NEWSLETTER of August 5, 2022

The following content has been added at finexpert:

Deloitte
EUROPEAN BANKING TREND RADAR EDITION 1: THE CLIENT PERSPECTIVE
Changing customer needs are one of the key drivers for change in banking. Banks increasingly face new client behaviors and expectations, shaped by factors such as changing social values and expectations. Furthermore, higher affinity with digital and technological aspects shapes consumer preferences for everyday banking activities. New standards are emerging for financial services companies since customer centricity is a major competitive differentiator. Banks should therefore ensure that they provide the best seamless experience to their customers. >more

World Economic Forum
THE GLOBAL COVID-19 FINTECH MARKET IMPACT AND INDUSTRY RESILIENCE STUDY
As one of the largest empirical research undertakings on the effect of COVID-19 on the global fintech industry, the Global COVID-19 Fintech Market Impact and Industry Resilience Study draws upon panel data from 1,448 fintech firms from 192 countries. This study provides key insights into the medium- to long-term impact of the pandemic on the fintech industry, with special attention to fintech market performance, financial and operational performance indicators, reinforced demands for greater financial inclusion, and how government can support the quickly evolving fintech industry. >more

ValueTrust | Finexpert | WU Vienna
DACH CAPITAL MARKET STUDY
ValueTrust, finexpert and the Institute of Management Accounting and Auditing at WU Vienna publish the eleventh edition of the ValueTrust DACH Capital Market Study (version: June 30, 2022). In our DACH Capital Market Study, we derive valuation parameters and cost of equity in a comprehensive manner for Germany, Austria and Switzerland to provide a sound basis for investment decisions. We present current valuation levels based on stock market multiples and estimate the cost of equity using four different methods for twelve different industries. >more

Goldman Sachs
HOW EUROPE CAN REPLACE RUSSIAN GAS AND STILL ACHIEVE ITS NET-ZERO EMISSIONS GOALS
The tensions between Russia and the rest of Europe over natural gas flows have underscored the unsustainability of the continent’s energy system. But with the right mix of infrastructure investment, Europe can emerge from the upheaval with a system that is cheaper, achieves the continent’s net-zero carbon emissions goals and is more secure. The spending is estimated to eventually pay for itself from savings on energy imports, according to Goldman Sachs Research. It will take €10 trillion of investment by 2050 for Europe to transform its energy infrastructure, according to Goldman Sachs’ Carbonomics framework. That amounts to around €350 billion each year, around 2% of gross domestic product by 2030. >more

THE COST OF ESG INVESTING
Laura Anne Lindsey, Seth Pruitt, and Christoph Schiller
2021
Even against increasing interest in socially responsible investing mandates, we find that implementing ESG strategies can cost nothing. Modifying optimal portfolio weights to achieve an ESG-investing tilt negligibly affects portfolio performance across a broad range of ESG measures and thresholds. This is because those ESG measures do not provide information about future stock performance, either in relation to risk or mispricing, beyond what is provided by other observable firm characteristics. That the stock market does not reflect significant equilibrium pricing of ESG information is rationalized in a model of responsible investing wherein investors differ in which ESG-related criteria are used to weight their portfolios. >more

SPACS
Minmo Gahng, Jay R. Ritter, and Donghang Zhang
2022
Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) IPO investors have earned annualized returns of 23.9%, while investors in the merged companies have earned -11.3% in the first year on common shares but 72.2% on warrants. We rationalize why certain companies go public via a SPAC merger despite their high costs. We identify the economic roles of SPAC sponsors and investors and analyze the agency problems that certain SPAC features address. To complete mergers, sponsors sometimes forfeit a portion of their shares and warrants, often transferring them to investors. Even so, sponsors have earned average annualized returns of at least 112%. >more