Lower yields on bonds, underscored by an inverted yield curve and 10-year rates below 2%, are cause for insurance companies to reevaluate their fixed-income investment positions. Due to their higher reinvestment frequency, property and casualty, and health insurers, should be more reactive to lower yields in the short term. Life insurers, on the other hand, ... READ MORE >
Financial Services
Comprising everything from private equity firms to family offices, financiers are active participants in the middle market. They provide the vital capital infusions needed to take growth companies to the next level.
Public scrutiny over ESG holdings will cause universal reporting change
As environmental, social and governance investing continues to grow in popularity, investors need to carefully evaluate how their holdings will be viewed by the public. Asset managers must balance their desire to promote ESG consciousness with their fiduciary duty to drive financial returns. ESG funds under management increased to $60 billion through June ... READ MORE >
Family office direct investing is on the rise
According to a study by Campden Wealth, an independent research company, family offices manage about $4 trillion globally. That amount is growing as more families sell out of their founding businesses and, with the proceeds, look for opportunities in wealth preservation, philanthropic activities and increasingly, asset management that includes direct ... READ MORE >
Foreign investors eyeing U.S. companies may want to learn more about CFIUS
For a very long time, the United States has attracted direct investment from overseas. For America, this meant more capital flowing into domestic businesses and the creation of more jobs. As the trade war between the United States and China has escalated, however, a little-known U.S. regulatory body that has traditionally operated behind a veil is becoming ... READ MORE >
Low rate environment poses challenge for banks
On July 30, the Federal Reserve announced a 25-basis-point reduction in the federal funds rate. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell characterized the move as an “insurance” cut to help extend what is now a record-long U.S. economic expansion amid economic headwinds related to a slowing global economy and an inversion of the yield curve, which many market ... READ MORE >
For private equity funds, bigger is not always better
The rise of billion-dollar private equity buyout funds reflects the growing demand from large investors willing to write big checks. Interest rates remain historically low and, with additional rate cuts almost certain to come, investors continue to expect high returns. The larger the fund, so the thinking goes, the larger the return. This may not be the ... READ MORE >
Hedge fund performance may be tested—again
The average performance of the hedge fund sector since the Great Recession has lagged the returns of passive investments including broad-based equity index funds tied to the S&P 500 as well as exchange-traded funds. The underperformance of hedge funds, a risky but historically high-flying sector whose managers are compensated on their ability to ... READ MORE >
Venture capital tech investments show strength in first half of 2019
For cash-intensive technology companies, access to capital is frequently required to sustain operations and quickly achieve scale. Venture capital firms invested over $30 billion in tech startups in the second quarter of 2019, according to data from Pitchbook, putting total investment on pace to eclipse $100 billion for the second straight ... READ MORE >
BDCs’ popularity unlikely to be slowed by recent Fed rate cut, but headwinds remain
Business development corporations are unlikely to lose their momentum in the near term, despite last week’s interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve and the ongoing trade conflict with China. BDCs—the companies that invest in financially distressed small to medium-size private businesses—have yet to be affected by lower rates, which makes corporate bank ... READ MORE >
Crowdfunding proves to widen the reach of companies seeking early-stage capital
In the past, companies looking for alternative funding would have tried their luck with venture capital and private equity firms. But the advent of crowdfunding—which offers Main Street investors the ability to make equity investments in growing businesses—has given some companies a boost they might not have gotten from using the typical sources. The ... READ MORE >