Financial Services
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Private Equity Activity Expected to Continue to Increase
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After a rocky start to the year, global private equity hockey-sticked up in the third quarter to finish the year with a total deal value of $555.1 billion, 5% higher than in pre-COVID 2019.
Though deal volume fell 18% from 2019, writers Ian Bagshaw, Oliver Brahmst and Daniel Yeh with the international law firm White & Case, called the PE performance a “remarkable feat.”
“While the global PE market …
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Banking’s 2021 Outlook: Transformation and Resilience
Read the rest of this entry »When the pandemic forced the shutdown of businesses across much of the world, one of the sectors that adapted quickly was finance.
In a detailed forward-looking article, Deloitte applauded banking’s response calling it “notable… Banks effectively deployed technology and demonstrated unprecedented agility and resilience.” Looking ahead, the report says now is the time for the industry to institutionalize what it learned about engaging customers, digital transformation, finance and talent, …
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Consumers Are Paying Down Credit Card Debt
Read the rest of this entry »Consumers are paying off their credit card debt in amounts not seen since the Great Recession a decade ago.
A WalletHub study says that since the beginning of the year, Americans paid down $118.5 billion in credit card debt. In the first quarter alone, credit card debt declined by $60 billion, the biggest first quarter credit card debt paydown ever, says WalletHub.
Then, in Q2 and Q3, debt declined by …
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Bank Branches, Threatened But Surviving
Read the rest of this entry »Thought to be endangered by the twin threats of mobile banking and the COVID-19 pandemic, bank branches it turns out, still have plenty of life left.
The Financial Brand reports that an FDIC report released at the end of September showed a net decline of 1,463 bank branches between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020. That’s about 12% higher than last year, but not the tsunami some analysts were …
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COVID Is Accelerating the CFO Evolution
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Chief Financial Officers have been playing an ever greater role in business management and strategy since the title was first used in the 1960s.
The evolution of CFO from keeper of the records and reporter of numbers to strategist has been underway for years, accelerated by the Great Recession and now the COVID-19 pandemic.
A report on this evolution says the pandemic has expanded the role of CFOs as businesses …
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Banking Trends That Are Here to Stay
Read the rest of this entry »What the ATM did for getting cash, the covid pandemic is doing for many other banking services.
More than ever, customers are turning to online banking to pay bills, transfer funds, and handle transactions they would have visited a branch for just a few months ago.
Baby Boomers, the generation most reluctant to have downloaded their bank’s mobile app, have embraced online banking in record numbers. Shortly after businesses were …
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Cost Drives Equity Fund Managers to Make Changes
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When managers of private equity funds changed service providers this year, cost, quality and increased portfolio complexity were typically behind the decision.
Preqin, a leading source of data and analytics about the alternative assets industry, says this year’s unusually challenging environment is prompting fund managers to more intensely evaluate their service providers. The relationship between cost and quality of service is being scrutinized especially closely.
“Managers,” Preqin comments, “Want service …
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COVID Saving Added $1 Trillion to Bank Deposits
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Banks are awash in money as consumers at record rates socked away the money they didn’t spend during the early stages of the COVID-19 shutdown.
A Mass Mutual survey discovered one in five of us put away at least $1,000. An ambitious 10% say they’ve saved more than $5,000 since the start of the pandemic. So much money has poured into the nation’s banks that the FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund …
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Alternatives Investors Plan to ‘Stay the Course’ This Year
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Despite market volatility and an uncertain economic outlook, investors are committed to their alternative asset programs, declares Preqin in its half year investment update.
The majority of investors in alternatives say they intend to stay the course this year, telling Preqin they are satisfied with the performance of their portfolio over the last year.
“Almost all investors intend to either maintain (60%) or increase (33%) allocations to private capital, …
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Wall Street Bonuses Are Shrinking This Year
Read the rest of this entry »About those year-end bonuses Wall Street bankers and traders were expecting just a few months ago: If they happen at all they’re going to be smaller than last year.
The compensation consulting firm Johnson Associates Inc. says the prolonged business shutdown, which has kept millions unemployed, is weighing on banks, which have upped their cash reserves anticipating the possibility of widespread credit defaults.
They’ve also taken a hit to lending …
