NEWSLETTER of May 19, 2023

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The following content has been added at finexpert:

BCG
INVESTOR PERSPECTIVES SERIES: Q1 2023
The BCG Investor Perspectives Series is intended to bring the voice of the investor to business leaders and board members. While we feature the most recent research here, you can explore earlier editions below. Our most recent survey was conducted February 13–22, 2023. It finds that while investors are less bearish than they were in Q4 2022, they remain concerned about elevated inflation and a potential recession, and their focus on the short term has increased. A clear majority of investors—63%—want companies to prioritize protecting their top line, and 71% expect companies to deliver on guidance and consensus, while 75% support exiting or divesting lines of business to strengthen the company. However, optimism for the next three years is at a series high—73% of investors are bullish, compared with the series average of 61%. >more

PwC
GLOBAL TOP 100 COMPANIES BY MARKET CAPITALIZATION
The Top 100 Companies market capitalisation decreased by 11% compared to 31 March 2022, the first significant decrease since 2009. This was despite a market rebound in Q1-23, reflecting the challenging backdrop for equities from the ongoing tightening of fiscal policy and stubborn inflation, compounded by the uncertainty in the US and European banking sector. >more

Deloitte
CFO SURVEY: FRÜHJAHR 2023
The Deloitte CFO Survey reflects the assessments and expectations of CFOs of large German companies on macroeconomic, corporate strategy and financial topics. The survey is published semi-annually and aims to identify trends and trend breaks. Overall, the Spring 2023 edition shows a cautious recovery in the outlook. At the same time, however, significant risks remain for companies, particularly in the field of geopolitics. Other key topics include dynamic finance and sustainability for CFOs. >more

EY
STANDORT DEUTSCHLAND 2023
Foreign investors again slightly reduced their involvement in Germany last year: The number of investment projects announced by foreign companies in Germany fell by 1% year-on-year to 832, the lowest level of foreign investment since 2013. Across Europe, a total of 5,962 investment projects were announced by foreign investors last year, an increase of 1%. However, this was still well short of the pre-pandemic level. Thus, the number of foreign investment projects was 7% lower than in 2019. >more

DO STARTUPS BENEFIT FROM THEIR INVESTORS’ REPUTATION? EVIDENCE FROM A RANDOMIZED FIELD EXPERIMENT
Shai Bernstein, Kunal Mehta, Richard Townsend, and Ting Xu
2022
We analyze a field experiment conducted on AngelList Talent, a large online search platform for startup jobs. In the experiment, AngelList randomly informed job seekers of whether a startup was funded by a top-tier investor and/or was funded recently. We find that the same startup receives significantly more interest when information about top-tier investors is provided. Information about recent funding has no effect. The effect of top-tier investors is not driven by low-quality candidates and is stronger for earlier-stage startups. The results show that venture capitalists can add value passively, simply by attaching their names to startups. >more

IS MARRIAGE A TURNING POINT? EVIDENCE FROM CASH HOLDINGS BEHAVIOR
Md Al Mamun, Boubaker Sabri, Abdul Ghafoor, and Mouhammed Tahir Suleman
2023
Given that marriage transforms people with wide-ranging and long-lasting impacts, we examine the role of CEOs' marital status on firms' cash holdings behavior. Using a large sample of US-listed firms, we find that single CEOs stockpile more cash than married ones. Our finding is robust to alternative measures of cash, controlling for various CEO characteristics, CFO influence, and tackling the endogeneity concerns. Moreover, we show that exogenous CEO turnover resulting in an appointment of single (married) CEOs increases (decreases) cash holdings. Additional results show that single-CEO firms practice a more conservative payout policy and are more likely to accumulate cash from operating and financing cash flows. Consistent with the agency theory, single CEOs extract more compensation from the accumulated cash, leading to a lower value of cash holdings. External corporate governance mechanisms mitigate the relationship between single CEOs and cash holdings. Overall, our results show that single-CEO firms are more prone to agency problems. >more