Wuhan Virus turns City into a Ghost Town

One piece of consolation, the cities that want to steal London's crown will not be in a much different position, what price an office tower in Frankfurt or Paris? Always thought the vast expanses of entrance lobbies in the towers were an absurd waste of money, one or two receptionists and a lonely plant, in addition to the inevitable 'security' personnel....and is there really enough business for the cast of thousands employed by the major banks, brokers, lawyers and accountants?
Virus turns City into a Ghost Town

ESG creates quagmire for Fund Managers

And business in general. The demands from lobbies and interest groups will expand and no action by managers and businesses will be enough to satisfy them. Once pandora's box is opened issues that really should be settled in the realm of politics will lead to never-ending complications for what should really be the priority for business and investment - obtaining profits or a satisfactory performance for savers.
(27-July-2020)
Boohoo supply chain allegations reveal challenges facing ESG investors

London is Top City Brand

London is the world’s top “City Brand”, with Sydney, Paris, New York, and Rome rounding out the top five, according to the people in ten countries surveyed for the Anholt-Ipsos City Brands Index.

www.ipsos.com

Let Politicians sort out Climate Change

And Fund Managers should get on with doing their job, which is find good investments for their clients. Has ANYONE ever heard of this 'ThinkTank'? (and should many of them not just simply be called non-representative/unelected lobbies?). So who should care about the latests moan (sorry, 'Report') by 'InfluenceMap'? Why should companies and shareholders, and the investment managers accept lock, stock and barrel what is bandied about regarding 'Climate Change'. Let politics set rules in a democratic fashion, that is its role and business and investors can work in the framwork that is given. Everything else is just Virtue-signalling - esp as long as the 100 pound gorilla in the Climate 'Emergency' discussion, rampant growth in world's  Population, is swept under the carpet.
Biggest Asset Managers not holding Companies to account on Climate Change 

Fund Management Consolidation - a caveat

Anath Capital acquires Stratton Street  and will integrate the credit fund manager's $500 Mio AuM with its Garraway Capital subsidiary to bring combined AuM to $ 1 Bio.
While consolidation in the Asset Management space continues it will not end in a completely oligopolistic landscape. The bigger the dominant firms become the less able they will be to differentiate their products or achieve outperformance. This will always leave room for up-and-coming managers - apart from the human desire to run their own business rather than being stuck in huge bureaucracies.

Asset Managers strive to cut Banks out of Forex Dealing

Not sure that FX trading is such a significant drag on performance. Maybe fund managers should just do less frantic in- and out trading. And trying to find counter parties directly at the right time and right size is not going to offer significant rewards. Who wants to take the other side of a 1 billion trade when one knows that the other side HAS to trade?
Asset managers strive to cut out banks from forex dealing

Hedge Fund blows up - where was Citi's risk management?

If the lenders - in this case Citigroup is quoted - of liquidity don't manage their risk and losses result it is easy to blame the hedge fund. Careful monitoring of exposure should have prevented this loss quite easily.
(27-Mar-2019)
Hedge fund blow-up costs investors and Citigroup

Pay Gap reporting - nothing but an Employment Scheme?

Ever since Pay Reporting for senior Executives became standard practice (and started an upward spiral of executive compensation) virtue signalling via pay gap reporting became more and more pervasive. But does it really help anyone if pay differentials by gender, race, age are scrupulously registered and reported? The inevitable pay gaps will only breed resentment and be endless fodder for self-appointed campaigners and lobbies. After all, there will never be perfect equality and there will always be one group that is paid less than the other side. And why not report by religious affiliation? there might be interesting aspects to discover as well - did not some scholar relate economic success to Protestantism?
That some businesses find it worth their time to call for MORE (!) mandatory regulation (bureaucracy) reminds one of Lenin's bonmot: "The capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them" (6-March-2019)
Companies call for mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting

Yellow Vest Protests - France

Violence certainly is not a pleasant experience but neither is life under a semi-democratic state that gives citizens no say except in a box-ticking exercise every few years. And even that is not addressing specific problems but is mostly based on personalities and vague statements that are never properly followed when a politician is elected.
France plots tougher response to 'undeclared' protests

Balyasny said to cut 125 People

It is quite amazing that a Hedge Fund - or any Investment Manager - with an AuM just under $12 billion can have a cast of hundreds, more than six hundred staff in Balyasny's case. So it is no wonder that such a large cut in staffing numbers became inevitable.
Hopefully most Firms have a tighter control over their headcount - a strategy of hire and fire is not conducive to a good working environment and investment clients are less than happy if they see frequent staff changes.
Balyasny Cuts 125 People as Hedge Fund Bleeds Assets