Institutional Investor (March 22)
“In 2017, private equity and private debt funds raised $560 billion, 10 percent above what was raised the year before. Real estate investors, however, got the message that valuations may be stretched. Fund raising for property declined to a level last seen in 2013.”
Tags: Debt, Fund raising, Funds, Investors, Private equity, Property, Real estate, Stretched, Valuations
Institutional Investor (July 6)
“For private equity managers, it is a tale of two markets. Fundraising is going through the roof, but valuations are sky-high and exits are on the decline—a sign, market observers say, that the private equity market is nearing the end of its cycle, which could be bad news for managers looking to put new capital to work.”
Tags: Capital, Cycle, Exits, Fundraising, Managers, Markets, Private equity, Sky-high, Valuations
The Economist (November 28)
We may be witnessing “the rise and fall of the unicorns” as unlisted technology companies begin to learn that valuations don’t always go up. “Technology companies are unlikely to experience a meltdown as severe as the housing crisis, but an industry that only yesterday was all promise and optimism is showing signs of cooling.”
Tags: Housing crisis, Meltdown, Optimism, Technology, Unicorns, Unlisted, Valuations
Washington Post (August 10)
“Matters are not as clear as is often suggested regarding short-term-driven ‘quarterly capitalism.’” The “most enthusiastic champions of long-termism” are often the “managements of companies that are dissipating the most value, such as General Motors before it needed to be bailed out.” Long-termism can also lead to short-term excesses, such as “market participants who willingly place huge valuations on many Silicon Valley companies that lack any profits and have little revenue.”
Tags: GM, Long-termism, Profits, Quarterly capitalism, Revenue, Short term, Silicon Valley, Valuations
Institutional Investor (July 28)
“CSR reporting is on the rise, and so is its impact. More companies are publishing corporate social and sustainability reports on their operations amid fresh evidence that transparency enhances valuations.”
Tags: CSR, Evidence, Impact, Operations, Reporting, Sustainability, Transparency, Valuations
Bloomberg (June 17)
“It’s no longer a question of whether China’s stock-market rally is a bubble, but when the bubble will burst That’s the refrain from a growing number of analysts as valuations climb to levels that by some measures already exceed the peak of China’s last equity mania in 2007.”
Tags: Analysts, Bubble, China, Equity, Rally, Stock market, Valuations
Institutional Investor (August Issue)
“Facing an image problem,” many Chinese companies are retreating from U.S. exchanges. “Frustrated by low valuations and investor skepticism, Chinese companies are increasingly considering delisting from U.S. stock exchanges.” Since 2009, 24 Chinese companies have delisted, often going private, from the NYSE and Nasdaq. Much investor skepticism is directed at companies that utilized reverse mergers to attain their listing, thereby avoiding the scrutiny that would accompany a normal IPO, but the skepticism has tainted even Chinese companies with solid financials.
Tags: China, Companies, Delisting, Image, Investors, IPO, Listing, Nasdaq, NYSE, Private, Reverse mergers, Scrutiny, Skepticism, Stock exchanges, U.S., Valuations
Bloomberg (February 8, 2012)
Larry Fink, the CEO of the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock Inc. (BLK), has provocative advice for investors. He’s bullish on the economic outlook and urges investors to take advantage of ultra-low equity valuations. According to Bloomberg, Fink believes “investors should have 100 percent of investments in equities because of valuations and higher returns than bonds.”
Tags: BlackRock, Bonds, Bullish, Equities, Larry Fink, Outlook, Valuations
Wall Street Journal (August 8)
The sky is not falling according to Burton G. Malkiel, a former Princeton professor and author of “A Random Walk Down Wall Street.” In the U.S., “the headwinds restraining the economy are many” and further complications arise because “Europe has not really fixed its economic problems.” Still, Malkiel doesn’t believe this is a good time to sell. Valuations are likely to climb in the future. Stocks are currently cheap in terms of P/E ratios and the results of many U.S. corporations are driven less by what happens in Japan, Europe and the U.S., than by sales in emerging markets. “My advice for investors is to stay the course.”
