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☆ BlackRock's Larry Fink says the US banking system may face 'more seizures and shutdowns' after Silicon Valley Bank's collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink raised the prospect of more bank "seizures and shutdowns" taking place. Markets remain on edge even after regulators took decisive action on Silicon Valley Bank, he said. Fink, in his annual letter to shareholders released Wednesday, addressed last week's seizure of SVB following its asset-liability mismatch. A jump in interest rates since March 2022 spurred billions in losses in Silicon Valley Bank's bond holdings, sparking last week's run on deposits. Fink said the fall of SVB recalled other periods of "spectacular financial flameouts" following prior tightening cycles.

☆ Larry Fink finds way to dodge ESG crosshairs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 15 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Seismic events elsewhere are making it easier for BlackRock (BLK.N) to inch away from the environmental, social and governance crosshairs. The $8 trillion asset manager’s chair Larry Fink used his annual investor letter to theorise that inflation might stay around 4%, predict stricter bank capital requirements, and namecheck his favourite 80’s band, Talk Talk. BlackRock still backs these objectives, but Fink’s 2023 letter doesn’t even mention ESG. The good news for Fink is that U.S. banking collapses and spiralling inflation mean his detractors’ attention is, at least for now, elsewhere. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ How academy president Janet Yang went from 'feeling like an outsider' to becoming one of the most powerful people in Hollywood
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Janet Yang, the President of the Academy at the 95th Oscar Nominations Announcement held at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater on January 24, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. Janet Yang is one of the most powerful people in Hollywood — but for a long time, she thought a career in entertainment was impossible. On the Universal Studios lot, Yang met two people that would change the course of her career: Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy. Last summer, when the academy announced they were looking for a new president, Yang nominated herself for the job. Outside of the academy, Yang has earned a reputation as a "godmother" to other Asian Americans working in Hollywood and is actively involved in several organizations working to amplify AAPI voices in entertainment.

☆ Miami's popular Republican Mayor Suarez weighs GOP challenge to Trump for White House in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Miami's popular Republican Mayor Francis Suarez has been privately holding court with wealthy political financiers as he considers challenging former President Donald Trump for the GOP nomination in 2024, according to party fundraisers and donors familiar with the matter. Since late last year, Suarez has been privately laying the groundwork for a possible run for the White House. If Suarez enters the presidential primary, he follows another popular mayor who made a longshot run for the White House. The apparent feud between DeSantis and Suarez could come to a head if both run for president in 2024. The Miami mayor will be back in New York in April holding similar meetings, the fundraisers said.

☆ If Student Loan Forgiveness Is Overturned by the Supreme Court, Refinancers Are Waiting
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Thomas Gokey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

The PSLF program cancels federal student loans for people who work in public-service jobs for 10 years, and the impact of relief is profound. In the process, borrowers forfeit many protections that come with federal student loans, including the chance to get their loans canceled. In one survey, more than one-third of respondents who refinanced their federal student loans said they eventually came to regret it. President Biden announced a plan to cancel $10,000 in student loan debt, but if you privately refinanced, you won't benefit. Most private student loans allow for some kind of "cosigner release" so no one else is on the hook for your loans.

☆ The Supreme Court justices deciding whether to axe Biden's student loan relief program paid an average of $42,539 to go to college. Today, they'd have to pay around $320,531.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Sarah Al-Arshani | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments for Biden's student debt relief on Tuesday. The cost of getting an undergraduate degree was significantly cheaper when they graduated than now. When Roberts graduated in 1979, it cost $21,400; in 1992 when Jackson earned her undergraduate degree, it would have cost $75,360. When Roberts graduated in 1979, it cost $21,400; in 1992 when Jackson earned her undergraduate degree, it would have cost $75,360. Student loan borrowers gathered at the Supreme Court today to tell the court that student loan relief is legal on January 2, 2023.

☆ How Trump allies and wealthy donors helped to fuel the GOP fight against ESG investing platforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

The conference was organized by the conservative leaning State Financial Officers Foundation, a tax exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit group that does not publicly disclose its donors. Members of the State Financial Officers Foundations are all powerful state Republican officials, many of whom have scrutinized ESG practices or pulled back billions of dollars from investing firms. A representative for the State Financial Officers Foundation did not return a request for comment. Some of those organizations participated in a similar State Financial Officers Foundation gathering in Washington D.C. in November 2022, according to an agenda. One of the organizations that attended last February is the 1792 Exchange, a nonprofit sponsor of the State Financial Officers Foundation.

☆ Republicans stoke 2024 culture wars by attacking Biden's socially conscious investing rule
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A brewing fight over socially conscious investing appears to be a preview of 2024 attack lines. The GOP's ongoing battle against environmental, social and corporate governance issues seems to be picking up steam ahead of the next presidential election, with Senate Republicans unanimously opposed to government involvement in personal investments. "If there's some other social goals, that'd be run through government, not through investing," Johnson told Insider between Senate votes. Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, who is running Senate Republicans' reelection arm for the 2024 cycle, declined to comment on whether an anti-ESG plank would be part of that campaign. "Stay focused on investors and shareholders, not on stakeholders," Daines told Insider before being whisked away by the Senate subway.

☆ Student-Debt Relief: Why Refinancing Your Student Loans Is a Trap
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Thomas Gokey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

The PSLF program cancels federal student loans for people who work in public-service jobs for 10 years, and the impact of relief is profound. In the process, borrowers forfeit many protections that come with federal student loans, including the chance to get their loans canceled. Recent changes to the law require private student loans to be discharged if you die, but that isn't the case with older loans. Most private student loans allow for some kind of "cosigner release" so no one else is on the hook for your loans. Refinancing companies make the system worse for everyonePrivate refinancing companies don't just hand out their loans to anyone.

Around 40% of outstanding federal student loan debt is now taken on post-college for master's and PhD programs. The average student debt balance among parents was more than $35,000 in 2018-19, up from around $5,000 in the early 1990s. Meanwhile, the private student loan market has grown more than 70% over the last decade, according to the Student Borrower Protection Center. Americans now owe more in private student loans than they do for past-due medical debt or payday loans. Every year millions of new students are pumped into the student loan system while current borrowers struggle to exit it.

☆ The Supreme Court heard Biden's loan forgiveness case today. Here's when we expect the court to rule on student loans.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Michelle Mark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Supreme Court heard arguments on Tuesday over President Biden's student loan forgiveness plan. Both cases the Supreme Court heard on Tuesday are seeking to permanently block his policy from taking effect. But it wasn't until August of 2022 that Biden announced he would use the HEROES Act of 2003 to enact his long-promised student loan forgiveness plan. Biden's use of the HEROES Act to enact a vast student loan forgiveness plan caused immediate controversy. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments regarding two challenges to Biden's loan debt relief plan on Tuesday.

☆ Goldman Sachs pitching wealth clients on investing in Stripe shows how Wall Street drums up exclusive deals for its richest customers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

To that point, Insider's Hayley Cuccinello has a story on how Goldman Sachs offered its richest clients the opportunity to invest in the buzzy fintech Stripe. If I can take the startup client my investment bankers are working with and leverage my wealth clients to help them fundraise, that's a win-win. Even better if the cofounders and employees of said startup turn around and come back to me as wealth clients once I help them get rich. More broadly, this is also just another example of how banks are always finding ways to cater to their rich clients. Click here to read more about how Wall Street is leveraging clients in its investment bank for its wealth business*(OK, I couldn't help myself.

☆ GOP lawmakers vilify ESG moves at BlackRock, Vanguard but take their money nonetheless
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

But Republicans have vilified BlackRock, Vanguard Group and State Street for leading the push on Wall Street to promote clean energy and what GOP lawmakers often title "left-wing social priorities." Still, many Republican lawmakers received money from the very firms their party is criticizing. It was the third election cycle in a row that both lawmakers took donations from the firm's PAC. Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., received $10,000 from BlackRock and a combined $6,500 from Vanguard and State Street in the 2022 cycle. Huizenga's spokesman Brian Patrick said the donations won't affect the lawmaker's position on ESG issues.

☆ Big rainmakers on Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

But while that means many Wall Street pros are technically off but in reality, glued to their Slack, WhatsApp, and work email, our team is actually not working today. So if you're looking for some great finance reads, look no further. ChatGPT could upend jobs across Wall Street. Wall Street's big rainmakers: In 2022, top investment banks still pushed blockbuster deals over the line during what was a tough year for M&A. We rounded up the 20 powerhouse bankers who orchestrated the biggest deals of 2022.

☆ The behind-the-scenes role that's minting future stars at BlackRock
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Some of the most powerful people on Wall Street are men and women you've never heard of. Click here to learn more about BlackRock's new chief of staff and why the role is rising in importance across Wall Street. Everybody wants macro traders. A fintech helping companies engage with their retail investors got backing from Alexis Ohanian's Seven Seven Six. These are the top 10 holdings in the church's investment portfolio, including one Wall Street titan.

☆ Larry Fink has a new chief of staff, an under-the-radar position that's become a powerful post at BlackRock
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has named executive Willie Alford as his new chief of staff. Sarah Schaffer, an executive and Fink's prior chief of staff, will take on a new role at BlackRock. This may be especially true if you worked directly with Larry Fink, the firm's chief executive and among the most powerful people on Wall Street. Fink's chief of staff position has vaulted executives into new heights. A more common C-suite roleThe chief of staff role has taken off across corporations and beyond the position's roots in government and military operations.

☆ Twitch suspended a GPT-powered AI comedy show trained on 'Seinfeld' episodes after it made transphobic comments
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

An AI-powered comedy shoe trained by "Seinfeld" episodes was suspended from Twitch. The stream, called "Nothing, Forever," had made transphobic comments shortly before the suspension. The notice doesn't specify the reason for the suspension, but it came soon after Sunday night's stream included transphobic and anti-LGBTQ+ comments, according to Vice. One of the "Nothing, Forever" creators, called Xander, said on Discord that the suspension is for 14 days, according to Vice. "We've appealed the ban, and we'll let you know as we know more on what Twitch decides," Xander said.

☆ Ken Griffin has built two of Wall Street's most powerful firms. His next target could be influencing politics.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ken Griffin, the founder and CEO of Citadel. It's good to be Ken Griffin. Plenty of people find success on Wall Street that most can only dream of. But Ken Griffin seems to be winning in ways that even his peers can't fathom. Click here to read more about Ken Griffin rise to the top of Wall Street and what could be next for the billionaire.

"At the same time, we're estimating a mild recession in Europe and the United States that offset it. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the World Trade Organization, pointed out that the reopening could help supply chains work better and also boost consumer demand. CHINA-US TENSIONSAdjacent to the discussions on China's reopening was what it could mean for its existing tensions with the United States over issues such as technology, trade and Taiwan, which several WEF delegates expressed concern over. "I think both the U.S. and China will be hurt, which doesn't just mean the national entities but workforces, people will be hurt." For daily Davos updates in your inbox sign up for the Reuters Daily Briefing here.

[1/2] Visitors queue in front of the Ukraine House during the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2023, in the Alpine resort of Davos, Switzerland, January 16, 2023. It is about creating momentum and giving assurances that even during the war, Ukraine is not closed for business. "Ukraine has shown resilience in war time and business too so we have to find additional tools on how to facilitate Ukraine business to develop and foreign investment to come to Ukraine even now," she said. WAR NOT ENDING SOONZelenskiy addressed BlackRock executives and its clients in Davos via Zoom on Tuesday, a person who attended said. In Davos, an exhibition at Ukraine House reminds visitors of the scale of the destruction.

☆ Investors are jumping into bonds to start 2023, and these fixed income ETFs are hot
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Jesse Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The renewed interest in fixed income comes after 2022 proving one of the worst years on record for fixed income investing, leading some to wonder whether the traditional portfolio of 60% stocks and 40% bonds may have outlived its usefulness. Surging interest in bonds is evident in fixed income ETFs, where cash has been pouring in during the first two weeks of the year. Last year, a record of $266 billion of cash flowed into fixed income ETFs, according to BlackRock. The iShares JP Morgan USD Emerging Markets bond ETF (EMB) also makes the top 10. For investors who are more cautious about the macroeconomic picture, there could still be solid returns in safer corners of the bond market.

☆ The bloodletting at Goldman Sachs might not be done yet as the bank looks for more ways to cut costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

If you're a Goldman Sachs' employee who made it through the company's recent layoffs, be warned: There could be more to come. Anyone hoping Goldman's fourth-quarter earnings report would represent a fresh start for the bank was sorely disappointed. Today should provide some hints at to how the bank will navigate things, as Goldman is set to inform employees on their year-end bonuses. Steve Pagliuca, the PE firm's co-chairman, is retiring, The Wall Street Journal reports. Read more on how Wall Street analysts got it so wrong.

[1/2] Participants of the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2023 are seen in a hall at Davos Congress Centre, in the Alpine resort of Davos, Switzerland, January 16, 2023. However, Larry Fink, speaking at a Bloomberg News event in Davos, Switzerland on Tuesday, said the asset management group took in $230 billion over the course of 2022 from U.S. clients. "It's hard, because it's not business... they're doing it in a personal way. Fink, though, said BlackRock was one of the biggest investors in the sector in the world. Moves by the U.S. government to finance a faster shift in the world's biggest economy, through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), was also a "game changer", he said.

☆ Cramer sees bullish signs starting to emerge in the stock market, just not in the same places as before
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Case in point: Mike Wilson, the genius of 2022, the strategist who was the most negative — and, therefore, the most right. Seven days ago, he predicted the bank earnings, the kick-off, would jolt the market by coming in sharply below expectations. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade.

☆ Davos 2023: Europe, NATO to build Ukraine unity in Russian no-go zone
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( John Irish | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"On my way from Lithuania to @Davos where I have been invited to speak. Lithuania is a very good friend of Ukraine, so you know what I will be saying. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year, calling it a "special military operation" to "denazify" and demilitarise its neighbour. Ukraine, which dominated the WEF's last big meeting in May, has sent another high-level delegation. It has one panel session on mapping Russia's trajectories, but none of its speakers are Russian.

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