Credit & Risk

dark mysterious landscape with many doors

Asset-Backed Securities in Cash Portfolios: Worth the Effort or Unnecessary Complexity?

Credit & Risk

18 min readFinancial markets have closely monitored consumers’ financial health following the COVID-19 pandemic to gauge when the exceptional economic tailwind provided by high levels of household savings would fade. Accounting for roughly two-thirds of GDP, consumer spending was juiced by pandemic era stimulus programs which ballooned household savings. These savings were later depleted as post-stimulus inflation…

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Credit Insight: The Backbone of Counterparty Risk Management

Credit & Risk

10 min readAbstract Changing credit landscapes, more complex financial products, multiple touchpoints with large financial intermediaries, and high profile bank failures are just some of the challenges treasury management professionals and cash managers face in counterparty risk management. An effective counterparty strategy should provide clarity on the counterparties’ credit strength individually and collectively, and have a desired…

Credit Implications of The Digital Markets Act

Credit Implications of The Digital Markets Act

Credit & Risk

9 min readIntroduction On March 7th, 2024, the European Commission (EC) began enforcing the Digital Markets Act (DMA), one of the most sweeping antitrust policies for Big Tech to date. Yet despite the broad scope covered under the legislation, the market reaction was relatively muted. This suggests a belief that the companies’ operational changes proposed to comply…

Apple Q2 Earnings: Share Buybacks, China, and AI

Apple Q2 Earnings: Share Buybacks, China, and AI

Credit & Risk

2 min readFor the quarter ending March 30th 2024, Apple reported net income of $23.6B, down 2.2% year-over-year, on revenues of $90.8B which were 4.3% lower over the same period. The change in revenues reflected a 14.2% increase in services revenue and a 9.5% decrease in product revenues. Of particular note, iPhone sales which accounted for about…

The Empire Strikes Back: Return of Oil and Gas Dominance for U.S. Integrated Energy

The Empire Strikes Back: Return of Oil and Gas Dominance for U.S. Integrated Energy

Credit & Risk

5 min readIntroduction Earlier this year, European oil majors BP and Shell announced that they would roll back their energy transition plans and keep oil and gas as relatively large parts of their portfolio. In October 2023, their American counterparts Exxon Mobil and Chevron doubled down on a collective $115 billion bet on fossil fuels. Exxon Mobil…

Commercial Real Estate: Finding the Next Shoe to Drop

Commercial Real Estate: Finding the Next Shoe to Drop

Credit & Risk

7 min readMacroeconomic Conditions The post-pandemic economy has had to contend with a rarely seen number of short-term disruptions and fundamental shifts to which it has mostly taken in stride. So far, we have avoided a widely broadcast recession, helped initially by huge amounts of pandemic related financial aid, and followed by a historically strong labor market…

Investing in the European Bank Debt Markets

Investing in the European Bank Debt Markets

Credit & Risk

6 min readWhat happened with Credit Suisse and what cash investors may be able to take away from the experience. Amidst the recent turmoil in the banking system, investors have taken a renewed interest in their bank debt holdings, particularly in the case of Credit Suisse. In a highly unusual move, regulators flipped the established creditor hierarchy…