Brief: Respondents to Dykema’s 17th annual M&A Outlook Survey believe nothing will break the stride of US M&A dealmakers over the year to come, with most viewing the Biden administration’s legislative agenda as positively impacting activity. A resounding 75 percent of respondents expect the US M&A market will strengthen in the next 12 months, while only 7 percent anticipate it will weaken. Respondents not only predict deal volumes will be up across the board, from small to mid-market to mega-deals of USD1 billion and more, but 9 out of 10 also expect M&A activity among privately owned businesses to increase over the next year… “This might stem from ongoing supply chain and labor shortage issues associated with the pandemic as well as the general, but persistent, uncertainty it brings,” says Jeff Gifford, leader of Dykema’s Corporate Finance practice group. “That said, now even after the surge in cases, dealmakers have learned how to manage Covid-19-related uncertainties, with respondents ranking Covid-19-related delays sixth in order of the most common obstacles they experienced in deal-making last year.”
Brief: The trading desk was just embarking on a second banner year when senior executives started defecting to the likes of Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and Millennium Management. By this fall, many of the team’s heaviest hitters had gone. The setting wasn’t some struggling investment bank. It was the equity derivatives desk inside the mighty JPMorgan Chase & Co. -- one of many pockets of employee turnover that have erupted there in recent months, keeping the company’s recruiters busy. Pan out, and it’s part of a trend sweeping across Manhattan’s financial industry. Signs of a surge in Wall Street job-hopping are emerging everywhere: An independent recruiter said he’s never seen so many eight-figure hiring packages. A career coach said his banker clients aren’t basing decisions solely on money -- they’re fed up with working so much they can’t even date. An industry veteran said moves are becoming so common that some people left behind are anxious: Are they making a mistake by staying? The trend coincides with the easing of a pandemic that bottled up job changes and prompted many in the industry to question whether they want to resume old commutes, or even stay in the same city. Now, rival firms are dangling money or, in some cases, more flexible lifestyles to lure talent and capitalize on the trading and dealmaking boom. There’s also more competition for women and members of minority groups after virtually every major firm promised to improve diversity in the wake of last year’s racial equity protests.
Brief: When venture capital investor Kate Bingham was appointed to lead the UK’s coronavirus vaccine procurement effort in May 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson tasked her with delivering “speed, not perfection”. By December that year, the UK had approved its first Covid-19 vaccine, developed by Pfizer/BioNTech. Since then, 80 per cent of the UK population over the age of 12 have received at least one vaccine, and the jabs are working “much better than anyone expected”. “To get any vaccine from identification of pathogen through to a vaccine, the quickest historically has been five years, but that was 50 years ago,” says Bingham, managing partner of venture capital firm SV Health Investors, speaking around a virtual impact investing event, GSG Global Impact Summit in October. Bingham has 30 years’ experience in the biotechnology sector, and her investments have helped launch new treatments for inflammatory and autoimmune disease and cancer.
Brief: Ray Dalio sounded the alarm bell on Thursday after inflation in the U.S. surged to the highest level since 1990 and warned his followers that rising portfolio values don’t actually signify increasing wealth. “Some people make the mistake of thinking that they are getting richer because they are seeing their assets go up in price without seeing how their buying power is being eroded,” Dalio wrote in a post on LinkedIn. “The ones most hurt are those who have their money in cash.” Dalio, the billionaire founder of Bridgewater Associates, has long been known for his view that there are better assets to hold than cash amid central bank money printing. In periods of rising prices, he says it’s actually more important to look at what you can buy with that money. “When a lot of money and credit are created, they go down in value, so having more money won’t necessarily give one more wealth or buying power,” Dalio wrote, adding that real wealth becomes a function of production capacity over time. “Printing money and giving it away won’t make us wealthier if the money isn’t directed to raise productivity.”
Brief: While most women in asset management would like the hybrid work model to continue, not everyone thinks it will have a positive impact on their career — unless firms address some of the challenges, including helping to foster connections with colleagues and clients. According to the 2021 KPMG Women in Asset Management Survey, 89 percent of respondents said they would like the option to continue remote or flexible work. KPMG’s findings were consistent across age groups. “Although there is a perception that working mothers most desire flexibility, our survey shows that nearly everyone wants it,” according to KPMG. Employees also want flexibility to care for aging parents, for example. However, 32 percent of respondents said the flexibility at work might have a negative impact on promotions and advancement. Among the 491 surveyed professionals, 93 percent were women, representing asset classes and categories including private equity, hedge funds, real estate, and mutual funds.