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Our briefing for Monday, September 13, 2021:
Sep 13, 2021 3:13:20 PM
- In the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci, U.S. top infectious disease expert, says more vaccine mandates will be needed to end the pandemic. Speaking to CNN on Sunday, Fauci said more schools and businesses may have to mandate vaccines in order to help keep the virus under control. He said that the delta variant combined with vaccine hesitancy has created a very challenging time with the Covid-19 pandemic in the U.S. His comments come shortly after President Joe Biden’s announcement of new vaccine measures, which include a mandate for all federal workers to get vaccinated. Currently in the U.S. about 63% of the eligible population is fully vaccinated.
- In Canada, the province of Alberta continues to lead the country in new and active Covid-19 cases. On Friday, Alberta saw 1473 new cases and 10 new deaths. Over 2400 Albertans have died of Covid-19, and one of those who died this week was a young, unvaccinated pregnant woman. Currently there are more than 16,000 active Covid-19 cases in the province. Demonstrations were held in the city of Calgary over the weekend to protest vaccine mandates and other health restrictions. The rallies were held to support nurses, firefighters, police and other public sector workers who are against vaccine mandates.
- In the United Kingdom, vaccine passports will no longer be needed in England for access to nightclubs and other venues. Health Secretary Sajid Javid made a sharp U-turn on the matter, saying only about a week ago that it was the best thing for the industry. "This virus hasn't gotten anywhere, there's still a pandemic so of course we need to remain cautious,” Javid told the BBC on Sunday. “But we just shouldn't be doing things for the sake of it all because others are doing it. We should look at every possible intervention properly.”
- In Japan, a 50% vaccination milestone has been reached, according to the government. Japan’s vaccine rollout began slowly and has followed behind those of other developed nations. The program began in mid-February with healthcare workers and then expanded to those age 65 and older in April. Despite facing shortages of imports, the program picked up the pace by the end of late May, eventually reaching 100 million doses per day. The government expects a large majority of the eligible population to be fully vaccinated by November, when they plan to ease some restrictions.
- In New Zealand, Auckland will remain under strict Level four restrictions for at least another week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced. The country reported 33 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total for this outbreak to 955. “Level four remains our best option to beat Delta and contain the virus at this stage of the outbreak. We don’t want to risk the sacrifices everyone has made, and all the hard work you’ve put in, by moving to alert Level three too quickly,” Ardern said. The rest of the country will remain under Level two restrictions because of the risk of the virus spreading from Auckland.
- In Australia, New South Wales (NSW) Premier Gladys Berejiklian says vaccination rates are slowing and urged the unvaccinated to come forward to get their shots. "For those of you who choose not to be vaccinated, that is your choice, but don't expect to do everything that vaccinated people do when we hit 80%," Berejiklian said at a media briefing. "Our vaccination rates keep increasing, however there has been a slight slowdown. So we encourage everybody to come forward and get vaccinated." NSW reported a total of 1257 new Covid-19 cases, while neighbouring Victoria state reported 473.
Covid-19 – Due Diligence And Asset Management
Scaramucci's SALT hedge fund confab returns in person in New York City
Brief: A marquee Wall Street conference returns this week, but much like everyone's pandemic-era plans, the event hosted by hedge fund executive and former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, will be a little different this year. The SALT event, one of the premier hedge fund industry conferences, kicks off Sunday at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, rather than the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas where organizers hosted the event 10 times before. The annual conference in Las Vegas was famous for pool parties, private rock concerts, and exclusive dinners as managers tried to get commitments for big checks from pension funds or other institutional investors. The Delta variant — a more infectious version of the original coronavirus — will force changes at this year's event in New York where roughly 3,000 signed up after Scaramucci sent "save the dates" a few months ago.
UK pay and spending shrinks in year of pandemic
Brief: UK households reduced their spending by an average of £109.10 ($150.85) per week during the coronavirus pandemic, while they also struggled with a fall in income, new research has shown. According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), richer households saw a bigger cut to spending than poorer households during the year to March 2021. Restrictions on buying certain goods and services during the pandemic were part of the cause of the 19% spending drop across the country, as well as a fall in household income, and a shift to home working. At the height of the spring 2020 lockdown, more than one-fifth of usual spending was largely prevented, the ONS said. Lower spending on international holidays, which included accommodation, travel and food, accounted for half of reduced spending in the highest income households, compared with just a third for the lowest income households.
U.S. equity funds face outflows on growth concerns -Lipper
Brief: U.S. equity funds faced an outflow in the week to Sept. 8, on concerns the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant could slow economic growth and uncertainty over the timeline for the Federal Reserve to pull back its accommodative policies. Data from Lipper showed U.S. equity funds faced an outflow of $1.85 billion in the week to Wednesday, compared with an inflow worth $11.18 billion in the previous week. Investors also assessed data that showed the U.S economy created the fewest jobs in seven month in August, which affected risk sentiment. U.S. equity growth funds faced net selling of $4.72 billion, their biggest outflow in seven weeks, while value funds saw outflows for a third straight week, worth a net $541 million. Among equity sector funds, real estate funds lured a net $2.29 billion, the biggest since at least mid-October 2019. However, financials, industrials and materials sectors faced outflows of $1.05 billion, $857 million and $512 million respectively.
Wall Street Braced for ‘Far Stickier’ Inflation to Test Markets
Brief: Markets are on tenterhooks for critical U.S. inflation data that could buffet stocks and bonds if they shift expectations about Federal Reserve stimulus withdrawal and the timing of interest-rate hikes. A backdrop of slower reopening in pandemic-stricken economies due to the delta strain, and price pressures stoked by supply snarls led to declines in both global stocks and Treasuries last week. Some measures of producer prices released Friday topped expectations, with a gauge of final demand jumping 8.3% year-over-year amid persistent disruptions in supply. That’s coming against a backdrop of tenacious inflation concerns, with central banks pumping in stimulus, and inventory issues cropping up just as the labor market adjusts to a new reality of work. Here’s what some strategists and investors are saying now.
Asset Managers Need a Tech Overhaul
Brief: Asset managers used to depend on in-person conversations to strike deals, but that’s no longer the case as managers and clients across the globe shift to remote work. That’s one reason 75 percent of asset managers showed a strong appetite for digital transformations, according to a recent survey from KPMG. KPMG got 1,300 global respondents to its survey, including 112 asset management CEOs. Of the U.S. participants, 63 percent were from private equity, 22 percent were brokers or financial advisors, 9 percent were from wealth managers, 3 percent were from hedge funds, and another 3 percent were multi-strategy alternative investors.
