Asset management

JPMorgan succession is a high-stakes soap opera

1 Feb 2024

The US’s largest bank shuffled its business leaders, sparking speculation as to who might eventually take over from boss Jamie Dimon. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists explain why it matters, even if Dimon’s eventual successor is unlikely to fill his shoes.

Julius Baer pops myth of private bank prudence

1 Feb 2024

CEO Philipp Rickenbacher is leaving the $12 bln Swiss wealth manager after bad lending led to a $700 mln writedown. It’s a reminder that serving rich clients is not risk-free. Money managers will have to provide more clarity on loan books or give up lucrative but dicey practices.

Blackstone is calling the bottom, almost

25 Jan 2024

The $1 trln asset manager snapped its year-plus dry spell in new investments, client inflows and earnings. A sturdy economy bolsters boss Steve Schwarzman’s bet that 2023 will be marked as a low point. There’s just one precious piece of the puzzle missing: fee growth.

Capital Calls: SAP, Abrdn

24 Jan 2024

Concise views on global finance: The German software giant is cutting 7% of its workforce, sending shares to an all-time high; outflows at the British fund manager accelerated in the second half of 2023, exacerbating the company’s effort to turn itself around.

General Atlantic buys infrastructure for its IPO

16 Jan 2024

The US buyout firm is taking control of UK specialist asset manager Actis. The deal gives it $12.5 bln of assets in hot markets and geographies. Boss Bill Ford is trying to build a more diversified firm ahead of a possible float. His pitch to investors just got stronger.

Bain is keeping the private in private equity

16 Jan 2024

Rivals like Apollo and KKR went public more than a decade ago, over time de-emphasizing their buyout roots, especially amid a recent deal drought. In this Exchange podcast John Connaughton of Bain Capital explains why his firm isn’t following them, and how the market is healing.

Narrow exits will fatten fattest buyout fat cats

10 Jan 2024

Some private equity shops may be forced to start accepting discounted valuations on a record $2.8 trln of unsold investments. Others like KKR and EQT are best positioned to hold out. This disparity should help 25 firms, with 22% of the industry’s firepower, pad their dominance.

Capital Calls: Cevian tries ‘relaxivism’ at UBS

19 Dec 2023

Concise views on global finance: The pushy European investor has bought shares worth around 1.2 bln euros in the Swiss bank, equivalent to a 1.3% stake. Yet it seems happy to sit back and let UBS management execute their strategy.

Capital Calls: Roche, Brookfield/Origin

4 Dec 2023

Concise views on global finance: The $224 bln Swiss drugmaker is splurging $2.7 bln on obesity drug developer Carmot; the Canadian investment firm’s joint $13 bln bid for Origin Energy has failed. The trick now is to show what lessons it’s learned from its 16-month-plus campaign.

Private-asset binge exposes insurance to new risks

30 Nov 2023

US insurers hoovered up private loans from buyout firms last year in a profitable game of pass-the-parcel. Their hoard of alternative assets has swelled 65% in five years, and regulators are struggling to keep up. The March banking panic shows what can happen when firewalls fail.

UBS faces a long wait for M&A share-price boost

7 Nov 2023

Boss Sergio Ermotti is cutting costs and shedding unwanted Credit Suisse assets. He’s even won $22 bln of new money from wealthy clients. The question is when investors will reward him with a richer valuation. Lingering legal and integration risks suggest it might take time.

Capital Calls: Paramount’s stricter streaming

3 Nov 2023

Concise views on global finance: The media stalwart’s shares popped 10% as boss Bob Bakish predicted that losses from its costly streaming push have topped out. But the company still faces a cutthroat market full of better-resourced rivals.

Capital Calls: CVC, Grocer wars, Atos

2 Nov 2023

Concise views on global finance: The European buyout group has postponed its plans to list in Amsterdam; British supermarket Sainsbury’s is thriving, which is bad news for rivals like CD&R-owned Morrisons; French IT firm Onepoint has grabbed a 10% stake in ailing peer Atos.

Larry Fink’s next M&A may go in surprise direction

1 Nov 2023

BlackRock’s founder built the world’s largest fund group on audacious acquisitions. He wants to do a last deal before leaving. Absorbing an alternative asset manager is tricky, while an index compiler like MSCI could offer synergies. The wild card is a data firm like Bloomberg.

CVC may have guard rails against choppy IPO waters

20 Oct 2023

The European buyout firm is prepping a float valued at over 10 bln euros. Market jitters make it an odd time to do so. Yet securing a share-based M&A currency may matter as much as the IPO price, and the buyers could be sovereign funds that can live with post-listing price dips.

Banks’ wealth-management heyday may have passed

18 Oct 2023

Morgan Stanley, UBS and others focused on catering to rich people after the 2008 crisis, as asset prices soared and regulation hit their traditional businesses. Now, falling fees and rising rates imply slower growth. The silver lining is that smaller players will struggle more.

Capital Calls: BlackRock, Dollar General

13 Oct 2023

Concise views on global finance: Boss Larry Fink squares off with Uncle Sam; Dollar General bets on its ex-boss’s old magic.

Private credit partygoers reach for the hard stuff

11 Oct 2023

With rising rates crimping their LBO-financing spree, direct lenders like HPS and Blue Owl are devising ways to prop up weak borrowers. With $7 trln of debt due over the next three years, it’s a growth area. Yet returns may fail to reflect the risks private credit is running.

Capital Calls: Food prices, Brookfield, SPAC spin

3 Oct 2023

Concise views on global finance: The cost of ingredients for the average UK meal fell 0.1% in September; the Canadian giant’s $1 bln renewables deal reflects how European green assets are getting more appealing; Singapore’s SPAC puts a new spin on blank-cheque targets.

Apollo’s divergent path outshines Blackstone

28 Sep 2023

Marc Rowan’s $55 bln asset manager found permanent capital in insurance. Steve Schwarzman’s firm uses small-fry investors. That led Apollo to safer assets, while Blackstone is leaning into buyouts that suffer from high rates. Apollo’s valuation can shed its boringness discount.