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Our briefing for Thursday, September 23, 2021:
Sep 23, 2021 4:22:12 PM
- In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized booster doses of the Pfizer vaccine for people 65 and older, those at risk of health complications and those whose jobs expose them to Covid-19. The authorization came on Wednesday and could see boosters be made available as early as this week. It will allow boosters for groups like healthcare workers, teachers, daycare staff and other essential workers. Last week an advisory panel to the FDA voted against the proposition that boosters will be needed by the broader population. The advisory panel said there is currently not enough evidence to support booster shots for all.
- In Canada, deliveries of Covid-19 vaccines have been put on pause because supply in the country exceeds demand. Canada currently has a stockpile of 18.7 million doses, more than enough to vaccinate the remaining eligible population. About 80% of Canada’s eligible population is fully vaccinated, so at most 11 million doses would be needed to finish vaccinating everyone over 12. All provinces have stopped requesting new doses and the country has told suppliers to stop shipments. Canada will work with suppliers and other countries to determine how its excess doses of Pfizer and Moderna can be donated.
- In the United Kingdom, England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty has warned it is inevitable that almost all unvaccinated children will get Covid-19 at some point. Speaking to MPs on Wednesday, Whitty explained that transmission rates are highest among those ages 12-15. “It won't necessarily be in the next two or three months but they will get it sooner or later because this is incredibly infectious and because immunity wanes, we're not going to see a situation where it just sort of stops at a certain point," Whitty said. Last week the government accepted a recommendation to offer jabs to 12-15-year-olds. Whitty says the vaccines will reduce the risk of infection by 50% or maybe more.
- Germany will stop paying compensation to unvaccinated workers who are forced to quarantine, Health Minister Jens Spahn announced on Wednesday. The new rules come into effect on October 11 and will cover people who test positive for the virus as well as people returning home from trips to countries deemed “high risk.” Critics have said the new rules are too similar to a vaccine mandate, arguing that many people can’t afford to stay home without pay. “We should see this differently," Spahn told the media. "It's about fairness. Those who protect themselves and others via a vaccination can rightly ask why we should have to pay somebody who ended up in quarantine after a holiday in a risk area."
- New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she hopes to avoid lockdowns in the future, and sees vaccinations as “the golden ticket” out of the pandemic. The country reported 15 new locally transmitted cases of Covid-19, down from 23 on Wednesday. New Zealand has taken a different approach to the virus than most countries, aiming to completely eliminate the outbreak in Auckland through a series of measures including lockdowns, at least until vaccination rates pick up. So far about 62% of New Zealanders have had at least one dose of vaccine, while about 40% are fully vaccinated.
- In Australia, the government of New South Wales (NSW) announced a trial vaccine passport system for certain regions. The trial will take place for two weeks from October 6 and will allow people to use the Service NSW app to show their vaccination status, which is the same app people can currently use to check into venues. NSW Minister for Customer Service Victor Dominello said the trial will be a closed pilot for between 100-500 people. The regional areas where the trial will run haven’t been selected yet, but the government decided against running it in Sydney.
Covid-19 – Due Diligence And Asset Management
Investment management AUM grows to £9.4trn despite tumultuous 2020
Brief: Assets under management held by Investment Association (IA) members grew to £9.4 trillion in the UK by the end of 2020, an increase of 11% compared to the previous year, according to the Investment Management Survey. The annual assessment of the state of the industry found that total funds under management for UK investors also saw an 11% increase year on year, reaching £1.4 trillion in 2020. The recovery and resilience of the industry's recovery through the Covid-19 pandemic has been attributed to quick adaptation to home working, a focus on delivering for customers, and crucial interventions from the central banks. Chris Cummings, chief executive of the Investment Association said: "The investment management industry demonstrated its long termism through the pandemic by supporting the companies it invests in. The swift action of the central banks supported the global economy and the industry rallied to the cause injecting over £22bn into businesses to help them ride out the storm."
Nuveen’s Nick Says Dovish Fed Provides Solid Support for Stocks
Brief: Nuveen’s Brian Nick is among the several strategists who think economic growth has already peaked as the effect of trillions of dollars in fiscal stimulus wears off. Yet he remains optimistic about the stock market. “We still have an overall positive view of where the economy is going to be going over the next five or six quarters,” Nick, the chief investment strategist at the wholly owned TIAA subsidiary, said in an interview on Bloomberg TV’s Surveillance Thursday. “That includes a deceleration in year-on-year earnings growth and deceleration in GDP growth, but there is still much more positive than negative out there. “Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that the U.S. central bank could begin scaling back asset purchases in November and complete the process by mid-2022, after officials revealed a growing inclination to raise interest rates next year.
UAE Says It’s Unwinding Pandemic Stimulus as Economy Recovers
Brief: The United Arab Emirates has begun winding down an economic support program launched in response to the coronavirus pandemic as the economy shows signs of gradual recovery, the central bank said in a statement. The reduced reserve requirements for banks won’t change for now and neither will the lower loan-to-value ratio required for first-time home buyers seeking mortgage loans, the bank said. The loan deferral component of the Targeted Economic Support Scheme will expire by the end of 2021 with financial institutions able to carry on tapping a collateralized 50-billion-dirham ($13.6 billion) liquidity facility until the middle of 2022, in line with earlier guidance.
US jobless claims tick up from near a pandemic low
Brief: The number of Americans applying for unemployment aid rose last week for a second straight week to 351,000, a sign that the delta variant of the coronavirus may be disrupting the job market's recovery, at least temporarily. Thursday's report from the Labor Department showed that jobless claims rose by 16,000 from the previous week. As the job market has strengthened, unemployment aid applications, which generally track layoffs, have tumbled since topping 900,000 early this year, reflecting the economy's reopening after the pandemic recession. The four-week moving average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week swings, registered its sixth straight drop — to a pandemic low of 336,000. Jobless claims still remain somewhat elevated: Before the virus tore through the economy in March 2020, they generally numbered about 220,000 a week.
Investor confidence in PM's recovery plan falters
Brief: A new survey of investors has found that the majority lack faith in the government’s ability to tackle record levels of public debt and rebuild the economy post-pandemic. Forex platform HYCM surveyed 1,479 UK investors — all of whom have more than £20,000 ($27,292) invested. Some 60% of that number do not think Boris Johnson and the government have handled the pandemic competently. Some 59% also lack faith in the government’s ability to tackle record levels of public debt. Meanwhile, just under half (48%) believe Rishi Sunak is the right person to be chancellor. However, Sunak does appear to have the backing of wealthier investors, as this figure increases to 70% among those with portfolios worth in excess of £1m.
