Increase in long-term sovereign bond yields prompts concerns over potential market punishments for governments with worsening fiscal positions, threatening wider financial stability. Rising long-dated sovereign borrowing costs are reviving fears that bond markets could eventually punish governments for worsening fiscal positions, with potential knock-on effects for credit and equities. According…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing a proposal to broaden retail access to private assets and reform fee structures, marking a significant shift in market regulation aimed at increasing diversification for everyday investors. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing a proposal that could open private markets…
Affluent households are increasingly investing in unlisted company shares to utilise business relief, amid new inheritance tax limits and pension reforms, raising questions about risk and liquidity. Wealthier households are shifting money into business relief investments as they try to soften the impact of forthcoming inheritance tax changes, according to…
Accel has quickly closed a new $550 million India fund amid increased global VC interest in the country’s growing startup scene, emphasising opportunities beyond artificial intelligence to consumer internet, fintech, and deep tech sectors. Accel has closed a new $550 million India fund, less than two years after its previous…
The 2026 iCapital Global Advisor Survey reveals a surge in advisers expanding alternative allocations despite subdued economic confidence, signalling a shift towards integrating these assets into core portfolios and facing operational challenges. Financial advisers are becoming more willing to add to alternative investments, even as their confidence in the wider…
The US SEC has announced new guidelines requiring activist funds to disclose the identities of limited partners in certain campaigns, marking a significant shift towards greater transparency in activist investing. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has moved to tighten disclosure rules for activist investment vehicles, taking the unusual step…
Goldman Sachs highlights the 30-year Treasury yield as the key near-term market risk, driven by inflation fears, government borrowing, and fiscal stability worries, with far-reaching consequences for investors and the economy. Goldman Sachs has identified long-dated interest rates as the key near-term market risk, arguing that the 30-year Treasury yield…
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Aviva Investors, Schroders, and Legal & General Investment Management are pioneering live tokenised funds in the UK, signalling a significant shift towards digital fund distribution and collateral use in the asset management industry. Tokenisation is moving from theory into live distribution strategies among the U.K.’s largest fund houses, with Aviva Investors and Schroders both having taken fresh steps this summer and Legal & General Investment Management already offering tokenised access to its liquidity range. Aviva Investors said on 29 July that it had launched a tokenised share class for its US Dollar Liquidity Fund, the firm’s first tokenised fund product.…
OpenAI has completed a approximately $7 billion buyback of its private shares, reinforcing its valuation and demonstrating growing market confidence in its artificial intelligence platform. OpenAI has deepened the sense that its private shares now behave like a tradable asset, after completing a roughly $7 billion employee buyback that valued the company at about $852 billion, according to reports from Bloomberg and CNBC. The tender offer allowed current and former staff to sell vested shares back to the company, turning paper wealth into cash without waiting for a public listing. It was not a fund-raising round and did not bring…
Shares in Jio Financial Services and other key companies surged amid strategic partnerships, index inclusions, and significant order wins, reflecting a dynamic shift in Indian market sentiment and sectoral growth prospects. Shares in Jio Financial Services, Groww, Laurus Labs and Bharti Airtel were set to be in the spotlight on Wednesday after a flurry of corporate and index-related announcements, while Diamond Power Infrastructure, Texmaco Rail & Engineering, Krystal Integrated Services and Vascon Engineers also reported fresh orders and acquisitions. Jio Financial Services said Bank of America will buy a 49.9 per cent stake in its lending subsidiary, Jio Credit, in…
Bank of America’s latest client flow data reveal hedge funds engaging in their most substantial weekly US stock buying spree since 2008, signalling a discernible shift towards greater risk appetite amid market volatility. Bank of America’s latest client flow data point to a sharp resurgence in risk appetite among hedge funds, with the group logging its largest weekly purchases of US equities since the firm’s records began in 2008. According to the bank, hedge fund clients were net buyers of American stocks for a sixth straight week, even as institutional and retail investors trimmed exposure for a second consecutive week.…
Intel’s latest share sale, prompted by extraordinary investor appetite, aims to bolster its competitive edge in AI-focused semiconductor manufacturing amid escalating industry race. Intel has raised about $23 billion through a large common stock offering after strong investor demand prompted underwriters to exercise their over-allotment option in full, according to company filings and reports from Axios and Tom’s Hardware. The chipmaker agreed on 10 August to sell 210,526,315 shares at $95 each, a transaction that initially pointed to gross proceeds of roughly $20 billion before fees and expenses. A day later, the underwriters took up an option to buy an…
The US SEC has announced a new proposal to make electronic delivery of regulatory disclosures the default, aiming to streamline communications for market participants while preserving investor opt-out rights. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has moved to overhaul how firms send regulatory disclosures, proposing a regime that would make…
OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX are preparing to go public with minimal transparency on their carbon footprints, raising concerns amid rising energy demands from AI and space technologies. Three of the world’s most highly valued private companies are edging towards public markets with remarkably little to say about their environmental footprint.…
The US and UK have issued a joint set of recommendations to deepen collaboration on digital assets and capital markets, aiming to foster coherence without imposing enforceable rules amid rapidly evolving tokenised markets. The United States and the United Kingdom have set out a joint blueprint for closer cooperation on…
A new study by Clearwater Analytics reveals asset managers worldwide are rapidly adopting AI despite significant concerns over data quality, governance, and regulatory risks, highlighting a gap between investment and effective implementation. Boise-based Clearwater Analytics says asset managers are racing to adopt artificial intelligence, but many still fear the technology…
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The South Korean government is set to make sustainability reporting compulsory for listed companies, introducing a phased regime that elevates ESG disclosures to a statutory requirement, with enforcement starting from 2027. South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party has moved to make sustainability reporting mandatory for listed companies, setting up a phased regime that would turn ESG disclosure from a stock exchange-led practice into a statutory obligation. The bill, introduced by policy chief Han Jeong-ae, is designed to give regulators the power to punish false or inadequate reporting and to strengthen investor confidence in company disclosures. (etoday.co.kr) According to the draft, larger…
A new survey reveals rising inflation, higher interest rates, and market volatility are prompting European infrastructure lenders to prioritise risk mitigation and shift focus towards more stable assets amid an increasingly cautious environment. Rising inflation and higher interest rates have emerged as the main pressure points for European infrastructure lenders, according to new research from Ocorian, as the sector also grapples with tighter spreads and a more cautious risk environment. In a survey of fund managers across the UK, Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy and Sweden, 31 per cent said inflation and elevated borrowing costs were the biggest threat to hurdle…
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Aviva’s recent activities exemplify a broader move in UK pension policy towards prioritising reliable retirement income and tailored solutions over traditional pension pot sizes, signalling a significant shift in the market’s approach to retirement planning. UK pension reform is increasingly being read through the quality of retirement outcomes rather than the headline size of a pension pot, and Aviva’s recent activity offers a clear example of why that matters. The insurer said it has completed a £700 million bulk purchase annuity buy-in for the ABB Plan, securing benefits for more than 4,450 pensioner members and more than 2,900 deferred members,…
The FCA and Bank of England are investigating the potential of digital gold to serve as collateral, aiming to boost efficiency and preserve London’s dominance in global gold trading amid wider plans to digitise UK wholesale markets. The Financial Conduct Authority is examining whether gold can be tokenised in a way that would fit neatly into wholesale finance, with the most immediate question appearing to be whether digital gold could serve as collateral, according to the Financial Times and the FCA’s wider tokenisation work. The regulator does not oversee physical bullion itself, but it does supervise gold-linked derivatives and exchange-traded…
Royal London remains the most recommended personal pension provider in early 2026, as the industry navigates AI adoption, adviser training gaps, and product modernisation efforts amid evolving advice practices. Royal London remained the most frequently recommended personal pension among advisers in the first half of 2026, according to new Defaqto data, with Aviva and Quilter holding second and third place respectively. The three providers were said to have maintained broadly similar shares of recommendations to 2025, while the Prudential Retirement Account also remained among the most widely suggested products. Together, the four plans accounted for a substantial share of personal…
Falling foreign holdings and rising borrowing costs pose new challenges for US Treasuries, highlighting geopolitical and financial risks amid shifting global investor confidence. The United States has good reason to be uneasy. Foreign appetite for Treasuries, long the bedrock of America’s financial privilege, has weakened, and the shift is already feeding through to higher borrowing costs. According to a Federal Reserve note published in May, foreign ownership of US government debt has fallen from close to 60% around 2008-10 to roughly 35% to 40% by 2025, even as the overall stock of foreign holdings has continued to rise. That change…
The US Federal Reserve’s new AI task force highlights rising fears that massive investments in AI technology could pose significant risks to financial stability, from mounting debt to market instability, amid a transforming economy. Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh’s decision to launch a task force on artificial intelligence marks an acknowledgement that the technology is no longer just a productivity story, but a policy problem. Yet the Fed’s stated focus on employment and inflation still leaves out a risk that many officials have already begun to flag: financial stability. In April, his predecessor Jerome Powell joined US Treasury Secretary Scott…
SpaceX reports a 92% rise in quarterly revenue driven by Starlink and AI investments, but heavy spending and share devaluation raise investor questions about financial discipline and future prospects. SpaceX has reported a steep rise in quarterly revenue in its first results since listing, but investors still appeared uneasy as heavy spending on artificial intelligence continued to weigh on sentiment. According to Axios, the company posted revenue of $7.81 billion for the three months to 30 June, up 92% from a year earlier and comfortably ahead of market forecasts. El País reported that SpaceX also narrowed its net loss to…
Orchard Street Investment Management is set to deploy up to £3bn into climate-focused real estate upgrades, attracting institutional backing by combining environmental improvements with strong returns across industrial, retail, and living assets. Orchard Street Investment Management is stepping up its push into real estate decarbonisation, with plans to deploy between £2bn and £3bn over the next few years as it scales a strategy that is drawing strong backing from institutional investors. The firm’s open-ended, UK-only impact vehicle has already secured two rounds of commitments from local government pension schemes, reflecting growing appetite for funds that can combine measurable environmental improvements…
The European Commission has unveiled the Scaleup Europe Fund, aiming to attract €5 billion to support high-growth technology companies and retain Europe’s emerging digital leaders. The European Commission has moved to deepen support for the continent’s most promising technology businesses by launching the Scaleup Europe Fund, a vehicle it says is designed to mobilise €5 billion in combined public and private capital and keep more fast-growing firms in European hands. According to the Commission, the fund sits within the European Innovation Council framework and is intended to back high-growth companies working in areas seen as strategically important for Europe’s industrial…
Alternative asset manager TPG reported a strong second quarter, driven by record fundraising, rising fee-related revenues, and strategic investments in AI, amid steady performance across its private equity, credit, and real estate platforms.TPG posted a strong second quarter, helped by a sharp rise in fee-related revenue, record fundraising and continued momentum across its private equity, credit and real estate platforms, while also leaning further into artificial intelligence-related opportunities. The alternative asset manager said fee-related revenue rose 27% from a year earlier to $628 million, while fee-related earnings climbed 43% to $315 million, lifting its fee-related earnings margin to 50%. That…
KKR has closed a $19.2 billion infrastructure fund targeting North American and Western European assets, reflecting rising investor interest in long-term, resilient infrastructure amid global energy and economic challenges. KKR has closed a $19.2 billion infrastructure fund targeting assets in North America and Western Europe, in a sign that investors continue to favour long-duration assets offering predictable cash flows amid renewed interest in energy security and economic resilience. The firm said on 3 August 2026 that the vehicle, Global Infrastructure Investors V, had already committed more than $9 billion across a range of investments. KKR described the strategy as centred…