It's hard to believe Memorial Day has come and gone already, and that we're just about at the end of May. One area of Wall Street certainly didn't appear to take much time off over recent days. As Alex Morrell reports, US ECM volume roared back this month to close out with a record $72 billion.
Pandemic-fueled debt binges aren't gone, exactly, but the script has flipped. There's debt fatigue among investors, bankers say, and some companies are now turning to equity markets instead to raise cash to ride out any more downturns - and in some cases, potentially do some deals.
And while much of the May activity was follow-ons and convertibles, there are signs that the IPO market has been thawing, too. Warner Music Group, which announced plans for an IPO in February before the pandemic had gripped the US, is now moving forward with its public offering and is set to price next week.
As Meghan Morris explains, student-housing providers have seen a wave of money in recent years from public-markets investors and private groups like pension systems and sovereign wealth funds. Now the sector is undergoing its first real test.
With campuses closed for in-person learning and timelines uncertain for reopenings, the basic investment thesis of student-housing being recession-proof has been rewritten. Experts shared their outlook for the sector — and why some are seeing big buying opportunities.
Dakin Campbell spoke with Sabine Keller-Busse, UBS's chief operating officer, who laid out the key lessons the bank has drawn from its coronavirus response.
Advertisement
Keller-Busse described five areas where the bank will make or accelerate changes: the use of robots, staff insourcing, remote hiring, its real-estate footprint, and how heavily it will rely on business-continuity sites.
Nigel Morris, a cofounder of Capital One who spent 10 years as its president and chief operating officer, told Dan DeFrancesco that now is the right time for deals between fintechs and banks.
For fintechs, the coronavirus will force investors to take a harder look at the startups than they have previously, Morris said. And banks have needs as well. The pandemic has demonstrated the urgency for many of them to establish better digital strategies.
NewsletterSIMPLY PUT - where we join the dots to inform and inspire you. Sign up for a weekly brief collating many news items into one untangled thought delivered straight to your mailbox.