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Our briefing for Thursday, August 26, 2021:
Aug 26, 2021 3:41:28 PM
- In the United States, hospitalizations have reached more than 100,000, a level not seen since January. On Wednesday there were 100,317 people hospitalized with the coronavirus, and that number has been steadily increasing since July. Hospitalizations have increased by 10% in the past week alone and have nearly tripled in the past month. Florida has the highest number of hospitalizations at more than 17,000, followed by Texas which has more than 14,000. Despite the rise in hospitalizations, the number of deaths has stayed relatively low, with the daily average at about 1100 on Wednesday.
- In Canada, Air Canada announced a strict vaccine policy for all of its employees, requiring them to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 30. The policy will also apply to prospective employees. “Under the mandatory vaccination policy, testing will not be offered as an alternative. While Air Canada will fulfil its duties to accommodate employees who for valid reasons, such as medical conditions, cannot be vaccinated, failure to be fully vaccinated by October 30, 2021 will have consequences up to and including unpaid leave or termination, except for those who qualify for accommodation,” the company said in a press release.
- In the United Kingdom, researchers in Britain have found that vaccine effectiveness begins to fade after six months. According to the analysis from the U.K.’s ZOE Covid app study, the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine falls from 88% to 74% after five to six months. The same study showed that the effectiveness of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine falls from 77% to 67% after four to five months. The study is based on data provided by over a million app users and was collected after May 26, when the delta variant became the dominant strain.
- In Brazil, Covid-19 booster shots will be administered to those 70 and older or those who are immunocompromised. The boosters will be administered beginning in mid-September, the health ministry said. Only vaccines from Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca will be used for the boosters, while Sinovac’s Coronavac vaccine will not be used. Those with suppressed immune systems will get their third shot 28 days after their second dose, while those 70 and older get theirs around the six-month mark. So far about 59% of people in Brazil have received at least one dose of vaccine, while 26.5% are fully vaccinated.
- Japan has suspended the use of 1.63 million doses of the Moderna vaccine after contamination particles were found in several vials. Contamination was reported from multiple vaccinations sites according to the health ministry, although they did not elaborate on what type of contamination. Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, who is responsible for sales and distribution of the Moderna shot in Japan, said that they informed Moderna and requested an emergency investigation. Takeda also said that they did not receive any reports of adverse health effects as a result of distributing the affected doses.
- In Australia, New South Wales (NSW) reported 1029 new Covid-19 cases, topping 1000 for the first time since the pandemic began and exceeding the previous day’s record of 919. As the country continues to struggle with the delta variant, some hospitals are setting up emergency tents outdoors to help address the increase in patients. NSW State Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the system can deal with the pressure it’s under once more people are vaccinated. She says NSW can reach the 70% vaccination level by mid-October. Currently about 32% of people ages 16 and older in Australia are fully vaccinated.
Covid-19 – Due Diligence And Asset Management
The hybrid work revolution is already transforming economies
Brief: Even in the 19th century, workers were beginning to resent the grind of office life. “You don’t know how wearisome it is to breathe the air of four pent walls without relief, day after day,” British essayist Charles Lamb wrote in a letter to poet William Wordsworth back in 1822, railing against his toil in the East India’s Company’s office in Leadenhall Street, London.For the last 17 months, however, Lamb’s modern successors have mostly worked from home, liberated from what he termed “official confinement.” Today’s white-collar staff are living through a radical transformation of professional life, one economists say is already beginning to jump-start economic productivity and accelerate innovation. The pandemic has weakened the gravitational pull of city centers, with new forces now reshaping knowledge-based economies.
Asset managers look to cloud and AI to drive Covid-19 recovery, says new Temenos survey
Brief: Investment in technology and data infrastructure sit at the top of asset managers’ priorities as they position themselves to deliver business growth in the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Fifty six per cent say their investment will focus on these areas over the next 12 months and for almost half (47 per cent) on ensuring ESG compliance across their product range. That's according to a new report by Funds Europe – The Future of Investment Operations – for Temenos (SIX: TEMN), the banking software company.The survey of global investment professionals across the asset management sector also reveals Covid-19 has pushed firms to review their IT strategies and transition to the public/hybrid cloud.
Euro-Area Consumers Shrug Off Pandemic But Firms Struggle
Brief: Lending to euro-area consumers resumed its pre-pandemic trend, supporting a recovery that’s increasingly driven by private spending. By contrast, credit growth to companies slowed further in July after spiraling last year when lockdowns paralyzed the economy and eroded income, ECB data showed Thursday. With lending an early indicator for investment, this trend could become a reason for concern if it persists into 2022, according to ING’s Carsten Brzeski.
Oaktree Seeks Hidden Gems in a World of Low Returns, Marks Says
Brief: Howard Marks, co-founder of distressed debt firm Oaktree Capital Management LLC, says he’s looking to find “hidden gems” in a world where too many buyers are driving returns down. “Ever since the Fed and the Treasury and the world’s central banks rescued the global economy,” and the Fed injected trillions of dollars into markets, investors have became “forced buyers,” Marks said in a video interview Wednesday afternoon. That turned bargain hunting into a “very challenging” activity, he said. Oaktree is one of the largest specialists in distressed debt, with about $37 billion committed to credit and private equity from troubled companies. The Los Angeles-based fund has thrived in times of economic stress, when bonds of companies in danger of defaulting fall to deep discounts.
A WeWork SPAC Was Looking Promising. Then Delta Happened
Brief: After a planned initial public offering blew up spectacularly in 2019, WeWork Inc. was counting on the post-Covid era of flexible working to staunch big cash outflows and gain a fresh start. Its attempt to go public (again) is premised on people now preferring its shared workspaces over traditional corporate offices.But with virus cases surging in key markets like the U.S. and U.K., its recovery isn’t going as well as hoped. Last week it warned that full year revenues would be lower, and losses larger, than previously forecast. U.K.-listed rival IWG PLC issued a similar warning in June. There are signs that WeWork and IWG have overcome the worst — revenues have picked up again since the spring — but both are still losing money. The next weeks are therefore crucial: Even as virus worries re-emerge, they need to boost occupancy so their revenues better cover costs.
