Corona Capital: Icahn, Productivity, Natixis 4 Jan 2021 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Carl Icahn sells half his Herbalife Nutrition stake; an ECB survey suggests Covid-19 will make big firms more productive, but that may not be all good news; and Natixis fast-tracks its overhaul.
Covid-19 brings capital-raising fee bonanza 31 Dec 2020 Investment banks led by JPMorgan collected a record $125 bln in fees in 2020. Merger advisory, topped by Goldman, was so-so. The real gold came from selling bonds and equity, partly to meet clients’ pandemic liquidity needs. For bankers, 2021 will probably be less exciting.
China’s gravy train will bypass Wall Street 31 Dec 2020 Foreign banks pocketed about a third of the $6.5 bln in fees paid by Chinese companies to sell shares in 2020. U.S. animosity will lead to fewer New York listings, however. And even as Goldman and others push further onto the mainland, the work there is tougher and reaps less.
When bonuses are paid, cue the great trader exodus 30 Dec 2020 Wall Street’s desk-bound buyers and sellers had a bumper year, powering the bottom lines of commercial and investment banks amid the pandemic. They’ve also gotten a taste of life off the floor. Watch many of them take the money and run, surf, climb, or whatever.
Loeb injects paranoia into Intel a bit too late 30 Dec 2020 Activist investment fund Third Point correctly diagnoses the $200 bln chipmaker's main woe as a loss of its manufacturing edge. Separating chip design and production would help both, perhaps with a little boost from Uncle Sam. Regaining a lost tech lead, however, is hard.
BlackRock stretch goal: real shareholder democracy 29 Dec 2020 The $8 trln asset manager votes on behalf of millions of small investors. Rather than telling companies how to handle gun safety or climate change, BlackRock might do better to pass the decision to the ultimate owners. That calls for investment in new technology, and new habits.
Data centres will become green activists’ target 24 Dec 2020 Server farms and networks each use around 1% of the world’s electricity – more, for now, than electric vehicles. That could hit double-digits by 2030 thanks to 5G and other trends, making related emissions a problem. Poor disclosures put Amazon and peers in ESG investors’ sights.
Chopper deal, like SPACs, is for aspiring moguls 15 Dec 2020 Blade, which helicopters the wannabe 1% to the Hamptons, is being bought by a blank check firm and kettle of plutocrats for $825 mln. The price assumes sales grow 16 times in four years, brassy considering 2020’s slump. Blade dreams big like the vehicle it’s riding to go public.
Credit Suisse growth plan is refreshingly utopian 15 Dec 2020 CEO Thomas Gottstein will invest up to 200 mln Swiss francs in new initiatives to juice revenues in wealth management and investment banking. It’ll be hard to achieve that without taking more risk. At least he’s trying to buck the prevailing mood of declinism across the sector.
Elliott can clean house in Public Storage 14 Dec 2020 Paul Singer’s fund wants the U.S.’s largest self-storage provider to junk its ultra-cautious debt strategy, plow cash into the business, and shape up governance. It’s an activist trifecta. But changes are needed to keep pace with the industry. Elliott has found easy pickings.
LSE deal sets lucrative standard for M&A advice 10 Dec 2020 CEO David Schwimmer, formerly of Goldman Sachs, seems to have done his old buddies a favour: fees on the exchange group’s $27 bln takeover of data provider Refinitiv exceed $1 bln. It reflects long regulatory reviews and the target’s complex finances. Both are becoming the norm.
Activist state looms over Rothschild’s latest hire 9 Dec 2020 The investment bank, whose alumni include French President Emmanuel Macron, has deep links with governments. Hiring Mark Sedwill, Britain’s former top civil servant, continues the tradition. As politicians exert more influence over business, his perspective will prove valuable.
Pope can learn from moral capitalism partnership 8 Dec 2020 The Vatican has teamed up with corporate leaders promising to create more inclusive economic outcomes. The bosses can benefit from Pope Francis' humanity. Despite relative openness to change, he in turn might push the church on financial transparency and equality for women.
Cox: Mediobanca could be UniCredit’s white knight 2 Dec 2020 Italy’s No. 2 lender was rocked by the ouster of its French CEO amid fears of government meddling. It needs new management, more fee income, scale and protection from Rome. Alberto Nagel’s smaller Milan investment bank offers all four. Come si dice “reverse merger” in Italiano?
Corona Capital: Bitcoin, Lonely Planet 1 Dec 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Bitcoin hit a record, buoyed by inflationary fears, new fans and plain old speculation. Meanwhile Lonely Planet has found a new owner, as it wrestles with an anything-but-lonely market for travel information.
Boutique SPAC merges Wall Street and Easy Street 20 Nov 2020 Perella Weinberg may hit up a blank-check company to go public after a year of IPO mutterings. The deal would be an endorsement of a less complex process to list shares. But boutiques aren’t consistently great investments and SPACs have their own reputations to clean up.
The Exchange: Investing in a new macroeconomic era 17 Nov 2020 The U.S. faces a paradigm shift, as the era of monetary policy dominance ends and fiscal action becomes the major driver of growth. So argues Greg Jensen, co-chief investment officer at Bridgewater Associates. He says this means rethinking one’s approach to asset classes.
Review: “Industry” shows banking is due a facelift 13 Nov 2020 The new BBC and HBO series follows graduate recruits navigating the pressures of a fictional investment bank. It overstates the responsibility juniors can have. But its portrayal of an old-fashioned work style rings true. To lure talented youngsters, the industry needs a shakeup.
Macquarie hits limits of diversification 6 Nov 2020 The $34 bln Aussie financial conglomerate suffered a 32% fall in half-year net profit as its investment bank generated a rare loss. Boss Shemara Wikramanayake likes to trumpet the array of revenue sources, but even done well, the business model provides only so much of a buffer.
Cuccia’s heir deserves longer reign at Mediobanca 27 Oct 2020 The Milan bank that called the shots in Italian industry has successfully transitioned from power-brokering to profitability under CEO Alberto Nagel. A new pushy shareholder, Leonardo Del Vecchio, and more competition from Intesa will keep him on his toes, where he should be.