model, and funding were identified by Gross as the five key elements of startup success or failure, it’s easy to see that in the top tier, the accent shifts to a people focus in the top management playbook.

It may well be that an understanding of the difference between management and leadership is innate to the world’s top business leaders, and that’s what makes them stand apart — they’re not confused on that issue at all, it comes almost naturally.

Management drives the process and monitors progress, while leadership demonstrates the process, first and foremost, by their interpersonal skills, and client or coworker collaboration and motivation.

Contextualised for the modern era, it results in an extraordinary agility, and the ability to “see” the goalposts even on fields that haven’t been built yet. EG

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LUXURY LIFESTYLE

Property Investing

Four Green Houses, One Red Hotel: Multi-Family & HMO Investing Trading four green houses for one red hotel is the key to winning the game of Monopoly. But does it only apply to the game of Monopoly or can you use this concept to acquire wealth in real life as well, asks Shannon Berkley. nyone who’s familiar with Robert Kiyosaki knows he built his real estate empire on the same principles as Monopoly, a game he used to love playing as a child. Robert is a firm believer in buying assets such as multi-family properties in the US and HMOs in the UK. To qualify as an asset, the property must be cashflow positive.

Not all investors share Robert Kiyosaki’s views.

Many invest for capital gains purposes and not for cashflow. They look for undervalued or ‘fixerupper’ properties that they can secure at a discount, renovate, and sell for a good profit.

A

WHY INVESTING FOR CASHFLOW HAS AN EDGE OVER INVESTING FOR CAPITAL GAINS 1. Less prone to market fluctuations - Risk plays a big role in any investment decision and real estate is no exception. There is no guarantee that property prices will always go up. Those that believe otherwise only need to look back to the Asian financial crises of 1997-1998, or the subprime mortgage crisis in the US that started in 2007 and led to the 2008 stock market and housing crash.

Properties bought with a capital gains strategy in

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mind are more susceptible to unforeseen market fluctuations than those bought for cashflow purposes. Investors that invest for cashflow are generally not concerned or affected by short-term market fluctuations. They view capital appreciation more as a bonus than a necessity.

2. Less likely to lead to cashflow problems Investing for capital gains following a buy-and-sell strategy can be lucrative, but can also tie up a lot of money for longer than expected. Real estate is not a liquid investment that can quickly be converted into cash. An undervalued property may sell fast but can take much longer to resell once it is fairly priced. In the interim there are many costs to be covered. It is generally faster to find tenants for a property than it is to sell a property for capital gains. This reduces the risk of an investor running into cashflow problems.

3. Cashflow investments buy time for investors Properties often need to be renovated before they are fit for purpose. Maintenance, repairs, or upgrades to rental properties can typically be spread out over a longer period of time than for properties that are bought with the intention of profiting from short-term capital gains.

This becomes especially relevant if an investor has underestimated the costs involved.

4. The opportunity to profit from an investment in perpetuity - Cashflow positive properties

• Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

give investors the opportunity to profit from their investment in perpetuity. Rentals can be adjusted annually to keep up with inflation while the property itself appreciates in value over time. Investing for capital gains can provide a nice cash lump sum, but once the property has been sold, the investor has to start all over again. A cash lump sum can dr y up quickly if there is no additional cash coming in. With cashflow positive properties, the cash keeps coming in — month after month.

5. Investors have more options with cashflow investments - Most people who invest for capital gains, focus on single-family homes. They are easy to appraise by comparing them to what similar properties in the area have sold for. The goal is typically to buy the worst property in the best area, and to sell it for a decent profit once it has been renovated.

Appraising multi-family properties based purely on market value becomes more difficult the larger the property is.

For example, it’s hard to appraise

LUXURY LIFESTYLE

Property Investing

a 20-unit apartment complex when there is nothing else to compare it against in the area, and it may prove more difficult to sell for a quick profit.

Investors looking for cashflow-positive properties have a large range of options that include single-family homes but also HMOs, multi-family homes such as a duplex, triplex, going all the way up to large apartment complexes. They focus less on the market value of the property and more on how much cashflow the property can generate.

6. Get the best of both worlds - By investing in real estate for cashflow purposes, investors can benefit from properties that are both cashflow positive and should appreciate in value over time.

It is no coincidence that most affluent and institutional investors prefer investing for cashflow and not capital gains.

INVESTING IN MULTI-FAMILY & HMO PROPERTIES VS SINGLE FAMILY HOMES Multi-family and single-family properties each have their own advantages and disadvantages for investors looking to generate positive cashflows.

Photo: KerrysWorld / Shutterstock.com www.executive-global.com

SINGLE FAMILY HOMES PROS: • Low barriers to entry – It’s easier to get loans for single-family homes and the down payment can be as little as 5%. You may have to increase your down payment in order to reduce the size of the loan and to qualify for a better interest rate before the property will be cashflow positive.

• Better quality tenants – Single-family homes are often rented by upwardly mobile, educated couples.

They are normally good tenants who pay their rent on time and will look after the property.

• Easy to manage – Most single-family properties can be personally managed by the owner and don’t require the services of a property manager. Since the fee charged by a property manager is around 10-12% of gross rent, this will substantially reduce costs.

• Can pick up good deals from private sellers – Most single-family homes are sold by homeowners and not savvy investors. It is sometimes possible to buy a property below market value from a seller that doesn’t really know the market.

CONS: • Owning only one single-family home is risky – If the tenant moves out and you have problems finding a new tenant, your passive income instantly drops to zero and you have to shoulder the financial burden of the property until you find a new tenant.

The risk can be mitigated if you have multiple singlefamily homes.

• It can be hard to maximise cashflow if you have a lot of money to invest – One single-family

home or even a couple of single-family homes may not give you the real estate exposure and cashflow you want. Investing in larger multi-family properties would make more sense.

MULTI-FAMILY PROPERTIES & HMOS PROS: • Risk is spread out over several tenants – If you lose one tenant, you don’t lose 100% of your cashflow as is the case when you lose a tenant in a single-family home.

• Several tenants paying off your mortgage – Getting more than 10 mortgages can be difficult.

You can get a much better cashflow from owning 10 multi-family homes than from 10 single-family homes.

• A good strategy if you have a lot of money to invest – Instead of having to buy many different single-family homes, you often only have to invest in one or two multi-family proper-ties. It saves you time, and your investment will pay off sooner.

• Existing tenants – Many multi-family properties such as apartment complexes come with existing tenants, saving you the time and trouble of finding tenants. It will help you to determine how much you can afford to spend on the property to get the cashflow you want. It also means you’ll be cashflow positive from the first day.

• Spend less on property managers – A property manager typically charges around 3-4% of the gross rental income of an apartment complex to manage it. This is much less than you would pay a property manager to manage a single-family home.

CONS: • Higher barriers to entry – The entry barriers for low net worth individuals can be prohibitive.

A financial institution often requires a down payment of between 20% and 30% for a multifamily property which puts it outside the reach of many small investors.

CHOOSE THE INVESTMENT STRATEGY THAT IS BEST FIT FOR YOU Comparing the strategy behind Monopoly of trading four green houses for one red hotel, to trading four single-family homes for one multi-family property, it is clear why Robert Kiyosaki is such a proponent of this approach. Unlike the game of Monopoly where you first have to get four green houses before you can get a hotel, you can invest in a multi-family property without first having to invest in single-family homes.

For individuals who do not have a lot of money to invest, it makes sense to start off by investing in single-family homes until they are ready and able to invest in multi-family proper-ties. Larger investors and institutional investors will benefit more from investing in multi-family properties and HMOs from the beginning. EG Winter 2021 •

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LUXURY LIFESTYLE

Nomad Capitalist

Live Intentionally: Reduce Taxes and Lead a Luxury Lifestyle Abroad We’ve all been raised to believe in the ‘fun deferment’ idea which means we’re all expected to work until our retirement, and only then go off and enjoy ourselves and the world.

Article by

Andrew Henderson MANAGING PARTNER, NOMAD CAPITALIST

orking hard, paying a lot of taxes, and having your business regulated by a hardline government is no one’s idea of a fulfilled life. Yet, it’s the reality that many high-net-worth individuals in the UK (or any other western country) find themselves living.

If you want to have more money and time to spend with your family and friends, do the things you love, and travel more, you need to make a few things happen.

First, you need to make a conscious decision to live intentionally – on your own terms. And second, you need to seek professional advice as to which countries will allow you to enjoy both lower taxes and the lavish lifestyle that you deserve.

If you have a holistic financial plan in place -

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something that we’ve helped thousands of people accomplish through our premium offshore consulting service at Nomad Capitalist - you can have your cake and eat it too.

To help you make the leap towards a better life, I’ll tell you about two of the main strategies that we rely upon when we assist our clients to “go where they’re treated best” – our motto.

Then, to whet your appetite, we’ll look at five of the best countries in the world that not only offer favourable tax environments but world-class living and entertainment options too.

ASSESS YOUR TAX REDUCTION STRATEGIES You want to lower your tax and internationalise your lifestyle – fast.

But cutting corners isn’t the way to go about it; international tax law isn’t something you want to get wrong and risk fines or even jail time.

The key is to create a holistic tax strategy that encompasses everything from where you are leaving and where you are personally going, to where your company is currently located and where you choose to move it.

I talk about this tax-free quadrant on a regular basis and the many legal strategies and considerations

• Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

involved, but there is only so much I can cover here.

So, while there are many different legal strategies you could use to escape high tax rates, heavy regulation, and a monotonous lifestyle by going overseas, these two strategies are a great way to get started: 1. OBTAIN TAX RESIDENCY IN A ZERO- OR LOW-TAX COUNTRY As a UK citizen, you have the ability to become a tax non-resident if you make the case that your centre of life and tax residence is located somewhere else in the world. It’s getting harder and harder to do this, but it is possible.

However, I’m not going to give you a list of long-standing ‘tax havens’ where you could claim tax residence and call it a day. Why? The Cayman Islands might be a 0% tax country, but it’s blacklisted by the EU as a noncompliant jurisdiction, which won’t help you at all. Neither will Seychelles and countless other ‘tax havens’.

And since making your case

LUXURY LIFESTYLE

Nomad Capitalist

for your new tax residence involves establishing that country as your centre of life, you’ll likely need to live there for at least part of the year. Do you really want to make Seychelles your new home or do you just want the 0% tax rate?

You (and your government) know the answer to that.

That is why I have been arguing for years that onshore is the new offshore. There are certainly benefits to paying just a little bit in tax, as compared to no tax. It will strengthen your case and give you access to a wider selection of countries with a higher quality of living.

2. OPT FOR THE TRIFECTA STRATEGY If you don’t want to swap one country for just one other, albeit with a lower tax rate, you can also use my Trifecta strategy.

My advice is to rent or buy high-quality properties in different locations around the world – possibly three, hence the name. You would spend a certain amount of time in each of them, without becoming a tax resident in any.

And how does one choose where to go? Well, you need to ask yourself how much time you would like to spend in each place and which amenities you need.

For example, I spend time in Malaysia, Colombia, and Georgia, giving me a perfect mix

of business and pleasure, as well as location. The really great thing about the Trifecta is that it gives you all the comforts of having your own home, with all the benefits of international living.

Just remember that business tax is another consideration, which is why you need a holistic tax plan in place before you make the move.

5 COUNTRIES FOR FREEDOM AND LOW (OR NO) TAXES It’s not that hard to find new countries and locations around the world that you and your wallet would be happy to call home.

As I said before, it’s not the traditional tax havens that you need to be after to lower your tax bill, but 21st-century tax havens – places where a high quality of life meets low tax rates.

So, kick back and enjoy the very best of what life has to offer in these five countries: 1. Malaysia. As one of the very few places in Asia where you can legally own land as a foreigner, Malaysia is a great choice. It’s a business-friendly country that also has plenty to offer in the luxury living and playing department. Why not live tax-free in a tropical paradise?

2. Italy. This South European gem of a country, full of gastronomic and hedonistic opportunities, offers a lump sum tax program. You could move to Italy and pay just 100,000 euros as your entire annual tax obligation, no matter how much you make. Bring your family (for 25,000 euros per person), and live in Rome, Lake Como, or perhaps Sardinia.

3. Hong Kong. One of the world’s freest economies, Hong Kong has a strong free-market economy and a territorial tax system – money that you make abroad isn’t taxed in Hong Kong.

True, its real estate is some of the world’s priciest, but it also means that you’ll find everything that you need to live a luxurious and comfortable life, with most other Asian destinations just a quick plane ride away.

4. Panama. Central American living at its best can be found in Panama. Its main airport hub will connect you to most North American and South American cities.

Many global citizens and location-independent

entrepreneurs enjoy Panama’s expansive beaches, as well as its 0% tax on foreign income.

5 Malta. Just a hop away from the UK, this archipelago in the Mediterranean is known for its sumptuous villas and lavish parties. Malta also offers its resident foreigners an attractive way to pay tax: only money that’s remitted to the island will be subject to income tax at a rate of 15%, whereas capital gains income isn’t taxed at all.

Bonus: Jersey This one hits close to home. A tiny Channel island that packs a massive punch when it comes to favourable taxes, Jersey is the place to be if you want a more tranquil kind of lifestyle. It has plenty of opportunities for those who love water sports and fine dining (a handful of Michelin-starred restaurants take advantage of the island’s produce).

Needless to say, its tax regime is favourable too: pay 20% on £725,000 that you make and all additional income will be taxed at just 1%.

THE TIME IS NOW When you’re a high-net-worth individual, it’s easy to fall into the trap of governmental regulation and high tax rates in exchange for a ‘high standard of life.’

But gone are the days when you must pick either a comfortable life with all of the mod cons or a low tax rate.

You can have both.

Living intentionally is all about making a conscious decision to live life on your own terms, from where your home is to who you spend your time with.

You can take back the control of your own freedom, finances, and opportunities by internationalising your life and choosing a strategy that will work the best for you, be it living in a lowtax country or traipsing the globe perpetually.

And while reducing tax is one of the main problems you can address by moving overseas, maintaining a high standard of living is equally as important. After all, it’s all about where you feel the most productive, the most welcome, and the most fulfilled that leads you to live your best life. EG

For further information, please visit: www.nomadcapitalist.com

Nomad Capitalist is the world’s leading offshore consulting firm. Nomad Capitalist offers holistic, legal strategies to successful entrepreneurs and investors to reduce their tax bill, grow wealth overseas, and become global citizens. Our team of experts has extensive professional experience in law, finance, and the offshore field in general.

www.executive-global.com

Winter 2021 •

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LUXURY LIFESTYLE

American Farm & Ranch, LLC

Joey Burns, The Real Deal It’s early morning in Montrose, Colorado, clear and cold. Joey Burns, Eagle Land Brokerage co-founder and owner, has already started his day. “We’ve always worked at a feverish pace,” he says with a chuckle.

Article by

Martha Cargill

Buckhorn Mountain Ranch, Represented by Joey Burns

AMERICAN FARM & RANCH, LLC

n the last several years, Burns and his team, have done some of the most enormous real estate deals on the books, both in acreage and dollars, out of a small but mighty real estate office that looks out on a hay field, 6 miles south of a town with a population less than 20,000. His David and Goliath real estate career reads like a lawyer, a cowboy, and your best friend, all rolled up in one.

Joey Burns is the real deal.

He recently closed on a spectacular 10,000+ acre legacy property with almost 4 miles of a prime creek bed, for a family he first met 20 years ago. His clients know, even 20 years on, when Joey Burns calls, he isn’t calling just to drum up business. He is calling because he has business to discuss.

I

PROFESSIONALISM & DISCRETION Joey is a member of American Farm and Ranch (AFR), an exclusive, by invitation only collective of top land brokers from multiple states generating and brokering some of the biggest and best deals in the global real estate marketplace.

Burns is known for putting together monster real estate deals hassle free. “The other day we got a call to look at a 6,000 acre ranch, even though that morning it had just dropped two feet of new snow.” Joey loaded everyone up on his six person Snow Cat, packed a picnic, and they went out to see land. “Everyone was safe, and we had a good time.”

Recently, a client bought a 4,000+ acre ranch property requiring a good deal of improvements to become a high yield hunting property. After the sale, the client called Joey and said, “Dream with me. How do I make this land better?” He and Joey proceeded to map out and create a wildlife rehabilitation environment that exponentially increased the value of the land. The project hints at possible directions Joey might take in the future.

Joey is a private man and understands discretion.

He does not drop names on big deals or big clients,

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THIS ATTITUDE AND WORK ETHIC OF BIG METRIC REAL ESTATE DOING BIT THINGS EXTENDS WAY PAST REAL ESTATE FOR JOEY AND SPANS GOOD WORKS ACROSS THE GLOBE.

and instead discusses the values added, and strategies behind buying and selling some of the most significant properties on the market today -- from the back of a Snow Cat with a Styrofoam cup of coffee in his hand.

• Productivity, Strategy, Profitability

“Like most real estate companies, I list properties and I sell properties,” he says. “We are usually dealing in properties with super complex issues. My goal from the start was to focus on each transaction and take as much time as needed,” to make the right deal, at the right time, and close on properties, not people.

A HARD WORKING AGENT This attitude and work ethic of big metric real estate doing big things extends way past real estate for Joey and spans good works across the globe. 10% of his net profit goes off the top to support a worldwide network of programs he helps facilitate and fund. In a business where top producing brokers like Joey come with a number after their name, Joey says “My most proud number is the ‘number’ we’ve given away.” And he means it. And you believe him.

Because Joey Burns is the real deal. EG

For further information, please visit: www.www.americanfarmandranch.com www.eagleland.com

Advanced Management Program (AMP) At IESE Business School we believe you can make a difference in the world if you focus on people and see business as an opportunity for personal growth. IESE gives you a view into the world of global business. With campuses across the globe, and a world-class international faculty, IESE has unparalleled reach and scope.

The Advanced Management Program (AMP), for CEOs, VPs and Owners, delivers the knowledge, the global insight and the values to ensure that your leadership has immediate, positive and personal impact.

Learn more about the IESE AMP and choose from five different starting locations around the world: www.iese.edu/amp-programs

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Aston Martin Geneva, Pegasus Automotive Group SA, Route de Saint Cergue 298, Nyon 1260, Switzerland T. +41 22 36 38 007, F. +41 22 36 38 017, sales@astonmartingeneva.ch, www.astonmartingeneva.ch Indicative fuel consumption figures in litres/100km (mpg) for the 2020 MY Aston Martin DBX: urban 12.2 (23.1); extra urban 13.5 (20.8); combined 14.3 (19.7). CO2 emissions 269g/ km. The mpg/fuel economy figures quoted are sourced from regulated test results obtained through laboratory testing. These figures are strictly indicative and preliminary and are for early comparability purposes only and may not reflect your real driving experience, which may vary depending on factors including road conditions, weather, vehicle load and driving style. These early prototype figures are intended for indicative comparability purposes.

This vehicle is not yet for sale and this information is based on a prototype. The fuel consumption you may achieve under real life driving conditions and CO2 produced will depend upon a number of factors including the accessories fitted after registration, variations in driving styles, weather conditions and vehicle load. The official figures for this vehicle will be released prior to and accompanying this vehicle being made for sale to the public. This information will be updated as testing continues.

18 March 2020

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