Asset management

Capital Calls: Starbucks

21 Feb 2023

Concise views on global finance: The $123 billion coffee chain’s new patent filing speaks to popular TikTok campaigns for more bespoke beverages – and other labor challenges. 

Ukraine yet to make defence a safe investor haven

20 Feb 2023

Kyiv’s pressing call for weapons to defeat Russia dominated a top security forum in Munich. With defence budgets rising, some investors and banks are tempted to engage more with military hardware firms. For most, however, lethal weapons will remain a no-go investment zone.

Capital Calls: Schneider’s sustainable CEO

16 Feb 2023

Concise views on global finance: Jean-Pascal Tricoire’s departure as chief executive of the French industrial software group after nearly two decades at the helm defies the trend of short-lived or underperforming corporate bosses.

UBS boss Ralph Hamers has a growth problem

31 Jan 2023

Revenue in the Swiss bank’s wealth-management core slid 2% in 2022, as markets fell. Higher interest rates and China’s re-opening will ease the pain, but not for long. Hamers is running short on credible ways to get the top line moving, undermining his hunt for a valuation boost.

Capital Calls: TikTok’s Beltway visit

30 Jan 2023

Concise views on global finance: The social media app’s CEO Shou Zi Chew is going in front of a U.S. Congressional committee. But it’s leaders outside of Washington that Chew needs to convince.

California floods underscore rising climate costs

24 Jan 2023

Catastrophic storms have devastated the Golden State’s economy and left more than $1 bln in damages. In this Exchange podcast, climatologist Adam Smith explains how global warming has made weather events more expensive, and what governments can do to protect against them.

EQT embodies private markets’ two big problems

18 Jan 2023

Shares in the $28 bln buyout group fell 6% after CEO Christian Sinding flagged a fundraising slowdown. Another issue is that, like its rivals, the Swedish firm spent big when asset prices were high. Its relatively steady fund valuations may not yet reflect all the future pain.

The implications of Blackstone’s property wobble

8 Dec 2022

The giant alternative asset manager’s market value dropped by $8 bln after it said investors were exiting its flagship real estate fund. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discuss the causes of the jitters and how rivals are vulnerable to similar moves.

Capital Calls: U.S. labor market softens, slowly

8 Dec 2022

Concise views on global finance: Joblessness data suggests Americans are taking longer to find work. That’s good for inflation, but sluggish progress means the Fed will have to keep tightening monetary policy.

Capital Calls: DWS fixes what it can

7 Dec 2022

Concise views on global finance: The 6 bln euro German asset manager unveiled some punchy new targets, but its biggest challenge will be to unshackle itself from controlling shareholder Deutsche Bank.

U.S. stock pickers win by not picking stocks

2 Dec 2022

Active funds are set to deliver their best performance since 2007, Goldman says. But they gained an edge by ditching stocks like Tesla and Amazon and moving into cash. Success hasn’t diverted flows away from passive funds. Fees are one problem. Lack of consistency is the other.

Credit Suisse banks needn’t break too big a sweat

1 Dec 2022

The lender’s battered shares are now trading just 7% above the price of its $2.4 bln rights issue. A further slump could leave Deutsche, Morgan Stanley and 18 other underwriters with unwanted stock. But they have a margin of safety, and Credit Suisse may have backup options.

Credit Suisse rot infects wealth-management core

23 Nov 2022

The prized division lost 10% of its assets in six weeks, though the outflows have slowed. That undermines CEO Ulrich Körner’s narrative that the group’s problems are all in investment banking. Clients don’t make that distinction, and it’s easier to lose money than win it back.

SocGen’s BNP envy carries a cost

22 Nov 2022

Future CEO Slawomir Krupa is merging his stock research and trading unit with U.S. peer AllianceBernstein, aping his French rival’s capital markets drive. But the $20 bln bank will lack the scale of U.S. rivals, and growing in low-return businesses won’t help a lagging valuation.

Credit Suisse’s fuzzy Apollo deal better than none

15 Nov 2022

Boss Ulrich Körner is offloading $55 bln of assets in a securitised product unit, chiefly to the U.S. behemoth. Credit Suisse did not reveal the price, and it will pay Apollo to manage the remaining assets. But at least Körner avoided selling at a discount amid tricky markets.

How Credit Suisse’s turnaround could work

10 Nov 2022

CEO Ulrich Körner is raising $4 bln of fresh equity and shrinking the Zurich-based group’s trading business to put it on a steadier footing. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists debate the merits of the plan and what’s at stake if it fails.

Abrdn’s battered model may yet start to shine

4 Nov 2022

The British group meshes staid fund management with technology platforms for savers and wealth managers. The latter are growing and benefitting from higher interest rates. CEO Stephen Bird’s turnaround has a long way to go, but an undemanding valuation leaves plenty of upside.

Credit Suisse puts “first” back into First Boston

3 Nov 2022

There’s no historical precedent for a global bank carving out and listing its underwriting and M&A unit. The spinoff’s revenue-sharing joint ventures will only partly smooth an awkward relationship with its Swiss parent. Future boss Michael Klein gets credit for novelty, though.

UK tech flops expose perils of IPO forecasts

2 Nov 2022

E-commerce group Made.com has all but collapsed little more than a year after issuing sunny targets in an 800 mln pound float. Stock market duds Deliveroo and Funding Circle had optimistic guidance. When initial public offerings restart, investors should ignore the projections.

Credit Suisse begins perilous ride to right place

27 Oct 2022

CEO Ulrich Körner will raise $4 bln of capital to finance redundancies and a halving of the investment bank. After several botched strategies, Credit Suisse is now pointing in the correct direction. But ongoing heavy losses, and low 2025 targets, imply a messy few years ahead.