BBC (January 28)
“Debt-ridden Chinese property giant Evergrande has been ordered to liquidate by a court in Hong Kong.” Evergrande initially “sent shockwaves through global financial markets” when it defaulted in 2021. Since then, it has remained “the poster child of China’s real estate crisis with over $325bn (£256bn) of liabilities.” The most recent court decision does not necessarily mean “Evergrande will go bust and collapse,” but it is expected “to send ripples through China’s financial markets at a time when authorities are trying to curb a stock market sell-off.”
Tags: 2021, China, Collapse, Court, Crisis, Debt-ridden, Defaulted, Evergrande, Financial markets, Hong Kong, Liabilities, Liquidate, Real estate, Ripples, Shockwaves
Washington Post (January 9)
“After rebounding sharply in 2021 from the depths of the pandemic, the global economy grew by 3 percent in 2022, dipped to a 2.6 percent rate last year and is expected to post a tepid 2.4 percent this year” according to the World Bank. “Those rates lag the 3.1 percent average for the decade of the 2010s.”
Tags: 2.4%, 2.6%, 2010s, 2021, 2022, 3.1%, 3%, Global economy, Lag, Pandemic, Rebounding, Tepid, World Bank
Time (October 12)
Of the Antarctica’s “162 ice shelves, 68 show significant shrinking between 1997 and 2021, while 29 grew, 62 didn’t change and three lost mass but not in a way scientists can say shows a significant trend” according to a new study. “All told, Antarctic ice shelves lost about 8.3 trillion tons (7.5 trillion metric tons) of ice in the 25-year period….That amounts to around 330 billion tons (300 billion metric tons) a year.”
Tags: 1997, 2021, Antarctica, Ice shelves, Mass, Scientists, Significant shrinking, Trend
Investment Week (May 18)
“Interest in ESG investing has waned among UK investors, with less than half now prioritising ESG investments over maximising returns.” A recent survey by Charles Schwab UK “found that since 2021, the number of investors who consider ESG when making new investments has fallen from 44% to 38%” while those placing sustainable investing over returns fell from 55% to 47%.
Tags: 2021, ESG investing, ESG investments, Interest, Investors, Returns, Schwab, Sustainable Returns, UK investors, Waned
The Guardian (January 1)
In 2004, “people shifted their attention, on average, every three minutes or so (including to interact with colleagues). When restricted to just computer activity, it was about 30 seconds quicker.” Eight years later, “the average time spent on any screen before switching was down to 74 seconds.” In 2021, that dropped to “just 47 seconds.”
Tags: 2004, 2021, 3 minutes, 47 seconds, 74 seconds, Attention, Colleagues, Computer, Interact, Restricted, Screen, Switching
Wall Street Journal (November 10)
“If Donald Trump announces he’s running for president again, the 2024 election is over.” He is “the Republican Party’s biggest loser” having “flopped in 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022.” Donald Trump “has led Republicans into one political fiasco after another.” Perhaps now that “Mr. Trump has botched the 2022 elections,” Republicans will finally be “sick and tired of losing.”
Tags: 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, Biggest loser, Botched, Election, Elections, Fiasco, Flopped, Losing, Republicans, Sick and tired, Trump
Institutional Investor (June 10)
“From 2006 to 2015, only four ESG shareholder proposals at companies in the Fortune 250 passed with majority votes. But in recent years, institutional interest in ESG proposals has undergone a dramatic transformation: From 2016 to 2021, 41 ESG shareholder proposals passed.” With ESG proposal now regularly passing, we’ve reached “a milestone for ESG integration.”
Tags: 2006, 2015, 2016, 2021, ESG, Fortune 250, Majority votes, Milestone, Passing, Proposals, Shareholder
Investment Week (April 13)
“2021 was a stand-out year for environmental finance, as COP26, a new US administration, and rapid growth in industry collaboration drove climate action and commitments across businesses and the asset management industry.” Morningstar found that “the number of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with a climate-focused mandate grew to 860 at the end of last year… and assets in the space doubled to $408bn.”
Tags: 2021, Asset management, Assets, Businesses, Climate action, Collaboration, Commitments, COP26, Environmental finance, ETFs, Mandate, Morningstar, Mutual funds, Rapid growth, Stand-out, U.S.
Institutional Investor (April 7)
“Companies that have gone public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company have underperformed the S&P 500 by eighty percentage points since 2018.” Indeed, “at no time during the recent SPAC boom—except for a few days in early 2021—did these new listings beat the S&P.”
WARC (March Issue)
“The cost of search, social and retail media advertising grew by double digits in the final three months of 2021…. Search cost-per-click (CPC) saw the largest rise, increasing by 23% year on year to $0.71 in Q4 2021.” Moreover, the trend in rising “advertising spend and costs looks likely to continue in 2022.”
Tags: 2021, 2022, Advertising, Cost, CPC, Double digits, Media, Q4, Retail, Search, Social, Spend, Trend
