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☆ HBCU students diversify alternative investing with the help of Wall Street’s biggest firms
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Frank Holland | In Frank-Holland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The AltFinance Fellowship is the brainchild of top alternative investment firms Ares Management, Apollo Global Management and Oaktree Capital Management. Selected students will also receive a scholarship of up to $10,000 if they're sophomores, while juniors and seniors can receive up to $15,000. Partnering schools include Clark Atlanta University, Howard University, Morehouse College and Spelman College. The private equity, private credit and commercial real estate industry has about $10 trillion in assets under management, according to data provider Preqin. "This is not a charitable activity," Howard Marks, co-chairman of Oaktree Capital Management, told CNBC.

☆ Buyout barons reach deep into their bags of tricks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Jonathan Guilford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

NEW YORK, Feb 15 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Debt necessity is proving to be the mother of private equity invention. With the cheap borrowing that fueled record-breaking years of leveraged buyouts gone, firms are digging deeper into their bags of tricks. Private equity firm Silver Lake, which bought a stake alongside the IPO, said it might take control. Besides putting private equity firms into weaker negotiating positions, the competing incentives also threaten conflicts of interest with limited partners. ...THERE’S A WAYIf the U.S. Federal Reserve avoids engineering a recession, private equity should be able to revert to its tried-and-true formula soon enough.

☆ HBCU students are diversifying Alternative Investing with the help of Wall Street's biggest firms
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Frank Holland | Caitlyn Freda | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailHBCU students are diversifying Alternative Investing with the help of Wall Street's biggest firmsCNBC's Frank Holland reports on Alt-Finance, a unique fellowship introducing HBCU students to alternative investing, created by Ares Capital, Oaktree Capital and Apollo Global Management.

☆ JPMorgan begins private lending drive with $10 billion - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 19 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) has set aside at least $10 billion to back its foray into the world of direct lending, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Thursday. The Wall Street titan's move into the market is likely to put it head to head with established sector heavyweights such as Ares Management Corp (ARES.N) and Apollo Global Management (APO.N). Last week, JPMorgan Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Barnum told investors the bank was "absolutely open for business" in leveraged lending even as other U.S. banks are expected to book significant losses on risky loans underwritten last year. JPMorgan Asset Management has in recent years separately expanded its private credit platform unit, which targets opportunities in the direct lending segment, with plans to expand into other private credit strategies in the future. Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru and Saeed Azhar in New York; Editing by Krishna Chandra EluriOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Hope Global Forums rallies business leaders for financial literacy, ‘so that everyone learns the language of money’
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Frank Holland | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

"Our goal is that by the time your kids grow up, financial literacy is in school — kindergarten through college — as a requirement so that everyone learns the language of money." To that end, Operation Hope in 2021 launched Financial Literacy for All, a joint initiative with businesses such as Walmart, Bank of America, Disney and many others. Ambassador Andrew Young were among the business leaders joining Bryant on stage at the Hope Global Forums in Atlanta to talk about silver rights and the power of financial literacy. "John Hope Bryant and I have come together to form Financial Literacy for All to take on financial education. Operation Hope is focused on wealth inequality in the Black community and communities of color, and narrowing that gap.

LONDON/NEW YORK, Dec 22 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Private credit has grown into a $1.3 trillion mountain over the last decade. When banks stopped lending to private equity firms in 2022, private credit firms stayed active. High-yield loans issued by banks and then sold on to investors in the market fell 80% in the first nine months of 2022, according to Fitch Ratings. Specialist private lenders, however, had some $390 billion of spare capital to spend, according to Preqin data. Investors who funded private lenders may be in for a shock.

☆ Analysis: Private debt markets face reality check as companies grapple with rising rates, recession
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Chiara Elisei | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

An era of ultra-easy cash from central banks lured investors into private credit, attracted by juicy returns in the high-single to low-double-digits. The private debt market has expanded to $1.4 trillion, up from $250 billion in 2010, according to data provider Prequin, with funds including Ares, Blackstone (BX.N) and KKR (KKR.N) holding big positions. Corporate default risks are rising, making investors think twice about holding riskier private debt. A Private Credit Default Index by law firm Proskauer showed a default rate of 1.56% on U.S. dollar-denominated deals in the third quarter, the first notable increase over the past 18 months. "While the default rate is likely to go up, I wouldn't expect to see a significant spike in 2023," he added.

☆ Revlon and key creditors strike deal, April bankruptcy exit
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Dietrich Knauth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 19 (Reuters) - Bankrupt cosmetics giant Revlon Inc on Monday reached a restructuring agreement which would turn over ownership of the company to its lenders and wipe out current shareholders. Revlon now has the support of a faction of critical secured lenders and its unsecured creditors, who had previously been at odds during the company's bankruptcy. The restructuring agreement requires Revlon to get court approval on April 3, which would allow the company to exit bankruptcy on April 17, 2023. Revlon has said it is exploring a sale of the company as a potential exit from Chapter 11. The restructuring agreement allows Revlon to pursue a sale, as long as the offer is high enough to fully repay the Brandco lenders.

☆ Meet the 20 private-credit power players shaping the $1.2 trillion asset class as it faces uncharted waters
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The expansion of private credit underscores the growing influence of the market's dealmakers. Insider has pinpointed influential private-credit executives and top dealmakers to watch. Private-credit markets, overall, have fared better than their public counterparts this year. Some of these top officials run investment vehicles known as business-development companies, which often invest in private companies' debt and have grown common across the credit-investing ecosystem. Insider has pinpointed influential private-credit executives and top dealmakers to watch.

☆ These 20 execs are powering the $1.2 trillion private-credit market
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

So who's behind this mysterious market that has now swelled to $1.2 trillion and accounts for more than 20% of the aggregate capital leverage companies borrowed? Insider's Rebecca Ungarino mapped out 20 of the most powerful people in the space from firms like Sixth Street, Golub Capital, Ares, and Blackstone. When PE firms start hunting for deals, these are the tech companies they'll target. Some tech companies are instructing managers to label low performers on their teams, potentially signally more cuts at some point in 2023. Turns out, having one room dedicated to booze isn't enough for the ultra-wealthy, The Wall Street Journal reports.

☆ Where Walmart CEO Doug McMillon expects inflation to stick around into 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Frank Holland | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Retail sales slumped on Thursday even though the latest data on consumer prices earlier this week showed a cooling. Grocery sales, responsible for 56% of Walmart's revenue, is a key inflation read for the McMillon and company. McMillon's comments came after November CPI report that showed consumer prices rose 7.1% year over year, which was below estimates, but before the retail sales decline posted on Thursday. "But dry groceries, consumables is where we're seeing the most stubborn and persistent inflation, mid double-digit inflation. McMillon said Walmart is continuing to look for new technology to maintain inventory and increase the speed of its e-commerce business.

☆ We're raising our standards around rates of return for the underwriting process, says David Kaplan
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWe're raising our standards around rates of return for the underwriting process, says David KaplanDavid Kaplan, Ares Management co-founder and director, joins 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss the change in the underwriting process and more.

☆ Astronauts explain why nobody has visited the moon in 50 years — and the reasons are depressing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Dave Mosher | Hilary Brueck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

The last time a person visited the moon was in December 1972, during NASA's Apollo 17 mission. But those stays during the Apollo program didn't establish a lasting human presence on the moon. Researchers and entrepreneurs have long pushed for the creation of a crewed base on the moon — a lunar space station. But many astronauts and other experts suggest the biggest impediments to making new crewed moon missions a reality are banal and somewhat depressing. During NASA's Apollo program, 12 people landed on the moon.

☆ It's been 50 years since the last moonwalk. NASA astronauts explain why it took so long.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Hilary Brueck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The 50th anniversary of the last Apollo astronaut moonwalk is Wednesday. NASA astronauts say it's taking so long to return to the moon because of politics and money. But NASA built Orion to send astronauts back into lunar orbit and, as early as 2025, link up with SpaceX's Starship to land astronauts on the moon. NASA astronaut Victor Glover visits the Space Launch System rocket inside Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building, on July 15, 2021. NASA/Kim ShiflettAs early as 2004, former President George Bush was setting goals to return astronauts to the moon.

☆ Blackstone CEO says financially distressed investors driving REIT redemptions
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Chibuike Oguh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Blackstone relies on the REIT for about 17% of its earnings. Large redemptions have been seen at other such funds, with investment firm Starwood Capital informing investors last week that its $14.6 billion non-traded REIT also had raised the gates. There has also been a wave of redemptions at other non-traded Blackstone funds marketed to high net-worth investors. He added the redemptions did not mean the investors were not happy with the REIT and its profits. Blackstone has reported a 9.3% year-to-date return for its REIT, net of fees, a contrast to the publicly traded Dow Jones U.S.

☆ Jim Cramer's top 10 things to watch in the market Wednesday: China reopening fails to inspire
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Two out of the Club's three stocks tied closely to China — Starbucks (SBUX) and Wynn Resorts (WYNN) — are down. Barclays piles on and cuts every price target for oil companies. RBC Capital raises price target on Nike (NKE) to $120 per share from $115; keeps outperform (buy) rating. 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.

☆ X-energy to go public via $2 billion blank-check deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 6 (Reuters) - X-energy has agreed to merge with blank-check firm Ares Acquisition Corporation (AAC.N) in a deal valued at around $2 billion, the companies said on Tuesday. Founded in 2009, X-energy develops small modular nuclear reactors and fuel technology for clean energy generation. The deal is expected to generate cash proceeds of about $1 billion for X-energy from the trust account of the special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Ares, assuming no redemptions. A SPAC is a listed shell company that merges with a private company, taking it public in the process. After the deal closes, which is expected in the second quarter of 2023, the combined entity will be named X-Energy Inc.

☆ 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.

☆ Revlon creditors challenge 2020 loan transactions
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Dietrich Knauth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

If successful, their challenge could eliminate the Brandco lenders' right to claim Revlon's brands as their exclusive collateral, reducing the Brandco lenders' leverage in the bankruptcy. Both lender groups participated in a $2 billion loan that Revlon used to purchase Elizabeth Arden in 2016. Revlon and an attorney for the Brandco lenders did not immediately respond to a request for comment. When Revlon filed for bankruptcy in June, the Brandco lenders held about $1.88 billion of Revlon's $3.5 billion debt. Those transactions allowed Revlon to borrow an additional $880 million in 2020 from the Brandco lenders, according to the complaint.

☆ 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.

☆ A view from Greenwich: Big investors from Bridgewater, Apollo, and Ares are preparing for when, not if, a recession hits
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

At the Greenwich Economic Forum on Tuesday, big investors said they expected a downturn. Many big investors anticipate a lighter recession than in the past as the Fed hikes interest rates. And while it's held in the hedge fund capital of the world, private credit dominated discussions. Some investors, like Lawrence Golub, chief executive of $55 billion credit asset manager Golub Capital, expect a period of low growth but no severe recession. It's going to be one where there's some economic growth in various parts of high-end consumer, or other areas," he said.

☆ Blackstone, Apollo brace for deteriorating commercial real estate market that one analyst says could lose 30% of its value
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Year-over-year price growth has already slowed for commercial properties, signaling souring outlooks that could reduce values by 20 to 30%, the strategists wrote in a report. Executives at the Bisnow event pointed to high rents on multifamily properties, though growth is softening. Yardi"If this doesn't clear the market, then I don't know what does," Marcus said of her multifamily properties, which she described as large and relatively new. Andrew Holm, a cohead of US investments at Ares, the owner of more than $50 billion in commercial real estate, is hunkered down for the long haul, however. At the Bisnow event, he was so bearish on commercial real estate that he struggled to name a single sector that might be attractive over the next six months.

☆ BlackRock bought a money manager to expand in private credit. Insiders say the deal has now led to an exodus of frustrated employees.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Danielle Walker | Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

After BlackRock acquired private credit firm Tennenbaum Capital Partners, more than a dozen employees left the small investment team. Former BlackRock employees say underwhelming pay and unfulfilled promises that the team could raise its own special situations fund led to widespread frustration and departures. The departures come as BlackRock aims to compete more aggressively in private credit, a key part of its high-priority alternatives push. Still, in recent years management has made it clear that its private investment capabilities need to be an important engine of growth. "It's not to say that the private credit market is easy to manage talent.

☆ Meme-Stock Traders Embrace Avaya Despite Wall Street Fears
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Matt Wirz | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Individual investors are backing a new underdog, Avaya Holdings pumping up the software company’s downtrodden stock by about 200% over the past month and confounding Wall Street professionals. Avaya’s fans include day traders who congregate on Reddit and Twitter forums, and a 35-year-old software entrepreneur who has snapped up a 15% stake. They are facing off against a group of large fund managers such as Apollo Global Management and Ares Management that could benefit if the company seeks bankruptcy-court protection.

☆ The Artemis I mission launches NASA's return to the moon, 50 years after the last moonwalk. Astronauts explain why it took so long.
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-27 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Hilary Brueck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

NASA is about to launch its new Space Launch System toward the moon for the first time. The rocket is designed to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time in more than 50 years. NASA astronauts say it's taking so long to return to the moon because of politics and money. It's not just that the Space Launch System is giant, standing taller than the Statue of Liberty. NASA/Kim ShiflettAs early as 2004, former President George Bush was setting goals to return astronauts to the moon.

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