NEWSLETTER of October 22, 2021

The following content has been added at finexpert:

BCG
GLOBAL PAYMENTS 2021: ALL IN FOR GROWTH
Payments snapped back from the rigors of the pandemic faster than most observers would have expected. Analysts use the term elastic to describe a market participant’s success in absorbing change. But the payments industry wasn’t just elastic—it was a slingshot. The nimbleness with which it adapted to the crisis enabled economies the world over to rebound faster as well. As purchasing habits shifted almost overnight from offline to online and from cash to noncash, payments players responded in kind, accelerating e-commerce enablement, expanding fulfillment options, and streamlining point-of-sale and online checkout. They helped people who were dealing with financial uncertainty by providing debt relief, flexible installment purchases, supplier financing, and cash-flow management. >more

KfW Research
KREDITMARKTAUSBLICK SEPTEMBER 2021
German companies and the self-employed took out considerably fewer loans in the second quarter than in the previous year. According to calculations by KfW Research, new lending by banks and savings banks with commercial customers shrank by 12.7%. The last time there was a higher percentage decline was during the global financial crisis. The driving force behind the weakness remains low corporate loan demand. In particular, new loans for short-term funds up to one year are at a low level. The better economic situation and the accelerated flow of state aid payments are likely to be decisive for this. Even if there is much to suggest that credit growth may emerge from the trough in the second half of the year, it will still take a while for growth rates to turn positive again. In our estimation, this should be the case in early 2022. >more

EIF | Invest Europe
VENTURE CAPITAL SURVEY 2021: MARKET SENTIMENT    
The European Investment Fund (EIF) with the support of Invest Europe, published 'The VC Survey 2021: Market Sentiment,' a new report that provides an opportunity to retrieve unique market insights. The paper focuses on the market sentiment and the impact of COVID-19. The study looks at the current situation, developments in the recent past and expectations for the future. >more

Deloitte
ECONOMIC TREND BRIEFING: NEUE RISIKEN FÜR DEN AUFSCHWUNG – ABER INVESTITIONEN IM HÖHENFLUG
Following the end of the lockdown, the economy in Germany and Europe jumped very dynamically in the second quarter of 2021, mainly thanks to consumer spending. However, new risks for the economy and for companies emerged in the summer: First by the spread of the delta variant of the Corona virus, then by the aggravated problems in supply chains, shortages of intermediate products, rising raw material and transport costs, and rising inflation rates. In this context, the current Deloitte CFO Survey shows a still fundamentally positive picture, but with increasing risks. Economic and business prospects remain positive, although the outlook was assessed more positively by CFOs in the spring. At the same time, however, inflation expectations are increasing significantly, and the tight labor markets are having a strong impact on the risks. The shortage of skilled workers is now once again the most important risk for companies, followed by rising raw material costs, increasing regulation, and energy costs. >more

WHEN TO GO AND HOW TO GO? FOUNDER AND LEADER TRANSITION IN PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS
Josh Lerner, and Diana Noble
2021
Leadership transition in private equity firms is an understudied field, despite the important, albeit controversial, role such firms play in developed economies. We analyzed 260 firms in an empirical study, supplemented by qualitative interviews with a small sample of highly experienced LPs and GP founders and leaders who have experienced such transitions first hand. Our research shows that private equity transitions manifest very differently from those in better studied public corporations. It appears that a) founders and leaders in GPs stay in their positions considerably longer than other sectors, b) are more likely to move on once they are outperforming, and c) if underperforming, their firms are more likely to see an uplift from a transition. In addition, d) transitions are idiosyncratic, internally driven processes with little accepted best practice or governance, e) these processes are frequently characterized by some frictions, and f) LPs have observed many sub-optimal processes and would prefer greater transparency. >more

SURVEY: MARKET RISK PREMIUM AND RISK-FREE RATE USED FOR 88 COUNTRIES IN 2021
Pablo Fernandez, Sofia Bañuls, and Pablo Fernandez Acin
2021
This paper contains the statistics of a survey about the Risk-Free Rate (RF) and the Market Risk Premium (MRP) used in 2021 for 88 countries. We got answers for 92 countries, but we only report the results for 88 countries with more than 6 answers. Many respondents use for European countries a RF higher than the yield of the 10-year Government bonds. The coefficient of variation (standard deviation / average) of RF is higher than the coefficient of variation of MRP for the Euro countries. The paper also contains the links to previous years surveys, from 2008 to 2020. >more