In recent news, the Brain Trauma Foundation with President Alan Quasha has received a grant from the James S. McDonnell Foundation to form the Attention Dynamics Consortium in Traumatic Brain Injury (ADC-TBI).  This will be a bicoastal initiative to explore the brain’s attention networks and how they are influenced by Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

Researchers who are involved in ADC-TBI will include those from UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, UC San Francisco, the Salk Institute and Washington University in St. Louis.

Investment managers and their firms are always looking for “predictable but still attractive returns on investment.”  According to David Bogoslaw, this is because, of the current status of yields on US Treasuries and agency bonds being at a total nadir.  It doesn’t look like the matter is going to improve any time soon either with the Federal Reserve Policymaking Committee stating “economic conditions, including low rates of resource utilization, subdued inflation trends, and stable inflation expectations, are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period.”

When looking for a pension, it is important to investigate carefully to ensure all your needs are met. Carret Asset Management, LLC, where Alan Quasha is co-chairman, manages accounts for pension and profit sharing plans.  Make sure you read up a little on pensions before taking the plunge.

People who have no connection at all with the financial world often don’t know the first thing about options and trading.  But learning the basics need not be so overwhelming.  One can read a basic article on options trading and through that, become pretty familiar with the fundamentals of this subject.

So often in the business world, as in many other spheres, people are afraid to make mistakes.  In an unusual and thought-provoking article in Forbes.com, Alan Quasha, founder, president and CEO of Quadrant Management, shared his opinion of mistakes.  He explained why mistakes are necessary and valuable for any business community.

As Alan Quasha said,

“Better risk management is certainly part of the answer, but the larger part of the answer lies in the constant search for better solutions and continuous improvement that begins with a constructive attitude toward mistakes, which leads to early recognitions, and in turn, to learning, growth and improvement. This virtuous cycle leads to the most important asset a person or organization can have: integrity.

There can actually be a certain magic to mistakes, because if we consider in advance that we are likely to make them, we are then free to face mistakes early and treat them primarily as information we can share with others as we seek to improve the next decision and set a company–or our lives–upon the path to a sound strategy.”

Sitting on the Board of Compagnie Financière Richemont SA with Alan Quasha is Lord Douro, born Arthur Charles Valerian Wellesley, 10^th Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, Grandee of Spain, Marquess of Douro.  He has other regal claims, belonging to the Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch nobilities.  As well as his work as Chairman of Richemont Holdings UK Ltd and Kings College London and Director of Pernod Ricard, Compagnie Financiere Richemont AG, Douro has worked for various charitable organizations, including a stint as a patron of British Art at the Tate Gallery and being a member of the Royal College of Art between.  He has been widely recognized for his efforts, being awarded an OBE in 1999 for services to British-Spanish business relations.

Indeed it does.  Private equity matters for anyone involved in asset management as a business.  This is part of what Alan Quasha does.  As a Partner at Vanterra Capital, keeping abreast of private equity matters is extremely important for Quasha.  The company is “a global private equity firm that manages assets for a diverse investor base of ultra high net worth partners and leading institutions.”  So with recent news in American about two pieces of legislation “that would have huge impacts on private equity managers,” these businessmen must be in the loop. Basically developments in the Senate which (if implemented) would have a huge impact on these companies and individuals is the financial regulatory reforms that were passed.  Should these become law, they will be said to “represent the most sweeping set of changes to the U.S. financial regulatory system since the Great Depression.”  All private equity firms should be very aware of this development.

One common problem that one faces when they come in to extra money is how best to invest it.  They may go to financial advisers who might suggest investment and/or insurance solutions.   But for those who want to make the decisions themselves, they should first ask themselves various questions.

Senior Managing Director of Carret Asset Management, Donald Gimbel, works with Alan Quasha, chairman of the same organization.  Gimbel recently discussed investment in Asia (among other topics) with Tom Keene (editor at large Boomberg News) and Ken Prewitt.  Given that Gimbel indicated optimism on China’s economy, he was asked how one should go about investing in the country while avoiding “playing the roulette wheel” integral to Shanghai’s index.  He responded:  “I would avoid that like the plague. I think what you have to look at is what China is short of is infrastructure. It’s short energy and it’s short education. And these are areas that you can make a lot of money in over the next five to ten years. Investing in China like investing any place is a time thing. You need to be patient. You need to look for value. You have to understand business plans and you have to meet management. And I know for the average investor that’s very difficult when you get out of the U.S., but that’s why you – that’s why there are people like us who spend a lifetime doing it.”  Carret Asset Management is a privately owned investment manager.

Certainly, running a successful business is a stressful enterprise.  One successful businessman, Alan Quasha, shared some tips in Leaders Magazine for reducing stress and staying focused.  He explained that he found meditation to be a very useful tool.  It allowed him to be at peace with himself, and to learn to juggle many things without getting overwhelmed.

He also started to recognize that making mistakes is a fact of life and that mistakes are actually very important as a learning process.  He has learned to recognize that mistakes are inevitable and that, as long as you don’t make the same mistakes repeatedly, they are a necessary part of life and of the business world.