NEWSLETTER of May 15, 2020

The following content has been added at finexpert:

BCG

THE COVID-19 CFO PULSE CHECK

Global CFOs are surprisingly pessimistic about their companies’ outlooks even as some countries take steps to ease their COVID-19 lockdowns, according to a new BCG survey. In addition, respondents are less optimistic than many commentators about the likelihood of a quick economic rebound. The survey findings confirm what we have heard directly from many CFOs during our ongoing project work: they are experiencing the most challenging situation of their careers. >more

Strategy&

INFECTED WITH COVID-19: HOW ASSET MANAGERS CAN RECOVER

The first impacts of the pandemic have hit asset managers badly. With losses above industry-average, some have seen their stock market valuations fall by more than 50%. This went hand in hand with a sharp decline in assets under management. In March 2020 alone, substantial outflows of more than USD 2 trillion have occurred. Present record volumes and a potential lack of liquidity are also putting a strain on operations. >more

Bain & Company

COVID-19 RECOVERY: BACK TO WORK

Recoveries have always mattered in business. Some of the biggest shifts in market share occur coming out of downturns, when new industry leaders — and new industries — often emerge. Rarely, though, has recovery meant putting people’s lives at risk. The post-Covid-19 world will accelerate some existing trends and create new ones, and all business models will have to evolve in order to grow and thrive. But there’s no way to accurately predict the coming year, and it’s a dangerous mistake to rely too heavily on forecasts, which have to be complemented with highly adaptive and resilient business models. >more

Baker Tilly International / Mergermarket

GLOBAL DEALMAKERS: EUROPEAN M&A MARKET UPDATE 2020

The spread of Covid-19 is causing dealmakers to reconsider or cancel investments into Europe, this after M&A already started posting a decline in the early months of 2020. Even as sentiments shift, respondents still agree that value can be found in Europe and that M&A opportunities are still abundant. However, it remains to be seen how many will put their plans into action as the pandemic and the spectre of recession weigh heavy on dealmakers’ minds. >more

CMS Hasche Sigle / FINANCE

PRIVATE EQUITY PANEL FRÜHJAHR 2020

For the Private Equity Panel, the FINANCE editorial team, together with the law firm CMS Hasche Sigle, interviews senior investment managers from more than 50 leading private equity houses in Germany three times a year about their current market assessment. The report compiles the most exciting statements on the business prospects of their portfolio companies, the attractiveness of certain sectors and the financing environment. >more

THE WILD WEST OF ICOS

Shaen Corbet, and Douglas J. Cumming
2020
This chapter sets out to establish the key issues that have become central within the market for Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). Within this context, we provide a brief overview of the existing literature based on ICOs around the world, while explaining the motivations and styles of criminality that have occurred, the methods that have been widely used by cryptocurrency thieves, the potential for the innovation of theft within the sector and the related problems that such technological progress can potentially generate, and the types of market agents that have set out to potentially misuse ICOs for a variety of reasons at both the sovereign and corporate level. As cryptocurrency markets continue to evolve, it is imperative that policy-makers and regulators continue to monitor the potential development of sophisticated manipulation and cyber-criminality techniques that have developed throughout the market for cryptocurrencies. >more

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE FINTECH INDUSTRY

Thomas J. Chemmanur, Michael B. Imerman, Harshit Rajaiya, and Qianqian Yu
2020
In this article, we review some recent developments in the field of Financial Technology or “FinTech.” We begin with an overview of what FinTech is and why it has become an important growth industry in the financial services area and therefore an important research topic in finance. In the next section, we review some of the academic literature in the FinTech area. In the subsequent section, we characterize the financing of FinTech startups, especially by venture capital firms. In the following section, we characterize innovation by FinTech firms as well as by incumbent financial intermediaries. In the next section, we move on to discuss potential sources of value creation by FinTech start-up firms relative to existing incumbent firms: we conjecture that one source of value creation may arise from FinTech startups being able to provide a superior customer experience relative to incumbent firms in various areas of consumer finance. >more