Brief: Despite the surge in Covid-19 cases, investors should look past near-term market volatility and buy U.S. stocks, BlackRock Investment Institute said, raising its recommendation to a buy-equivalent rating. “We upgrade U.S. equities to overweight, expecting this market to benefit from both structural growth trends and a potential cyclical upswing during 2021,” said Mike Pyle, global chief investment strategist at BlackRock, in a report published Monday. “Positive vaccine news reinforces our outlook for an accelerated restart during 2021, reducing risks of permanent economic scarring.” Large-cap companies riding structural growth trends and smaller companies geared to a potential cyclical upswing are preferred investment opportunities, Pyle said. He added that the U.S. stock market has a “higher share of quality companies” in sectors with longer-term growth trends, like technology and health care. Investors have honed in on promising progress with Covid-19 vaccines, brushing past rising coronavirus infections across the world that have led to more lockdowns across North America and Europe. The S&P 500 Index is up about 10% this year and is on pace for a 9% gain this month alone.
Brief: Hedge funds that had seen their operational models being disrupted due to Covid pandemic have been relying on outsourcing part of their work to achieve greater efficiency. Many hedge fund managers that saw most of the executives being stranded at home due to the pandemic have been exploring the outsourcing model, especially some part of their work. As per a survey by KPMG, more than 70% of the hedge funds said that outsourcing part of their work may actually be more efficient. An overwhelming 71 percent of respondents agree that the current experience of working remotely has convinced them they could achieve better cost efficiencies if they outsource some of their operations. Approximately one-in-five firms say their outsourcing decision is being influenced by employee health concerns related to returning their own people to the office environment, the KPMG report said. “Many firms also point towards potential cost and business agility benefits of outsourcing. One-in-five firms admit they are moving towards outsourcing additional functions to better manage margin pressures. As one North American manager sensibly noted, “those that get the balance to outsourcing right will be able to scale their costs both during this disruption and going forward,” KPMG report said.
Brief: Mary Erdoes, who runs asset and wealth management at JPMorgan Chase & Co., reckons fund managers are one of the few groups of finance professionals who’ve benefited from the pandemic, given they’ve had more “thinking time” while forced to work from home. “Of all sectors that I think will come back to work in the office fastest, I would put asset management at the end of the list,” she said earlier this month. Many portfolio managers would beg to differ. The lack of interaction with colleagues focused on different asset classes, the increased difficulty of getting trades done, and the risk of junior staffers missing out on day-to-day instruction all make investment professionals as keen as others to get back to their office desks. “I want to go back,” says Chris Bowie, who helps oversee more than $25 billion at TwentyFour Asset Management in London. “I think the lack of a commute does allow more time to read and think, but you lose the over-the-desk ad-hoc interaction, which, in my experience, often leads to bigger discussions on themes and then asset allocation.” That interplay with teams across asset classes is a valuable source of investment insight that’s difficult to replicate, says Jamie Stuttard, head of global macro fixed income at Robeco Group, which manages more than $180 billion. Although lockdown has in some cases improved connections within teams, the cross-pollination of ideas has taken a big hit. “The casual ‘coffee machine’ interaction is gone,” he says.
Brief: Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said Sunday that the New York-London travel corridor will be "complicated" due to coronavirus restrictions, as airlines look to revive transatlantic travel. Bastian said that it would be easier to reopen a route to almost any other European city than London, citing the quarantine requirements in the U.K. as well as the lack of reliance on tourism. “I think you will find on the continent several countries that are more open,” Bastian told the Financial Times, adding, “I think New York-London is complicated.” Domestic flights in the U.S. have revived faster than international travel, with Thanksgiving to see a bump – though, Bastian projects that flight volume would be around 35%-40% of last year’s level. That suppressed level could continue throughout Christmas and the new year because of the recent surge in coronavirus cases seen in most states across the U.S. Airlines have attempted a number of pilot programs to develop better safety and confidence in air travel amid the pandemic: United Airlines converted its United Club inside Newark airport into an on-site testing facility, intending to test passengers before the flight departs. United touted the four-week test run as “a good proof-of-concept for governments around the world,” but no one has yet jumped to replicate it.
Brief: Blackstone Group Inc. is doubling down on Asia, seeking to raise at least $5 billion for its second private equity fund focused on the region, people familiar with the matter said. The U.S. investment firm has started marketing the new vehicle to potential investors, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. It’s targeting more than double the size of its first Asia buyout fund, which closed at about $2.3 billion in 2018. Blackstone is raising ever-larger pools of capital as dislocations from the coronavirus pandemic offer up more deal opportunities. President Jon Gray has vowed to increase the proportion of Asian investment in its total business, which stood at just under 10% two years ago. In 2018, it raised $7.1 billion for Asia real estate investments. The firm joins KKR & Co., which is in the process of raising at least $12.5 billion for its next Asia fund. TPG, Warburg Pincus and Baring Private Equity Asia raised larger amounts of money earmarked for investment in the region, totaling $15 billion since early 2019.
Brief: Private equity is flush with even more cash waiting to be invested than before the pandemic shut down large swaths of the economy. Buyout funds had $853 billion in dry powder as of the third quarter, with more than half of that in the industry’s largest funds, according to Ernst & Young’s third-quarter report on private equity trends. Funds that were specifically set up to invest in distressed deals had $140 billion, or 15 percent more to work with than they did at the beginning of the year. Total funds raised in 2020 through the third quarter have decreased by 19 percent, to $524 billion, with the absolute number of funds falling by 28 percent from the same time last year. But that’s still in line with fundraising trends over the past five years, according to EY. With most communication still happening through Zoom or Microsoft Teams, investors are handing more money to the funds they already know. That means the average fund size grew by 9 percent as of the third quarter. As a result, smaller funds without well-known brand names need to figure out how to get in front of investors. The star-studded list of mega funds includes CVC Capital Partners’ $24 billion buyout fund and Brookfield's $20 billion infrastructure product. Investors also handed over $18 billion to Silver Lake Partners for another buyout fund. There were also surprises along the way. When markets cratered beginning in March, industry observers were concerned that investors would fail to make their capital commitments to private equity funds.