Tax Matters

 

Our latest thinking for U.S. tax-aware investors and their advisors.

Tax Matters

Separating the Wheat from the Chaff

Investors seeking tax efficiency must look for strategies motivated by a pre-tax investment rationale, otherwise known as “economic substance.”

Read more

Tax Matters

Levering Up to Do Good

Long/short tax aware strategies can be a win-win for the charitably inclined: larger donations for the charity and larger tax benefits for the donor.

Read more

Tax Matters

AQR Factor Research Papers Win Prestigious Academic Awards

Factor investing (combined with tax-aware implementation) can offer investors substantial rewards in the form of both pre-tax returns and tax benefits. Two papers by our colleagues recently won highly prestigious awards from top academic and practitioner journals for their research on factor investing, demonstrating our commitment to top-notch factor research.

Read more

Tax Matters

Making VPFs Work Harder for You

There is a range of solutions aimed at reducing the risk of concentrated stock tax-efficiently: completion portfolios, exchange funds, charitable giving, just to name a few. But for some investors, Variable Prepaid Forwards (VPFs ) are a favorite. It’s not hard to see why.

Read more

Tax Matters

The Enduring Appeal of Gain Deferral, Part 2

Our previous post showed the power of deferral for building wealth, but one key assumption in that analysis was that tax rates remain constant. In this post, we discuss whether gain deferral is still a good idea if you think tax rates might be higher in the future.

Read more

Tax Matters

Inflation and Tax Efficiency

We discuss how inflation and taxes are linked, highlighting the value of tax efficiency when inflation is a feature of the macroeconomic environment.

Read more

Tax Matters

Looking Under the Hood of Long/Short Tax-Aware Strategies

Our recent paper discusses gain deferral and the benefits of tax-aware long/short equity factor strategies. It also suggests that when it comes to a diversified long/short equity factor strategy, the difference between a portfolio that cares about taxes and one that doesn’t may be smaller than you think.

Read more

Tax Matters

Does Tax Efficiency Just Delay the Tax Burden?

We often hear the sentiment that tax-efficient investing just delays the inevitable: Eventually, a day will come when the tax-efficient investor will have to true up on years of deferred taxes. And, with the proposed Biden Tax Plan sending many investors scrambling to plan for higher taxes, we feel that now is as good a time as any to put this long-standing myth to bed.

Read more

This document has been provided to you solely for information purposes and does not constitute an offer or solicitation of an offer or any advice or recommendation to purchase any securities or other financial instruments and may not be construed as such. The factual information set forth herein has been obtained or derived from sources believed by the author and AQR Capital Management, LLC (“AQR”) to be reliable but it is not necessarily all-inclusive and is not guaranteed as to its accuracy and is not to be regarded as a representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the information’s accuracy or completeness, nor should the attached information serve as the basis of any investment decision. This document is intended exclusively for the use of the person to whom it has been delivered by AQR, and it is not to be reproduced or redistributed to any other person. The information set forth herein has been provided to you as secondary information and should not be the primary source for any investment or allocation decision. Past performance is not a guarantee of future performance. 

This material is not research and should not be treated as research. This paper does not represent valuation judgments with respect to any financial instrument, issuer, security or sector that may be described or referenced herein and does not represent a formal or official view of AQR. The views expressed reflect the current views as of the date hereof and neither the author nor AQR undertakes to advise you of any changes in the views expressed herein. 

The information contained herein is only as current as of the date indicated, and may be superseded by subsequent market events or for other reasons. Charts and graphs provided herein are for illustrative purposes only. The information in this presentation has been developed internally and/or obtained from sources believed to be reliable; however, neither AQR nor the author guarantees the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of such information. Nothing contained herein constitutes investment, legal, tax or other advice nor is it to be relied on in making an investment or other decision. There can be no assurance that an investment strategy will be successful. Historic market trends are not reliable indicators of actual future market behavior or future performance of any particular investment which may differ materially, and should not be relied upon as such. 

The information in this paper may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events, targets, forecasts or expectations regarding the strategies described herein, and is only current as of the date indicated. There is no assurance that such events or targets will be achieved, and may be significantly different from that shown here. The information in this document, including statements concerning financial market trends, is based on current market conditions, which will fluctuate and may be superseded by subsequent market events or for other reasons. 

 

Risks of Tax Aware Strategies

This list is not exhaustive; there are numerous advantages and risks associated with our Tax Aware Strategies that are not fully discussed here.

Underperformance of pretax returns: tax-aware strategies are investment strategies with the associated risk of pretax returns meaningfully underperforming expectations.

Adverse variation in tax benefits: deductible losses and expenses allocated by the strategy may be less than expected.

Lower marginal tax rates: the value of losses and expenses depends on an individual investor’s marginal tax rate, which may be lower than expected for reasons including low Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) due to unexpected losses and the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).

Inefficient use of allocated losses and expenses: the tax benefit of the strategy may be lower than expected if an investor cannot use the full value of losses and expenses allocated by the strategy to offset gains and income of the same character from other sources. This may occur for a variety of reasons including variation in gains and income realized by other investments, at-risk rules, limitation on excess business losses, or insufficient outside cost basis in the partnership.

Adverse changes in tax law or IRS challenge: the potential tax benefit of the strategy may be lessened or eliminated prospectively by changes in tax law or retrospectively by an IRS challenge under current law if conceded or upheld by a court. In the case of an IRS challenge, penalties may apply.