Investing

Brendan Ballou’s book “Plunder” exposes how private equity firms, like Carlyle, harm businesses and evade legal responsibility, despite promising high returns. In this interview, Ballou discusses the alarming frequency and impact of these practices.

Inflation is rearing its head again, and many fear a rerun of the 1970s scenario. But here’s the catch: the world today is vastly different from back then, mainly because of our access to information. It’s a game-changer. Think about it: a smartphone user today holds more data in the palm of their hand than the US President had in the early 1980s. Knowledge about inflation isn’t just abundant—it’s at our fingertips, dramatically altering how we deal with economic crises.

Swiss-headquarterted private equity firm Partners Group has announced the launch of a new private equity European Long-Term Investment Fund (Eltif), opening up its private offerings also to retail investors. The fund is its first new private equity fund under the updated Eltif regime.

The Partners Group Private Equity Evergreen was already registered in Luxembourg last December and has a minimum investment threshold of 10,000 euro. The fund will be available to investors across Europe, including Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and the Benelux regions.

The U.S. economy has long enjoyed what might be called a Goldilocks scenario: robust growth paired with gradually declining inflation. However, recent data suggest that those days are behind us.

Take, for example, the recent GDP figures which illustrate a stark downturn. After quarters of 4.9% and 3.4% growth, the economy slowed to a mere 1.6% annualized growth in the first quarter of this year. 

The Norwegian parliament is poised to debate the merits and drawbacks of incorporating private equity investments into the country’s mammoth 1,490 billion euro sovereign wealth fund, the largest globally. The government is hesitant about unlisted funds, despite previous recommendations from Norges Bank, the country’s central bank which manages the national oil fund.

Steffen Pauls led KKR in Germany for over eleven years before becoming CEO of Moonfare. In 2015, he left the American investment company with a new goal: making private markets accessible to individuals. He understands all too well this target group sometimes has ethical concerns regarding this sector.

China is currently navigating a precarious situation reminiscent of the mythical dilemma between Scylla and Charybdis, grappling with a persistent real estate slump and waning investment interest. Adding to the challenges, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s policies have further complicated the economic landscape for Chinese policymakers. The looming possibility of a currency devaluation sends a stark warning to global markets to brace for impact.

While it must frequently adjust its predictions, the market yet anticipates two reductions in the Federal Reserve’s rates within the year. Should these occur, the implications for the S&P 500 are a matter of considerable speculation.

“At some point a kind of repetition creeps in, fatigue too, like over that eternal ECB watch, whether a comma has shifted somewhere. Take US interest rates. Do you remember whether or not it was raised in March 2018?”

The European Central Bank (ECB) is charting a course of strategic patience, signalling a readiness for a gradual policy shift that could commence as early as June. Analysts uniformly anticipate that while the near term may see steady policy rates, a carefully orchestrated move towards easing is on the cards.

As the ECB prepares for its forthcoming rate decision on Thursday, leading financial analysts have shared their insights, painting a picture of what asset owners can expect in the coming months.

As the U.S. presidential election nears, the markets are bracing for heightened volatility, particularly within the S&P 500, signaling the first significant movement in the Volatility Index (VIX) in several months. Investors are turning their gaze toward the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index futures, anticipating notable fluctuations in the S&P 500 as election day approaches.