Lane Report Archives
Displaying 41 through 80 of 263
Monday, August 1, 2016
Cook County is taking a page out of the social enterprise playbook. The county’s new Commission on Social innovation is chartered to incubate actionable policy recommendation that would create and sustain innovative solutions to increasingly daunting social problems. And if a social enterprise is defined the way Social Enterprise Alliance sees it...
Friday, July 1, 2016
For social entrepreneurs in Chicagoland, there’s a new resource, one that could be a model for other cities.
It’s an initiative called the Commission on Social Innovation. Recently formed by the Cook County Board, the Commission aims to help meet the needs of the area’s struggling underprivileged population, in part, by encouraging the...
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
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Cook County Commissioner Jesus 'Chuy' Garcia: We want socially responsible businesses. Here's how to grow them.
Too many residents of Cook County are living on the outskirts of hope. And the challenges that poverty brings with it are tougher than ever.
Yet the social sector that helps our...
Monday, May 2, 2016
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The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has recently finalized regulations holding all financial advisors to the standards of conduct to which Registered Investment Advisors have historically been held, at least with regard to providing investment advice on retirement accounts. These new regulations, at...
Friday, April 1, 2016
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Almost every business has its own Facebook page, Twitter profile, or Instagram account these days. If used well, these social media accounts can be valuable marketing and public relations tools. You can disseminate information about new products efficiently, address the complaints of disgruntled...
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
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During this Presidential campaign season, Donald Trump has received criticism for his defunct Trump University, a school now facing two class action lawsuits from former students. Trump University was really a series of seminars in real estate investing, but some former students claim that it failed...
Monday, February 1, 2016
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When most individuals look to see how their portfolio has fared over the past one or more years, they compare their performance to the most widely used index of large cap American stocks, the Standard and Poor’s (S&P) 500. This works fine for a purely American equity portfolio. However, many...
Monday, January 4, 2016
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Illinois’ Democratic lawmakers find Republican Governor Bruce Rauner‘s “turnaround agenda” to jumpstart the state’s economic competitiveness and spur job creation politically toxic. Neither side is in any rush to compromise on legislative term limits, workers’...
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
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When a family winds up in a dispute over a dead relative’s estate, one of the accusations that may be made is that one or more persons used “undue influence” over the deceased. Typically, this involves a claim that someone improperly caused the deceased to create or amend a will or...
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Impact investing just took another big step towards becoming mainstream, with the help of the Department of Labor (DOL). And all the hard work investors have been doing to build reliable ways to measure results seems to be a contributing factor.
Specifically, the DOL recently posted guidance about what it calls economically targeted investments (ETIs) made...
Thursday, October 1, 2015
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Amid the minute-to-minute drumbeat of war and scandal and stock market upheaval no farther away than your phone or desktop, Chicago lawyer, financial advisor and author Marc J. Lane stands apart for his optimism. The Lincolnwood native’s latest book — his 35th — is titled, “The...
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
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During this summer of Trump, the nation's undocumented immigrants are under attack. All 11 million of them are unrealistically threatened with mass deportation. And the U.S. House has passed a measure that would strip federal law enforcement grants from “sanctuary cities” that shield...
Monday, August 3, 2015
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Putting aside their existential struggle over policy and power, Illinois' legislators have found common ground in supporting the state's entrepreneurial community. Come January, Illinois will boast an intrastate crowdfunding law that is more friendly to small business than any in the nation.
Equity...
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
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“Buy our product and a portion of the proceeds will go to charity!”
Such cause-related marketing, linking the sale of a company’s product or service with the promise to make a donation to a charitable cause, is popular with consumers who want to see their money put to good use, valued...
Monday, June 1, 2015
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Many cities in Illinois, overwhelmed by pension debt and faced with unprecedented cuts in state aid, soon might be lobbying the General Assembly to amend the Illinois Municipal Code to allow local governments to go bankrupt, a remedy Gov. Bruce Rauner supports.
If a pending bill sponsored by Rep. Ron...
Friday, May 1, 2015
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Volatility has once again returned to the financial markets and with it a renewed sense of fear and foreboding. It’s during these difficult market environments that investors come to recognize the benefit of having a relationship with a living, breathing investment advisor who can calm their fears...
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
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Nearly 80 percent of Chicago's voters supported a citywide advisory referendum on the Feb. 24 ballot that would reduce the influence of special-interest money in city—and state—elections by financing campaigns using small contributions from individuals and a limited amount of public money.
...
Monday, March 2, 2015
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The world is awash in issues today with troubles in the Ukraine and the Middle East taking center stage. The international currency market, however, has had its own drama unfolding, albeit rather quietly. The revaluation of the Swiss franc may have provided some theatrics; nonetheless, the larger story...
Monday, February 2, 2015
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Climate change, mostly the result of carbon pollution, threatens the health of the nation's—and Chicago's—residents. Ground-level ozone, particle pollution, pollen concentrations, infectious diseases, asthma and other respiratory illnesses, heavy rainfall and flooding, and extreme-heat events...
Friday, January 2, 2015
Most nonprofit organizations which seek to be classified as tax-exempt charities (under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code) are required to apply for recognition of their tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service. (Some nonprofit organizations can claim tax-exempt status without having to apply: these include churches and other...
Monday, December 1, 2014
The decision by Republican leaders in the U.S. House to reauthorize the federal Export-Import Bank's charter only until June, leaving the institution in limbo until another vote is taken, spells big trouble for Illinois exporters, large and small.
Since 1934 the bank has created and sustained U.S. jobs and reduced trade deficits by financing and insuring...
Monday, November 3, 2014
Have you ever searched for an item on the Internet and found advertisements for that same type of product on websites that you visit later? Have you purchased a product from the grocery store and then received coupons from other companies with competitive products?
Practically every major retailer is engaging in Big Data. Big Data is most often defined as...
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Illinois' 1848 Constitution gave voters in each county the right to organize townships for the “management of the fiscal concerns of the county.” The framers' decision for our then-30-year-old, largely agrarian state was a no-brainer: As the most local of local governments, townships would be directly accountable to residents of unincorporated...
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Navy Pier, Chicago's No. 1 tourist attraction, has a storied history. Over its 100-year life, it's been a commercial shipping destination, a Navy training center, a University of Illinois campus, a convention site and, most recently, a lakefront entertainment complex. But today not all of Navy Pier's stories are being told.
Three years ago, the...
Friday, August 1, 2014
Mission-aligned or values-based investment strategies that yield attractive social as well as financial returns have been gradually gaining ground in the foundation and non-profit communities in recent years. These organizations seek to invest their assets affirmatively, supporting their missions by aligning their investment holdings with their mission...
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
When Illinois' county-based prosecutors, charged with the twin responsibilities of protecting the public and defending the rights of victims, join forces to push back against government transparency, someone needs to cry foul and a higher authority needs to set them straight.
That's exactly what happened last month in the case of Nelson v. Kendall County,...
Monday, June 2, 2014
Gov. Pat Quinn has proudly proclaimed that Illinois is the first in the nation in renewable energy use and, while the state has unquestionably earned its bragging rights, policymakers need to do more to ensure that our clean energy sector remains strong.
First, the good news: According to a report by the Environmental Law and Policy Center and other...
Thursday, May 1, 2014
The stock market was very strong in 2013 with the S&P 500 index finishing at 1,848, up 32%. This was the best annual gain for the index since 1997. All of the ten sectors in the index generated positive returns. After such a strong year, our outlook is more benign yet still positive for the balance of this year.
As of this writing, the S&P 500 is...
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
As the Wall Street Journal reported this week,¹ investor demand for socially responsible business practices is stronger than ever. (For more information about socially responsible investing, please visit www.AdvocacyInvesting.com.) This notable evolution is motivating more profitable enterprises to establish a nonprofit arm through which they conduct...
Monday, March 3, 2014
If Illinois' “King Coal” is deposed as many predict, his subjects should herald the peaceful revolution.
The economics of the state's coal economy have remained virtually unchanged since Francis Peabody founded Peabody Daniels & Co., now Peabody Energy Corp., at age 24 in 1883 and became fabulously wealthy buying coal from established mines...
Monday, February 3, 2014
The growing influence of sustainable and responsible investing continues to cultivate a more just and equitable economy. Its efforts have fostered progressive changes in corporate behavior, helping to improve executive pay practices, increase board diversity and transparency on political contributions, enhance labor and human rights conditions, and address...
Thursday, January 2, 2014
After the Illinois Senate narrowly approved a well-intentioned, but misguided, bill in 2012 to compel publicly traded companies headquartered in Illinois or selling products here to report their state income tax liability to the Secretary of State — who would then post that information online — the measure went on to die in the House. If...
Monday, December 2, 2013
A recent decision by the U.S. Tax Court could make it more difficult for some nonprofit organizations to maintain exemption from income tax.
For context, the Internal Revenue Code exempts from tax the income of various types of entities, with perhaps the most prominent such type being “501(c)(3) organizations,” so named for the paragraph of the...
Friday, November 1, 2013
The world's first social impact bond, or SIB, was introduced in 2010 to fund innovative social programs that realistically might reduce recidivism by ex-offenders in Peterborough, England, and, with it, the public costs of housing and feeding repeat offenders. Prudently building on the strengths of that initiative, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn is rolling out...
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
When Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed the State's L3C bill into law late in 2009, the leadership of Social Enterprise Alliance's new Chicago chapter - - SEA's first chapter - - seized the opportunity to unite and energize the Chicago area's leading nonprofits, entrepreneurs, socially conscious individuals, foundations, thought leaders and impact...
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
In Illinois, victorious politicians secretly pick the voters, not the other way around. Political leaders, the ultimate arbiters of redistricting, game the system by designing districts to produce the results they favor.
Gerrymandering is easy to pull off. All the pols need to do is jam voters who are likely to support the opposition into throwaway...
Thursday, August 1, 2013
When was the last time you played “Duck, Duck, Goose”? If you’re like most people, you probably said when you were a kid, probably about 10 years old. Next question: When was the last time that you reviewed your will and/or trust? If you’re like most people, perhaps never, if you haven’t done any estate planning yet. Or perhaps...
Monday, July 1, 2013
Most businesses, and many individuals, operate a website. However, you may not have realized when you registered your domain name that you agreed to abide by the terms of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). The UDRP is incorporated into the Registration Statement that you are required to accept when you register for most domain names....
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Marc J. Lane Investment Management, Inc. has been providing portfolio management solutions for high net-worth individuals since 2002. Historically, those services have only been made available to our clients with over $500,000 to invest. But now we are offering a competitive solution for clients with investable assets of $100,000 or more. These portfolios...
Monday, April 1, 2013
Over the past three years, Illinois courts have heard one claim after another that cities and towns outside the Regional Transit Authority's six-county territory have illegally lured businesses whose headquarters are within the RTA's taxing authority to set up satellite offices merely to reduce the sales taxes they owe. Adding to the controversy, the...
Displaying 41 through 80 of 263
