NEWSLETTER of September 16, 2022

The following content has been added at finexpert:

Kroll
CYBER RISK AND CFOS: OVER-CONFIDENCE IS COSTLY
Our CFO cybersecurity survey has shown that Chief Financial Officers are highly confident in their companies’ abilities to ward off cyber security incidents, despite being somewhat unaware of the cyber vulnerabilities their business faces. Almost 87% of the surveyed executives expressed this confidence, yet 61% of them had suffered at least three significant cyber incidents in the previous 18 months. >more

Diligent Institute
BOARD DIVERSITY GAPS: THE GLOBAL MODERN LEADERSHIP REPORT 2022
Boardroom diversity has been a hot topic of conversation globally for several years, but are words leading to action and progress? Inaugural research from Diligent Institute and 22 partner organizations reveals massive gaps in how diversity is defined and represented across corporate boards globally. >more

KfW Research
UNTERNEHMENSBEFRAGUNG 2022: FINANZIERUNGSKLIMA ERHOLT SICH VON DER CORONA-KRISE – NACHHALTIGKEIT GEWINNT AN BEDEUTUNG
After a significant deterioration in the financing climate during the Corona crisis, the situation for companies eased somewhat again last year. This is shown by the results of the 2022 business survey conducted by KfW Research together with 17 leading, trade and regional business associations. The slowing economy and the increasing tightening of monetary policy as a result of the Ukraine crisis are now posing new challenges for corporate financing. >more

J.P. Morgan
GUIDE TO ALTERNATIVES 3Q 2022
This is a sister publication to Guide to the Markets, delivering insight on macro topics like fundraising and manager dispersion, while also diving into real estate, infrastructure & transport, private credit, private equity and hedge funds in detail. >more

CMS
UPDATE ARBEITSRECHT SEPTEMBER 2022
The legislator has given itself three years to transpose the European Working Conditions Directive into German law on August 1, 2022. Companies, on the other hand, have to react at extremely short notice and establish the numerous changes, especially in the Verification or Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act, in a timely manner. A Herculean task for HR departments. In our focus article, we have therefore compiled what you absolutely need to know in an FAQ. >more

DO PRIVATE EQUITY MANAGERS RAISE FUNDS ON (SUR)REAL RETURNS? EVIDENCE FROM DEAL-LEVEL DATA
Niklas Hüther
2022
Recent studies on agency problems in private equity fueled the suspicion that fund managers strategically manipulate performance estimates around fundraising times. While these studies use aggregated portfolio data, this paper offers the first analysis of "window dressing" in private equity based on deal-level performance. In contrast to previous findings of a smoking gun at the fund level, I do not find any evidence of inflated performance at the deal level. Fund performance peaks are driven by a cohort effect whereby late investments are made under pressure before fundraising and have lower returns than those made earlier in the fund’s life. >more
 

CREDIT MARKET DRIVEN ACQUISITIONS
Huseyin Gulen, Candace Jens, and Stefano Rossi
2022
Using a comprehensive sample of takeovers from 1983 to 2016, we show that credit market conditions drive takeover activity. A deterioration in the aggregate credit quality of corporate bond issuers is associated with a large increase in aggregate deal value for all takeovers, and the strongest effects are for all cash deals. When credit spreads are low in quarter t, junk bonds are disproportionately issued and aggregate credit quality deteriorates; debt-financed takeovers increase from quarter t+2, peak at quarter t+5, and subsequently subside as credit spreads widen. At the firm-level, buoyant credit market conditions are associated with an increase in debt-financed takeover activity, particularly when acquiring managers are overconfident. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that buoyant credit market conditions and managerial overconfidence coexist in credit market driven acquisitions. >more