Investment Banking

Value investing is poised to rise from the dead

15 May 2025

Warren Buffett has announced his retirement. The investment style championed by the Oracle of Omaha has fallen out of fashion as buyers chase growth stocks and passive funds. However, history suggests the prospects for value investors are brightest when the world loses faith.

Sumitomo gives India’s top lender a welcome fillip

12 May 2025

State Bank of India and peers are selling 20% of Yes Bank to the Japanese group for $1.6 bln – almost tripling their money on this chunk of their investment in the 2020 bailout. It’s well-timed for SBI as it plans a share sale and other measures to bolster its own capital.

BNP has bespoke airbags against tariff crunch

24 Apr 2025

The 80 bln euro French bank is sticking to its 2026 revenue and return targets, despite trade war jitters. European rearmament, trading activity that can offset lending weakness and a home market less exposed to US exports help explain why. Not all its rivals can say the same.

Banks can dodge a 2022-style hung debt disaster

17 Apr 2025

High-yield borrowing costs have spiked, raising memories of the $80 bln of loans and bonds that got stuck with lenders three years ago. Yet the leveraged buyout backlog is smaller now, and the credit market moves less violent. A mild headache is more likely than a nasty hangover.

Investors reward Goldman for being its true self

14 Apr 2025

Equity and bond traders cashed in on volatile markets in the first quarter, bringing in nearly 60% of the Wall Street firm’s revenue of $15 bln. CEO David Solomon has sought to emphasize more stable activities. But shareholders are warming to Goldman’s traditional strengths.

Jamie Dimon’s actions say even more than his words

11 Apr 2025

JPMorgan’s boss influenced US policy by speaking up about tariffs. His latest warnings are accompanied by $3.3 bln set aside for credit losses, 75% more than a year earlier. Based on the famously cautious mega-bank’s provisions in past downturns, the sum may yet be conservative.

Goldman follows logical path to bad executive pay

1 Apr 2025

Proxy firms urged investors to vote against the $80 mln retention fillips for CEO David Solomon and deputy John Waldron. Increasingly formidable rivals would happily wreck succession plans and targeted rewards are awkward. It makes sense, until it ends in more money for the boss.

China’s banks head towards new lending woes

1 Apr 2025

The state hopes injecting $72 billion of capital into four big lenders will spark consumer-driven economic growth. But it adds little firepower, and the country’s high savings rate suggests the banks have their work cut out. Doing Beijing’s bidding is already causing stress.

How UBS can soften or swerve $25 bln capital blow

27 Mar 2025

Swiss lawmakers might whack the bank with demands for extra equity. Chair Colm Kelleher could dodge the punch by moving its head office, but that would be risky. Better for UBS to cushion the impact by shrinking the investment bank - or even offloading its US wealth unit.

US banks set to capitalize on rare globalist pact

13 Mar 2025

Michelle Bowman should be a welcome pick as the Fed’s new sheriff to JPMorgan and its peers. She has advocated for aligning rules with Europe and beyond. It probably means a planned 9% capital hike on big lenders will vanish without upending the broader Basel Endgame framework.

Wall Street’s deal pipeline talk springs a leak

12 Mar 2025

After a so-so 2024, banking bosses have boasted that they see a boom of corporate matchmaking incoming, despite a 17% drop in M&A volume to kick off the year. Unusual layoffs at Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and others betray a distinctly more reserved outlook.

India’s banks face a new credibility test

12 Mar 2025

Shares in IndusInd, the country's fifth-largest private lender, fell 27% after it reported a derivatives lapse that will hit earnings. Cascading issues from management churn to bad loans seem to set it apart. But the latest mess will inspire heightened scrutiny of its peers too.

Dealmakers jazz up glum outlook in New Orleans

7 Mar 2025

Despite a slow $500 bln start to M&A this year, consiglieri clung to optimism at their annual Big Easy conclave. Buyout shops and CEOs may have the money for acquisitions, but expecting policy and the economy to become predictable enough for their comfort is a fanciful notion.

China’s bank recap exposes lenders’ dilemma

5 Mar 2025

The weakest Big Five lender, $70 bln BoCom, may be the first to get a capital injection from the state. Beijing will want it to spur lending to help drive economic growth. But with more earnings-sapping rate cuts likely, BoCom would be better off keeping any new powder dry.

EU banks’ M&A secret weapon nears sell-by date

3 Mar 2025

The ‘Danish Compromise’ lets Europe’s lenders buy insurers while shielding the capital hit. Yet Italy’s battle over $15 bln Banco BPM suggests the tool can also be hard to deploy. If financial groups fear regulators could withdraw the wheeze, maybe it’s no longer much use.

A Chinese Morgan Stanley is worth an M&A shot

3 Mar 2025

CICC may merge with Galaxy, per Reuters. They denied it, but a tie-up would combine a retail broker and an investment bank, as CICC’s Wall Street co-founder did with Dean Witter. It has more logic than earlier state-led deals, though being a global player would remain a stretch.

Fracturing world muddies Bill Winters’ options

21 Feb 2025

The CEO of $35 bln Standard Chartered has had a mostly underwhelming decade at the bank. Recent departures at the top make it hard to bow out. And a global trade war may benefit the emerging markets lender, enticing him to stay. But the fallout could upend his progress, too.

New HSBC CEO leaves growth question on backburner

19 Feb 2025

Georges Elhedery announced $1.5 bln of cost cuts that should help keep the $200 bln bank fairly lean. The bigger problem is HSBC’s revenue, which risks stagnating as rivals expand. The implication is that growth is out of the new CEO’s hands, making a valuation boost unlikely.

India’s banks will struggle to keep equities crown

19 Feb 2025

Kotak joined the ranks of the top 10 stock underwriters globally in 2024, a first for the country's financiers. Compatriots are doing well too. A record $71 bln of fundraising activity in rich local equities helped. It'll be hard to repeat as markets elsewhere come back to life.

EQT’s new boss has a private-credit hole to fill

17 Feb 2025

Per Franzén will replace CEO of six years Christian Sinding at the $40 bln Swedish buyout firm. EQT’s valuation premium to rivals has shrivelled, partly because fixed-income shops like Ares have soared. Franzén, who lacks a private-credit unit, may want to think about buying one.