In one of my previous articles, I examined in detail how the economics of private banking works: mutual funds, discretionary management, structured notes, IPOs, real estate – and why “free” investing does not exist , even when it seems that you are not being charged anything for management or consulting. Today I would like to narrow the focus and talk about how financial and investment advisors earn money: what compensation models exist, how they differ from one another, and how my own model is structured. ...

What makes a currency truly strong, why the ruble sometimes falls and then suddenly “strengthens,” why the yuan does not replace the dollar, and why talk of the West’s collapse looks more like a political TV series than an investment plan? A true investor thinks in dollars. Indeed, the US dollar is: the world’s main reserve currency, liquid and in demand a currency that can be transferred quickly and relatively cheaply to almost any point on the planet a currency in which you can open a bank deposit in almost any country a currency whose cash can buy almost anything almost anywhere, even where the US dollar is not officially in circulation the currency to which most stablecoins in the cryptocurrency market are linked a currency that even Vladimir Putin uses in his speech when discussing the growth of trade turnover between Russia and China with settlements in national currencies ...

There is money, but no real sense of order. Some sits in deposits, some with a broker, some in cash. All of this seemed perfectly reasonable at one point. But the capital grew, and the situation changed. Add relocation, a change in tax residency, and sanctions-related restrictions — and you get a situation where even a financially literate person loses sight of the full picture. That was precisely the point at which my work began with one of my clients — a senior executive at a large company who, by the time we met, already had substantial capital but did not understand how to make the process of managing it more systematic and consistent. ...

2019, Moscow City – the financial nerve center of the capital. You are in a meeting room at a large brokerage firm on the 47th floor. Floor-to-ceiling panoramic windows reveal a dizzying view of the city that never sleeps. A pleasant assistant – Tanya, Masha, or whatever her name is – places a cup of freshly brewed coffee on the table, smiles, and leaves without a sound. Your personal manager, wearing a suit that costs more than some cars, confidently launches a presentation. The projector comes alive. Slide one of eighteen appears. ...

Investing is never free. Yes, even “free” investing through a bank, brokerage firm, or asset manager. Usually, nobody sends you a separate invoice – the fees are simply embedded inside neatly packaged products with a personal manager, lifestyle services, privileges, and the overall feeling that your capital is being handled in a VIP format. This is convenient and, at times, genuinely justified. However, the investment value of such solutions is not always obvious, while total costs often exceed the price of working with an independent advisor. Over long periods, the difference may amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars – and for larger portfolios, millions. ...

Are you a successful entrepreneur? Good. That means you have already proven that you know how to generate money — build products, structure teams and processes, take risks, and deliver results. Investors often forget this. A significant share of large private fortunes, both in Russia and globally, has been built not in public markets or real estate, but in business. This is indirectly confirmed by global studies (BCG Global Wealth, UBS Global Wealth Report). Almost all names on the Russian Forbes list are owners of real businesses: commodities, finance, IT, development, logistics. Business provides leverage and direct control over outcomes: in strong years, it can deliver returns unavailable to most private investors. ...

Looking up reviews online is a natural instinct when choosing a financial or investment advisor. It makes sense. That’s how we choose restaurants, hotels, and products on marketplaces. At first glance, it may seem the same. But in investing, things work differently. Results here are a function of time, discipline, and the risks taken. Not a single good or bad decision. Over short periods, the same advisor can simultaneously have a satisfied client who benefited from a strong market and a dissatisfied one who entered right before a drawdown. ...

There is a recurring “trap” investors step on again and again: treating current yield as expected return. This is particularly evident today with bank deposits in Russia. In recent years, rates have been in double digits. And it creates the impression that this is the “normal” return of the instrument. But the deposit rate is not a characteristic of the asset — it is a derivative of the regulator’s monetary policy. It changes along with the phase of the economic cycle and cannot serve as a basis for long-term planning. Relying on current yields almost always leads to overstated (or understated) expectations, missed opportunities, and ultimately disappointment. ...

Supporters of real estate investing usually start with a simple argument: prices don’t change every day, therefore the risk must be lower than in public markets. There is some truth to this. Real estate is not marked to market every minute. But the conclusion that follows is often wrong. The absence of daily pricing does not mean the absence of volatility. It simply means that volatility manifests differently — less frequently, more abruptly, and often at the worst possible moment. ...

Some assets are bought for income, others for status. But there is a rare category of assets that people buy for the feeling of becoming part of history. In the high-performance and luxury car segment, the rules are different. The number of wealthy buyers globally is growing. And while the mass market stagnates, the top price tiers continue to expand at rates of 8–14% per year. Margins here are often measured not in single digits, but in tens of percent. ...