Douglas Gill Joins Snowden Lane Partners with $420 Million in Client Assets

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Snowden Lane Partners announced that Douglas J. Gill has joined the firm with $420 million in assets under management.

As the latest addition to the firm’s Riverstone Capital Wealth Group, Gill will be based in Snowden Lane’s Bethesda office and serve as a Partner and Managing Director. With a focus on generational wealth planning, investment management and philanthropy, he joins Snowden Lane with over 30 years of experience in financial services. His arrival takes Snowden Lane’s total client assets above $10 billion.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Doug to the firm, as his experience in the independent wealth management space makes him a natural fit for our team,” said Rob Mooney, Managing Partner & CEO of Snowden Lane Partners. “We’re also humbled by the milestone our firm has achieved today, as it illustrates that personalized client service and our core values continue to resonate across our industry.”

“I’m looking forward to working alongside Doug to continue offering our clients cutting-edge solutions,” said Alex Bryer, Senior Partner and Managing Director with Snowden Lane’s Riverstone Capital Wealth Group. “The depth and breadth of his investment experience, in addition to his expertise in working with entrepreneurs, will be a natural complement to our team’s existing capabilities. More than anything, though, I know his values align perfectly with Snowden Lane’s and we’re all excited to collaborate on our clients’ behalf.”

Prior to joining Snowden Lane, Gill founded FullArc Wealth Management at CreativeOne Wealth, where he offered entrepreneurs, families and foundations comprehensive investment advice, financial planning, trust and estate recommendations, and risk management strategies.

Gill also previously spent 17 years as a Private Wealth Advisor at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, and before entering the wealth management space, served as an institutional trader, managing risk capital in bonds and currencies in London, Paris, Tokyo, and New York. In addition to his financial services experience, Gill mentors entrepreneurs at the Halcyon Incubator in Washington D.C. 

“I’m excited to join Snowden Lane for the next step of my career and to continue offering my clients the individual attention and creative solutions they have come to expect,” Gill said. “I’ve been fortunate to work for a range of firms across the wealth management industry, each of which applied their own approaches, but the emphasis Snowden Lane places on personalized client service made the firm a clear choice as I continue my career in the independent advisory space.”

Added Greg Franks, Managing Partner, President & COO: “We’re excited that Doug chose to continue his career at Snowden Lane, especially amid an increasingly competitive recruiting landscape. His experience and expertise make him an asset to any organization, and I’m confident his customized approach will continue helping clients achieve their unique financial goals.”

Since its founding in 2011, Snowden Lane has built a national brand, attracting top industry talent from Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, UBS, JP Morgan, Raymond James, Wells Fargo, and Fieldpoint Private, among others, the press release added.

Caroline Portel is Appointed Global Chief Operating Officer of AXA IM

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AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) announces the appointment of Caroline Portel as Global Chief Operating Officer  effective 1 July 2023. She will take over from Laurent Caillot who will pursue a new professional endeavour outside of the AXA Group.

Based in Paris, Portel will be a member of the AXA IM Management Board, reporting to Marco Morelli, Executive Chairman of AXA IM.

In this role, she will oversee Technology, Operations, Data Management, Project Management, Security Procurement, Facilities and Innovation.

“I am delighted to welcome Caroline to the Management Board as GCOO and I look forward to working with her in these key strategic areas. Caroline has over 20 years of experience in finance and knows AXA very well, having held several roles in different entities. She will bring invaluable insights to her teams and the Management Board,” said Marco Morelli.

“I would also like to thank Laurent for his contribution to AXA IM over the past 4 years and notably for his leadership to transform our operating model to make AXA IM one of the most technologically-driven asset managers. I sincerely wish him the best in his new professional adventures,” added Marco Morelli.

Portel has been Programme Director at AXA IM since 2022 and is responsible for the integration of the AXA IM Prime and AXA IM Architas business units.

Having initially joined AXA in 1999, Caroline held senior roles in multiple functions ranging from investor relations to consolidation and reporting in various AXA entities and countries.

Most recently, she was CFO at AXA Global Life, the life reinsurance subsidiary of AXA from 2014 to 2018, and then became CFO of Architas Group and CEO of Architas France until 2019. She was then appointed CFO and deputy CEO at AXA Global Re, the Group’s internal reinsurer, until 2022.

Portel graduated from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Electronique in Grenoble (ENSERG) with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and holds an MBA in Corporate Finance and Accounting from the University of Rochester in the US.

 

Finding Opportunity in Uncertainty with Thornburg IM

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Photo courtesy

Jason Brady, CEO of Thornburg Investment Management, shares with Funds Society his views on where the Fed goes from here; the recession and credit risks investors face; and where to consider positioning portfolios today.

What should we expect from the Federal Reserve? Could we see rate cuts before year-end?

The reality for the Fed is that they’ve spent the last 14 months catching up.  They lagged very much behind, and they had to get to a point where they were no longer driving from the back seat.  They’re now a little bit more under control in the context of where they think they need to be.  And most of their recent communication essentially underlines that fact. We likely saw the last –or perhaps the second to last –hike this year absent any real acceleration of inflation, which I don’t particularly expect. The markets indeed understood that while this isn’t necessarily a pivot, the Fed is much closer to the end of the hiking cycle.

I think what we’re getting back to over time is a more traditional credit cycle and that we’ll see a recession later this year.  It won’t be driven as much by consumers although that’s something I’m worried about because that seems to be the consensus.  Any time you’re in consensus you should be concerned.  But ultimately, what we saw in 2022 was not a recession environment.  It was a normalization of rates.  That normalization of rates could accelerate a credit cycle as we get through the process. It is really a question of how we clean up balance sheets and how we normalize labor markets. We could even see a Fed rate cut this year.

But macro data is mixed in the U.S. What should we monitor?

The challenge that the Fed has is that employment and inflation, the Fed’s mandates, are also the most lagging indicators. If you wait for unemployment to begin to rise you’re, very likely already in recession.  Similarly, inflation’s coming down.  But it’s really the lagged effect of the Fed’s actions to slow the economy.  Let’s remember, the Fed raising rates is specifically designed to slow the economy.

I’ll note that one last element of the Fed’s mandate is a mandate around financial regulation and stability.  We’ve seen a number of headlines in the last couple of months about the banking system.  It is a fact of history that when the Fed raises rates, in the fastest fashion we’ve seen in 40 years, things start to get a little wobbly.  While that’s not what the Fed is looking for specifically, it is, in fact, an element of a slowing economy and that’s what we’re seeing.

Will inflation remain structurally at higher levels than in the past?

One of the things that’s been most surprising to me over the last several years is how long reverberations from COVID disruptions have taken to work through the economy.  Obviously during COVID, there weren’t a whole lot of services one could consume sitting at home.  But people started to get into goods consumption in the year following the COVID shutdown in March. That coupled with supply chain disruptions really caused a significant amount of goods inflation.

Remember inflation’s a rate of change measure.  Prices don’t need to fall.  They can stay at an elevated level and inflation goes to zero. Goods’ prices have normalized significantly.  However, services prices and services inflation have taken the baton from goods prices.  Services prices are now rising at a rate around mid to high single digits.  That’s a real concern.  What the Fed is looking at now is the potential for sustained expectations of services or wage prices rising.  My view frankly is that will slow. What you’re seeing is some forward-looking indicators of strength in the labor market beginning to slow.

Where is Thornburg finding investment opportunities in the fixed-income space?

At Thornburg generally, we don’t move around duration positioning in our portfolios.  We want investors to have a sense that we’re going to be in a particular part of the curve.  But certainly, an inverted yield curve presents a particular set of incentives for investors.  What investors have generally done and gravitated towards is the very front end. That’s okay from an asset/liability perspective if you’re investing in short-term securities for short-term needs.  But what’s interesting about fixed income markets today versus most times in the last 15 years, is that you actually see some value a bit further out on the curve.  What we’re seeing is that rates move from notably negative a couple of years ago to nicely positive today.  They were better 3, 4, 5 months ago, but still, we’re seeing nicely positive real yield.  Investors can take advantage of real yields that are higher than we’ve seen in a number of years.  More importantly, because those yields are at those levels a little further out on the curve, high-quality fixed income can start to play a more traditional role in portfolios, providing income but also ballast to your portfolio.  Fixed income offers a risk reduction measure as in a typical 60/40 portfolio.

What we see is some value out in the intermediate part of the curve for a lot of investors, particularly those that have spent the last several months or even year rolling front-end treasuries.  We hear that a lot from clients and to me it looks like an asset-liability mismatch that investors will regret.  The last time investors were asking me the question of why would I invest a little further out the curve was in 2007.

What about global equities? Can you give us a flavor of your equities strategy as well?

There’s a lot of discussion about deglobalization.  Despite a lot of political rhetoric, it’s still quite a globalized economy.  I don’t think the downturn we’re likely to experience going forward is 2008, but I think everyone can remember that in 2008 U.S. residential mortgages were the problem of the whole world.  And it goes both ways.

It is less about extremely differential global economic situations.  I think it’s more about valuation. Let’s talk about equities for a second.  It’s pretty clear to us at Thornburg that international or global equities relative to US equities there’s always a valuation gap particularly relative to sector concentrations. For us, the opportunity is not so much that companies domiciled, for example, in Europe, are going to do much better because they’re in Europe or much worse, but rather because global companies that are domiciled in Europe are just cheaper.  Frankly, that valuation dynamic is a really big part of a margin of safety.  I also think that given what we’re about to see going forward, investors would do well to focus on cash-generative companies.

Pershing X Unveils Its New Wove Wealth Management Platform

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BNY Mellon’s Pershing X, a technology provider within BNY Mellon | Pershing (NYSE: BK), debuted Wove, a groundbreaking wealth management platform that integrates the technology tools advisors use into a single, data-driven platform.

“When building Wove, we went beyond just having integrations and created interconnected experiences for advisors so they can go from planning and portfolio building to account management without having to re-enter data,” said Pershing X President Ainslie Simmonds. “The goal is to help them be more productive and efficient with their time so they have the ability to help serve even more clients.”

Wove will feature the core applications advisors need, such as advanced data reporting and analytics, financial plan building, flexible billing, cross-custodian trading and rebalancing. Additionally, advisors will have access to direct indexing investment strategies, including the new BNY Mellon Precision Direct Indexing S&P 500®, managed by Mellon, BNY Mellon Investment Management’s indexing specialist. The strategy seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500® Index and enables advisors to offer clients customized solutions.

As part of its Wove debut, Pershing X also announced that BNY Mellon Advisors, Inc. will deliver investment solutions through the new platform by using an in-house team of senior investment professionals from across BNY Mellon.

“The Wove platform is unique because it has the power, scale and security of BNY Mellon behind it,” said Jim Crowley, CEO of BNY Mellon | Pershing. “By leveraging the breadth of innovation from across the firm to create Wove, we are able to provide advisors with seamless technology and best-in-class investment tools to help revolutionize how they serve their clients.”

SEC Files 13 Charges Against Binance Entities and Founder Changpeng Zhao

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The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Binance Holdings Ltd. (“Binance”), which operates the largest crypto asset trading platform in the world, Binance.com; U.S.-based affiliate, BAM Trading Services Inc. (“BAM Trading”), which, together with Binance, operates the crypto asset trading platform, Binance.US; and their founder, Changpeng Zhao, with a variety of securities law violations.

Among other things, the SEC alleges that, while Zhao and Binance publicly claimed that U.S. customers were restricted from transacting on Binance.com, Zhao and Binance in reality subverted their own controls to secretly allow high-value U.S. customers to continue trading on the Binance.com platform. Further, the SEC alleges that, while Zhao and Binance publicly claimed that Binance.US was created as a separate, independent trading platform for U.S. investors, Zhao and Binance secretly controlled the Binance.US platform’s operations behind the scenes.

The SEC also alleges that Zhao and Binance exercise control of the platforms’ customers’ assets, permitting them to commingle customer assets or divert customer assets as they please, including to an entity Zhao owned and controlled called Sigma Chain.

The SEC’s complaint further alleges that BAM Trading and BAM Management US Holdings, Inc. (“BAM Management”) misled investors about non-existent trading controls over the Binance.US platform, while Sigma Chain engaged in manipulative trading that artificially inflated the platform’s trading volume.

Further, the Complaint alleges that the defendants concealed the fact that it was commingling billions of dollars of investor assets and sending them to a third party, Merit Peak Limited, that is also owned by Zhao.

The Complaint also charges violations of critical registration-related provisions of the federal securities laws:

  • Binance and BAM Trading with operating unregistered national securities exchanges, broker-dealers, and clearing agencies;
  • Binance and BAM Trading with the unregistered offer and sale of Binance’s own crypto assets, including a so-called exchange token, BNB, a so-called stablecoin, Binance USD (BUSD), certain crypto-lending products, and a staking-as-a-service program; and
  • Zhao as a control person for Binance’s and BAM Trading’s operation of unregistered national securities exchanges, broker-dealers, and clearing agencies.

“Through thirteen charges, we allege that Zhao and Binance entities engaged in an extensive web of deception, conflicts of interest, lack of disclosure, and calculated evasion of the law,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler.

To access the press release, please click on the following link.

Janus Henderson Bolsters US Offshore Distribution Team with Two New Hires

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Joaquín Prandi & Ricardo Rodezno, Janus Henderson | Copyright: Funds Society

Janus Henderson Investors is today announcing the addition of two new hires to its US Offshore Distribution team.

Joaquin Prandi will assume the role of Associate Director and be based in New York and Ricardo Rodezno will assume the role of Associate Director and be based in Houston. They will both report to Paul Brito, Director of Sales for US Offshore.

In their newly created roles, Prandi and Rodenzo will be responsible for cultivating Janus Henderson’s relationships with local and global institutions and continuing to build a strong footprint in the US Offshore market with Joaquin focussing on the Northeast and Ricardo focussed on Southwest and West Coast.

Prandi brings a wealth of experience to the role, having joined Janus Henderson from Ninety One where he was a Sales Manager responsible for developing relationships with long-established US Offshore clients. Prior to that, he held roles at Edward Jones Investments and Skandia Global Funds. He is fluent in both English and Spanish and has a bachelor’s degree in Business Marketing from Fairfield University.

Rodenzo brings more than 20 years’ experience to the role having joined from Amundi where he held the position of Sales Manager, US Offshore. Prior that he held a number of positions at Legg Mason, most recently as the Director of Business Development for the South East. Ricardo is also fluent in both English and Spanish and has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the International University of Florida.

Paul Brito, Director of US Offshore at Janus Henderson said: “I am delighted to welcome Joaquin and Ricardo to the team, their appointments demonstrate not only our commitment to increasing resources to this market but also to having local experienced professionals dedicated to the Northeast and Southwest. This will enable us to further strengthen existing relationships and build new ones. Joaquin’s and Ricardo’s experience and deep insight into the local market mean we will be well-placed to deliver the best results for our clients helping them to grow their business, and will assist us in building momentum in our continued growth push in this important market.

Janus Henderson Announces New Joint Venture with Privacore to Accelerate Growth Across Private Alternatives

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Pixabay CC0 Public DomainAli Dibadj, consejero delegado de Janus Henderson.

Janus Henderson announced plans for a newly formed and funded joint venture with Privacore Capital (“Privacore”), an open-architecture distributor and trusted consultant for alternative investment products tailored to Private Wealth clients.

This initiative aligns with Janus Henderson’s strategic ambitions to diversify and grow its business. Privacore will tap into a fast-growing market, with a strong leadership team, in a strategically important segment of the industry where Janus Henderson clients have asked for exposure. The initiative positions the firm to grow with our clients and further strengthens Janus Henderson’s credibility as a future partner in strategic M&A in private and alternative asset classes.

“We recognize that the democratization of alternatives among Private Wealth clients is still in the early stages, and this trend presents a significant opportunity for firms with strong relationships with retail intermediaries—like Janus Henderson—to expand the breadth and quality of alternative investment solutions for clients,” said Janus Henderson CEO, Ali Dibadj.

Alternatives as a category represent a $12 trillion-dollar market, with assets expected to roughly double in size over the next 5 years. High-net-worth investors command $80 trillion dollars of assets globally and are expected to account for much of the growth in private markets. Janus Henderson expects that Privacore will play an integral role in bridging the gap between managers of alternative assets and end investors—through diligence, investor education, portfolio construction, and client service—across private equity, debt, real estate, infrastructure, and other non-traditional asset classes.

Privacore will be led by two principals, Brendan Boyle and Bill Cashel, a pair of industry veterans each with proven track records of building leading distribution platforms within dynamic, alternatives-focused businesses.

“We welcome the opportunity to support Privacore’s leadership and expect our partnership will be a winning combination. Janus Henderson’s robust heritage combined with this new entrepreneurial team demonstrates our commitment to ensuring our clients come first—always,” said Dibadj.

“Privacore’s mission to partner with the best-in-class managers of alternative investments, paired with extensive relationships at wirehouses, broker dealers, and RIAs, creates value on both ends of the spectrum—accelerating GP fundraising and bringing differentiated, institutional-quality investment opportunities to a set of clients that are notably under-allocated to alternatives today,” said Brendan Boyle, Privacore CEO, Principal & Co-Founder.

This partnership seeks to provide access to best-in-class, largely private, alternative investments, managed by both third-party investment managers and Janus Henderson, the firm said.

Janus Henderson will initially hold a minority stake in the organization, with a defined path to control in coming years.

The firm plans to formally launch the joint venture towards the middle of the year and will engage with clients and GPs in the second half of 2023, subject to relevant regulatory approvals.

J.P. Morgan Launches 24th Annual Summer Reading List

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J.P. Morgan launched its 24th annual Summer Reading List, a collection of books selected to spark curiosity, inspire new perspectives and unlock potential for the future. With new titles by creative luminaries, admired industry leaders and forward-thinking entrepreneurs, the books invite readers worldwide on a journey from the canopy of the Amazon to the ranches of Wyoming, to the boardrooms of Hong Kong and beyond.

“Books have fired our imaginations for centuries. As we enter an era marked by rapid technological advancement, our list illuminates ideas to fuel progress, from how to lead more inclusively to how to harness the latest developments in artificial intelligence,” said Darin Oduyoye, Chief Communications Officer of J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management.

To curate the list, J.P. Morgan Client Advisors worldwide submitted hundreds of non-fiction titles. That list was then culled and reviewed based on timeliness, quality and appeal to the firm’s global client base.

A summer tradition for over two decades, the 2023 J.P. Morgan Summer Reading List introduces a future-inspired read, selected by and for the next generation. To select the “Next Gen Pick”, a sub-committee of Associate and Vice President-level J.P. Morgan Client Advisors representing North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific and Europe met to review and select one title to engage and inspire early-career clients and colleagues.

“We wanted the ‘Next Gen Pick’ to encompass emerging ideas and themes that will drive the future,” said Derby Chukwudi, Associate Investment Strategist at J.P. Morgan Private Bank. “Whether you’re a technology entrepreneur, environmental activist, creative artist, or the next generation of a family enterprise, the title we selected outlines how you can identify the role you have to play in preparing for what the future holds.”

The 2023 Summer Reading list line-up includes:

Good Power: Leading Positive Change in Our Lives, Work, and World by Ginni Rometty

The former IBM CEO shares her pioneering path from a difficult childhood to becoming one of the world’s most influential business leaders. With candor and wisdom, Ginni Rometty recounts her life and career milestones—personal challenges, critical decisions and passionate advocacy—all while redefining power as a way to drive meaningful change. From protecting trans workers to hiring employees with unconventional career paths, Rometty’s “memoir with purpose” offers a blueprint for using “good power” to inspire teams, advance careers and companies, and to build a better world.

Money Machine: A Trailblazing American Venture in China by Weijian Shan

In this fascinating tale of an American firm’s success in China, Weijian Shan delivers the compelling story of one of the most significant deals in private equity history: the first foreign acquisition of a Chinese national bank. In this firsthand account from the chief architect of the deal, Money Machine offers a peek behind the curtain of the process, including the complex negotiations between private equity executives and Chinese regulators, and the challenges of returning the bank to profitability. Tracing the deal from inception to victorious conclusion, Shan reveals insights into China’s capital system, how to thrive in a foreign culture and how private equity firms can add real value to companies.

Reflections of a Vintner: Stories and Seasonal Wisdom from a Lifetime in Napa Valley by Tor Kenward

This iconic, award-winning vintner recounts the lessons learned and friendships forged during his nearly 50-year journey through the burgeoning wine industry of Napa Valley. Detailing experiences from the mid-70s, when there were fewer than 50 wineries, to the present, with over 800, Tor Kenward shares his insights on the region’s evolution into a world-class wine destination. Weaving in anecdotes of his friendships with legends of the food and wine scene, including Julia Child, André Tchelistcheff and Andy Beckstoffer, Kenward offers an entertaining, inside look into the fascinating and complex world of wine.

Think Like a Horse: Lessons in Life, Leadership, and Empathy from an Unconventional Cowboy by Grant Golliher

Each year, Fortune 500 executives, celebrities, professional coaches and Supreme Court justices flock to “horse whisperer” and leadership expert Grant Golliher’s Wyoming ranch to learn his approach to horse training. Horse whispering may sound like magic, but Golliher demonstrates how his method is as fundamental and ageless as the relationship between horses, the people who ride them, and the beauty of the West. Golliher distills his hard-won horse sense into invaluable lessons about communication, boundaries, fairness, trust and respect—lessons we can use to better understand our common humanity and unlock untapped potential in our careers and lives.

Radically Human: How New Technology Is Transforming Business and Shaping Our Future by Paul R. Daugherty and H. James Wilson

As new AI-powered technologies such as the metaverse and natural language processing are rapidly advancing—with human behaviors and intelligence informing the design of new machines—all companies must be technology companies to compete. Accenture technology leaders Paul R. Daugherty and H. James Wilson address this intersection of technology and human ingenuity in Radically Human, which outlines how companies across industries are tapping into technology to reshape the very nature of innovation. With examples across a variety of industries, Daugherty and Wilson offer a framework for value creation and more human-centered, trust-based and sustainable organizations.

The Women of Rothschild: The Untold Story of the World’s Most Famous Dynasty by Natalie Livingstone

As Jewish women in a Christian society and a patriarchal family, the Rothschild women have often been outsiders—overlooked in their family’s iconic legacy. Natalie Livingstone pulls back the curtain of the family’s storied history to reveal how these women forged their own distinct dynasty—becoming influential hostesses and diplomats, advising prime ministers, advocating for social reform and even trading on the stock exchange. From London’s East End to the Eastern seaboard of the United States and beyond, Livingstone traces the extraordinary lives of the dynamic Rothschild women, shining a light on how their visions and persistence shaped history.

The Tree Book: The Stories, Science, and History of Trees by DK

Discover the beauty and mystery of the world of trees—from ancient oaks and great redwoods to lush banyans and magnificent cedars—in this immersive visual guide. Combining the scientific, ecological importance of trees with a wider look at their history, symbolism and mythology, The Tree Book reveals the enduring significance of these fascinating organisms in human history and culture. With a comprehensive look into trees’ anatomy and uses, as well as their necessity in preserving the earth’s diverse ecosystems, DK offers a new kind of guide to understanding this important canopy of life.

Abstract Expressionists: The Women by Ellen G. Landau and Joan M. Marter

Although the Abstract Expressionist movement has become synonymous with Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning, many are unfamiliar with the works of Perle Fine, Helen Frankenthaler, Sonia Gechtoff and Joan Mitchell—women who studied at the same schools, exhibited at the same galleries, and were part of the same social scene as the men. Abstract Expressionists: The Women features these bold innovators, whose time in the art history spotlight has finally come. Surveying more than 50 paintings, collages and sculptures from the Levett Collection, an unparalleled private collection of women Abstract Expressionists, scholars Ellen G. Landau and Joan M. Marter explore the vital role women have played in the iconic movement.

A Library by Nikki Giovanni

In this lyrical picture book, world-renowned poet, New York Times bestselling author and Coretta Scott King Honor winner Nikki Giovanni collaborates with artist and illustrator Erin K. Robinson to share an ode to the library as a magic place that inspires imagination and exploration. This vibrant read-aloud can be enjoyed by book lovers of all ages, and is a well-deserved tribute to librarians who provide a welcome home away from home.

Amazing: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Inspire Us All by Maia Shibutani, Alex Shibutani and Dane Liu

Inclusivity takes center stage in Amazing: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Inspire Us All. Crafted by Olympic ice dancing medalist siblings Maia and Alex Shibutani, this children’s picture book explores 36 inspirational Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, such as disabled hero Daniel Inouye, immigrant astronaut Kalpana Chawla, world-renowned chef David Chang, and Olympic gold medalist Sunisa Lee. With quick biographies written with journalist Dane Liu, Amazing celebrates the lives of achievers who have helped shape our world while paving the way for future generations of Asian Americans to make lasting change.

Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen and Roy Schwartz

Axios journalists and co-founders teach readers how to say more with less in virtually any format in this guide to effective, efficient communication. A modern take on Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style, Smart Brevity breaks down how to prioritize essential news and information, and to deliver it in a concise and visual format. In a digital age in which we are constantly inundated with news and information, Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen and Roy Schwartz share tips for breaking through the noise and getting our messages across with impact.

Next Gen Pick

Facing Our Futures: How Foresight, Futures Design and Strategy Creates Prosperity and Growth by Nikolas Badminton

Even though businesses, organizations and society at large are all subject to unforeseeable events, Facing Our Futures makes the case that we can develop the foresight and strategy to prepare for what’s ahead. Futurist and researcher Nikolas Badminton shows how innovation and open minds can help organizations restructure to mitigate risk and locate opportunity. Badminton tells readers how to develop the skills and outlook to prepare for whatever challenges the future holds.

Northern Trust Appoints Michael J. Bracci President of East Florida and Mid-Atlantic Regions

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Photo courtesyMichael J. Bracci, new President of the East Florida and Mid-Atlantic Regions at Northern Trust

Northern Trust has expanded the role of Michael J. Bracci to President of the East Florida and Mid-Atlantic Regions. Bracci, who has been President of the East Florida Region since 2003, will now lead the strategic direction and execution of the Wealth Management business of both the East Florida and Mid-Atlantic Regions, including Atlanta, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

Bracci, who joined Northern Trust in 1993, is a leader in investment management, trust and fiduciary management, financial planning and private banking. Prior to becoming President, he served as the Regional Senior Banking Officer for the Palm Beach Martin Region, and as Managing Director of the North Palm Beach office.

“For many years, Mike has delivered proven leadership, shown an unwavering dedication to client service and developed a strong track record for creating advice-driven solutions,” said Glenda G. Pedroso, President of the East Region for Northern Trust Wealth Management. “I am delighted he will be taking on this expanded role as President of both the Mid-Atlantic and East Florida Regions.”

Bracci earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Tulane University and has more than 30 years of experience in the banking and finance industry. He began his career in the management training program at a large Southeast regional commercial bank and subsequently led a regional commercial banking team.

He is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts and previously served as the Chair of the Board of Trustees. He also serves on the board of the Nicklaus Children’s Healthcare Foundation and has been Chair of the Board’s Executive Committee since 2005.

In 2021, Bracci was named to the Board of the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties. He is the current chair of the Investment Committee, past Treasurer of the Board and past Chair of the Finance Committee.

Another Good Month for Wall Street Despite the Banking Turmoil

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Pixabay CC0 Public Domain

Stocks moved slightly higher in April as better-than-expected Q1 earnings, despite a lower bar, helped temper recession fears for now. Consumers remained resilient notwithstanding persistent inflation and other economic headwinds. Some positive themes from Q1 earnings season included better-than-feared regional bank results, strong mega-cap tech results, as well as better trends around cost controls, inventories and supply chain.

While there was some stability seen during the month for regional banks, the month ended with regulators seizing First Republic Bank (FRC) and striking a deal to sell most of its operations to JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM). The failure of First Republic Bank was more of a delayed reaction to the turmoil caused in March rather than a new phase in the global banking crisis. Overall, First Republic Bank will now go down as the second largest U.S. bank (by assets) to collapse after Washington Mutual, which failed during the financial crisis of 2008.

The Federal Reserve made another 0.25% rate hike during the latest FOMC meeting on May 3rd. March’s economic data, which was reported in April, showed signs of inflation decelerating but remaining well above the Fed’s target. The minutes from the Fed’s last meeting suggested a “mild recession” was possible and that the Fed’s focus is on “unacceptably high inflation”. Paradoxically, First Republic’s collapse helped keep the Fed on track with its rate hike agenda in May.

M&A performance in April was mixed, as most deals progressed towards closing, while other deals experienced setbacks. Most notably, Activision’s $74 billion acquisition by Microsoft was rejected by the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which claimed the acquisition would give Microsoft a dominant position in the nascent cloud gaming market. Microsoft made numerous assurances to the CMA to assuage its concerns, including a commitment to make current and future Activision titles available on competing cloud gaming services. Microsoft and Activision are appealing the CMA’s decision. Despite this, other deals did close in April, including the $6 billion cash and stock acquisition of gold miner Yamana by Pan American Silver and Agnico Eagle Mines, as well as the $2 billion acquisition of diabetes drugmaker Provention Bio by Sanofi. New deals announced in April, include Emerson Electric’s acquisition of National Instruments for $60 cash per share, or $8 billion, and Merck’s acquisition of Prometheus Biosciences for $200 cash per share, or about $10 billion.

The convertible market declined slightly in April, as fears of a recession, continued rising interest rates and cautious guidance weighed on markets. Issuance continued to trickle in, but April is typically a slow month in the convertible primary market as companies announce earnings. We have continued to see companies buying back convertibles in a transaction that is accretive to earnings and positive for the credit. This dynamic has helped some convertible securities.

The current opportunity in convertibles continues to come from fixed income equivalent issues that are trading at attractive yields to maturity in excess of our long term expected return. These are often convertibles within a few years of maturity that we expect to accrete to par over that time. While this is not the profile we have focused on historically, we find it to be attractive for the fund in this environment. These convertibles should have limited downside from here and we expect them to outperform equities in a flat, down, or volatile market.