NEWSLETTER of November 28,2025

The following content has been added at finexpert:

Goldman Sachs
INVESTMENT OUTLOOK 2026
In “Investment Outlook 2026 – Identifying catalysts in a complex environment,” we highlight potential return drivers in the public and private markets. Learn more about our assessments of the investment environment, opportunities in individual asset classes, and key topics for portfolio construction. In light of monetary policy shifts, new trade dynamics, and idiosyncratic credit events, active, disciplined investing remains crucial. We have identified easing cycles, AI, and deal activity as catalysts. Our primary focus remains on the strategic positioning of portfolios to generate returns. >more

KfW Research
START-UPS IN DEUTSCHLAND – WACHSTUM UND EXIT-WEGE ÜBER VENTURE CAPITAL
Start-ups are engines of innovation and drivers of growth for the German economy. In 2024, over 2,500 start-ups were founded, and the positive trend from the previous year continued in the first half of 2025. Venture capital (VC) is an important source of financing for particularly high-growth start-ups. Around 16% of the start-ups founded in Germany since 2005 have been financed with VC to date. These companies are on a higher growth path than start-ups that have not been financed by VC. Successful exits after VC-financed growth often take place internationally: 57% of acquisitions and 46% of IPOs of German start-ups take place abroad, mainly in the USA. Strengthening domestic exit opportunities therefore remains a key economic policy issue. >more

Deutsche Bank Research
INDUSTRIESTROMPREIS: KURZFRISTIGE ENTLASTUNG STATT ALLHEILMITTEL
The German government has agreed to introduce an industrial electricity price starting in 2026. The target price is to be 5 cents per kilowatt-hour for half of the electricity consumption and will be limited to the years 2026 to 2028. It is positive to note that the federal government is addressing the problem of Germany's high electricity prices compared to international standards. However, we are skeptical whether the planned subsidized electricity price will actually lead to a structurally better competitive position for the favored industries in Germany. >more

Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft
EU-HAUSHALT UND MITGLIEDSTAATEN. WER IST NETTOZAHLER, WER NETTOEMPFÄNGER?
German net payments fell from €17.4 billion in 2023 to €13.1 billion in 2024, partly due to the weak economic situation. This brings Germany back into line with the average for the years 2014 to 2020, the last multiannual financial framework (MFF). Germany remains the largest net contributor in the EU, ahead of France, which paid €4.8 billion more than it received in returns last year. Italy ranks third with a net contribution of €1.6 billion. The largest net recipient in absolute terms is now Greece with €3.5 billion, followed by Poland and Romania with €2.9 billion and €2.7 billion respectively. >more

THE ENTREPRENEURIAL FINANCE OF FINTECH FIRMS AND THE EFFECT OF INVESTMENTS IN FINTECH STARTUPS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF CORPORATE INVESTORS
Thomas J. Chemmanur, Michael B. Imerman, Harshit Rajaiya, and Qianqian Yu
2025
We analyze how corporate direct investments in fintech startups affect startup performance and that of investing firms. Corporate investment in fintech startups is associated with a greater likelihood of successful exit; more and higher quality innovation; and a greater inflow of high-quality inventors. A stacked difference-in-differences analysis shows that direct investments enhance the operating performance and equity market valuation of corporate investors from the financial services sector, but not of those from the non-financial sector. We establish two channels that drive fintech startups’ performance improvements, namely, strategic alliance formation between investors and startups and enhanced startup monitoring by corporate investors. >more

CAN SOCIAL MEDIA INFORM CORPORATE DECISIONS? EVIDENCE FROM MERGER WITHDRAWALS
J. Anthony Cookson, Marina Niessner, and Christoph Schiller
2025
This paper studies whether social media sentiment predicts merger withdrawals. We find that a standard deviation increase in social media sentiment after a merger announcement is associated with a 0.64 percentage points lower probability of withdrawal (16.6% of the average). This effect is unexplained by abnormal price reactions, traditional news, and analyst recommendations. Consistent with manager learning, the informativeness of social media strengthens after firms start corporate Twitter accounts. The informativeness is driven by longer acquisition related tweets by fundamental investors, rather than memes and price trend tweets. These findings suggest that social media signals can be important for corporate decisions. >more