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☆ A market downturn hasn't made activist investing any easier. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

But even with a market downturn, activist investors' campaigns haven't been the cakewalk some might expect. Insider's Daniel Geiger, Rebecca Ungarino, and Casey Sullivan spoke to industry insiders — including famed activist investor Carl Icahn — about why the current landscape isn't as accepting as some might think to activist campaigns. But when the going gets tough, the tough get going, and a difficult market environment doesn't mean we'll see the number of campaigns decrease. Click here to read more about why top activist investors like Carl Icahn say this line of work is riskier than ever. Here's a five-step plan to help you decide when that side gig you have should be the only gig you have.

☆ Meet the small hedge fund that thinks it can oust Larry Fink from BlackRock
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The fund has a tiny stake in BlackRock and is calling for the firm to replace Larry Fink as CEO. On one side stands a small, relatively unknown activist hedge fund with a tiny stake in a giant company. 1, the young hedge fund run by a longtime activist investor, and ExxonMobil. Joining a wave of heavy scrutiny of BlackRock and Fink over ESG, Bluebell accused BlackRock of a hypocritical posture toward sustainable investing, according to the letter, which was viewed by Insider. Bloomberg News ran the headline: "Tiny Activist Bluebell Quickly Becomes CEOs' Worst Nightmare."

☆ PE wants to see some cash flow before it starts making deals
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

As the markets continue to sour, and a recession looms, everyone's wondering when PE firms will begin scooping up assets. High on Bae's wishlist are "all things digital," he said, with one giant caveat: profitability. There are plenty of companies doing fascinating things in the digital space, but many have yet to reach profitability (*cough* fintechs *cough*). Goldman Sachs is going dumpster diving for crypto companies. Chaos in the crypto markets is creating investing and acquisition opportunities for the bank, according to Matthew McDermott, Goldman's head of digital assets.

☆ KKR's co-CEO says the firm is looking at investments in 'all things digital,' while avoiding tech companies with lofty valuations and no earnings
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

KKR's co-CEO said on Tuesday that the firm is staying away from unprofitable companies. The private-equity behemoth KKR still has an appetite to invest in tech companies. KKR oversaw $496 billion as of September 30 as one of the largest managers of alternative assets such as private equity, private credit, and real-estate. While it used to be far more heavily weighted toward private equity, KKR's fundraising has increasingly shifted toward other assets like private credit, liquid credit, and real estate, Bae said. Private credit has been a particular focus for alternative money managers like KKR, Blackstone, and Carlyle amid rising rates and big banks' retreats from some lending, Insider previously reported.

☆ Inside the private-debt boom: Wall Street's hottest asset faces a tremendous test in a dimming economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Defaults on private loans, which have fallen steadily since the pandemic's height in 2020, are ticking up. Private credit, or private debt, are catch-all terms to describe privately negotiated loans outside the public debt markets. Private credit firms engage in what's known as direct lending, making these private loans to companies who turn to them instead of a traditional bank. Analysts and asset management executives say private debt has held up well in 2022 in the face of brutal stock and bond market volatility. 'Fighting for allocation'A challenge for private debt funds in the past decade has been a dearth of companies they can lend to.

☆ Blackstone's grand ambitions for attracting retail money faces a hiccup
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

It's also a key part of the firm's push to attract retail investors, Insider's Rebecca Ungarino reports. Bloomberg previously reported that both firm CEO Steve Schwarzman and President Jon Gray have each put $100 million of their own money into BREIT since July. But as nice as it is to have the bosses' money backing your fund, that's not the target audience. And while there is a lot of upside to attracting retail investors — its private wealth arm has quadrupled in size to $233 billion in assets in four years — there are risks, too. Click here to read more about the recent headwinds facing Blackstone's big bet to attract retail money.

☆ Blackstone's bet on small investors bites the private-equity giant as investors pull out of its high-profile real-estate fund
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

BREIT, as the large real-estate fund is known, has been key to the firm's retail investor push. Blackstone, the $951 billion private-equity behemoth, is better known for its big buyouts, splashy deals, and real-estate market domination than its products catering to individuals. BREIT, as the real-estate fund is known, has posted a return of 9.3% so far this year and a 15.5% three-year annualized return, according to its website. But investor sentiment has appeared to turn for this real-estate fund, posing a challenge for the firm's retail push. Last month, Credit Suisse downgraded Blackstone stock over concerns in BREIT and BCRED.

☆ Meet 12 Republican officials crusading against BlackRock and ESG investing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

A group of vocal conservative officials are criticizing aspects of ESG investing. Players in the ESG ecosystem, like S&P Global and BlackRock, the world's largest money manager and an influential proponent of ESG investing, are often the subject of their critiques. Instead, officials often paint large financial firms' ESG strategies as functions of left-leaning agendas. Here are key GOP players who are taking aim at ESG investing. Abbott, who is seeking reelection in November, was early to denouncing ESG investing.

☆ From books on the science of sleep to fantasy football strategy podcasts, here's what Wall Street's bright stars are reading and listening to
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Alex Morrell | Alyson Velati | Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Insider selected 25 young professionals 35 and under for its rising stars of Wall Street list. We asked the up-and-comers to tell us what book they last read and their takeaways. Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest stories in hedge funds, PE, fintech, and banking — delivered daily to your inbox. We asked 2022's rising stars of Wall Street about the books they most recently picked up and the podcasts they turn to regularly. Their selections range from books on building "your second brain" to fantasy football strategy shows.

☆ On the heels of BlackRock's $24 million bad bet on FTX, Larry Fink expects a sea change in venture investing
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Larry Fink said he expects a change in where venture capital firms are investing. BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, was among the venerated investment firms that had invested in now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Larry Fink, BlackRock's cofounder and chief executive, now says he expects a shift in the way emerging companies are funded. Insider earlier reported that the firm's investment in FTX was small. "I actually believe we're going to be seeing a transformation of where this money's going to go," Fink said.

In 2017, Insider highlighted its first crop of rising stars on Wall Street. of rising stars on Wall Street. Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest stories in hedge funds, PE, fintech, and banking — delivered daily to your inbox. For the last five years, Insider has been highlighting some of the best and brightest on Wall Street. Here's what 13 Wall Street rising stars are up to five years on.

☆ Wall Street's trust issues with crypto won't be easily repaired in the wake of the FTX blowup
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Trust in the crypto industry — be it with Wall Street firms, politicians, venture capitalists, or the general public — is destroyed thanks to FTX's downfall. It's a bitter pill to swallow when one considers the hard-fought progress crypto had made on Wall Street in recent years. canvassed more than a dozen Wall Street insiders to get a sense of where traditional firms stand on their crypto plans. Meanwhile, firms hoping to bridge the gap between Wall Street and crypto have been put in an impossible spot, answering for another's sins. Click here to read more on how Wall Street is moving forward with its crypto plans in the wake of FTX.

☆ Insiders detail how Wall Street is preparing for a post-FTX world, from heightened scrutiny on crypto deals to rethinking hiring plans
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Morgan Chittum | Bianca Chan | Carter Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Most Wall Street firms have executed big crypto and blockchain initiatives. The ties between Wall Street, Main Street, and digital assets have never been tighter. Some traditional firms have chosen crypto custodians to do that for them, while others offer it themselves. Fidelity also has its own digital assets custody offering, and reportedly had plans to continue building out its digital-asset team as recently as late October. 121, which requires most SEC registrants to record the fair value of custodied digital assets as a liability.

☆ Blackstone draws a rare 'sell' rating from Wall Street as an analyst raises concerns over 2 high-profile funds
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | Casey Sullivan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

In a rare move for Blackstone, an analyst downgraded the firm's stock rating to "underperform." Blackstone, which has expanded funds aimed at retail investors, said performance is strong. Blackstone shares fell on Tuesday after a Wall Street analyst outlined a grim picture for two of the private-equity and real-estate giant's most prized funds. Credit Suisse research analyst Bill Katz assigned an "underperform" rating to Blackstone. It's a rare negative rating on the firm, which tends to draw cheers from Wall Street analysts who are bullish on Blackstone's position as the largest private-equity investor.

☆ Private equity is ready to make moves as the economy sours, but its approach to dealmaking might be different than in years past
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

When the going gets tough, PE gets going. Insider's Casey Sullivan and Rebecca Ungarino examined one segment of Wall Street that is primed to take off despite an economy that has left almost everyone hurting. The big question is where will PE firms look to deploy capital. How long PE firms resist those types of deals still remains to be seen, though. People who left Wall Street for crypto aren't second guessing themselves.

☆ How private-equity firms, rich with investors' cash, plan to capitalize on a souring economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Casey Sullivan | Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The ultimate winners from the economic downturn may turn out to be private-equity firms. At the same time, private-equity firms are seeing fewer exits and fundraising is slowing. That's the private-equity industry, according to interviews with corporate advisors and a review of earnings transcripts. Regardless of the challenges, however, one positive note for the largest private-equity firms is that they are more diversified today. These relationships are better insulating private-equity firms from economic cycles, she added.

☆ Wall Street has made serious strides to embrace crypto this year. But after FTX's implosion, a regulatory crackdown is imminent.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Morgan Chittum | Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In a stunning downfall, crypto platform FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Nov. 11. Crypto sentiment from Wall Street giants has come a long way over the past few years. After FTX's disaster, a crackdown on digital assets is imminent. Prominent government officials quickly spoke out against the crypto platform last week. Gensler says that the agency's aggressive stance on digital assets is an effort to protect investors and may encourage further crypto adoption.

☆ FTX's blowup is a turning point for Wall Street's crypto adoption journey
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But first, where does Wall Street go from here? A warning sign for Wall Street to get out now before it's in too deep. Insider's Rebecca Ungarino and Danielle Walker examined what the knock-on effects of FTX's blowup mean for Wall Street's crypto plans. A key part of Wall Street's adoption of crypto was working with intermediaries bridging the gap between the two worlds. Read more on how FTX's blow up might impact Wall Street' long-term crypto plans.

☆ Wall Street pushed into digital assets. Now investors are paying the price as FTX's crisis raises questions of a ripple effect in cryptoworld.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | Danielle Walker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

FTX, the crypto exchange in crisis, found backers in BlackRock, VanEck, and Ontario Teachers. The solvency crisis facing the exchange and its famous CEO raises questions of a ripple effect. Now, in the middle of crypto winter, FTX is in the middle of a solvency crisis. Binance, a rival crypto exchange that was initially going to buy FTX, backed out. "What we like about it is that we're not really speculating on whether prices of crypto assets, bitcoin or otherwise, are going up or down.

☆ Inside BlackRock's long journey toward crypto adoption
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

BlackRock's crypto quest. The culmination, and perhaps biggest step, in BlackRock's crypto journey came this summer, when it announced a partnership with Coinbase. Insider's Rebecca Ungarino and Morgan Chittum mapped out Blackrock's long journey toward crypto acceptance, which essentially dates back to an initial memo in 2015. Which is why mapping out BlackRock's journey is so interesting, Rebecca told me. Industry insiders detail a difficult week for the tech industry that saw thousands lose their jobs.

☆ Internal forums, major deals, and employee exits: Inside BlackRock's long road to embracing crypto
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

A group of employees at the firm organized and started holding a forum to discuss crypto, five people familiar with the group told Insider. Eager, usually more junior, staff members huddled around to hear industry experts talk about crypto and blockchain. A junior employee touched off BlackRock's crypto effortsThe blockchain working group and the informal crypto-asset forum will end up being key footnotes in the firm's history. Leaving BlackRock for cryptoLader left BlackRock in June 2021 for Uniswap, the world's largest decentralized-exchange protocol, where she is now the chief operating officer. She was "very, very central" to the firm's crypto efforts," a former employee said.

☆ Overwhelming workloads, back-to-office complaints, and frustrations over pay: Why Merrill Lynch's support staff is leaving
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | Hayley Cuccinello | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Less visible, though just as much the lifeblood of the firm, are Merrill's client associates. But we're not treated that way, and we're not stupid," an associate who recently left the firm said. "Our client associates are essential to the fabric of the firm, how we serve clients and grow," a company representative said. Yagyaev said client associates were "grossly underpaid" across the industry and their base should really be in the area of $80,000 to $90,000. An advisor who recently left Merrill and worked with CAs said some were leaving for raises of about $30,000 to work at other banks.

☆ Wall Street's rising stars admit their biggest career mistakes — from missing out on lucrative bets to taking too much on — and what they learned from them
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Alex Morrell | Alyson Velati | Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Vinay Trivedi, a vice president at General Atlantic focusing on the technology sector. I don't think we necessarily transitioned fast enough to how people learn if we're only doing audio from home. - David Israel, 27, vice president at Credit SuisseAngel Pu Shum is a principal within Warburg Pincus's technology group. -Allison Boxer, 29, senior vice president and economist at PIMCONoah Zerance, a vice president with Bank of America's global sustainable-finance group. and the response would be, 'Well, we don't know how we do it yet.

☆ Private credit is king, for now: How Blackstone is seizing on making loans while banks pull back in a dismal market
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | Emmalyse Brownstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Blackstone is doubling down on private credit investments in a volatile market. While its corporate private equity investment performance fell in the quarter, private credit rose. As stock markets plunge, private equity investments' values sour, and central banks hike interest rates, the growing private credit market is heating up — and benefitting private investors stepping in to make loans as banks pull back. Take Blackstone, the world's largest alternative asset manager known for its powerful private equity and real estate businesses. Risks and opportunitiesBlackstone is hardly alone as it doubles down on private credit investments.

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