Investments
Types of investments
Top Story
Chipmaker AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) has unveiled a range of innovative AI solutions spanning from data centers to personal computers. The AMD Instinct MI300 Series features data center AI accelerators, while the ROCm 6 open software stack introduces new features supporting Large Language Models (LLMs). Additionally, the Ryzen 8040 Series processors come equipped with Ryzen AI capabilities.
Get Daily Updates
Subscribe to DailyAlts Today to get Alternative Investment news, insight, and commentary delivered straight to your inbox every day.
More Stories on Investments
Fintech: The Reserve Bank of Australia Sees Little Need for Libra Project
The Reserve Bank of Australia is the latest central bank to suggest that the Libra cryptocurrency project will not work. It also questioned the viability of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), which have previously received support from central bankers like Mark Carney and Christine Lagarde.
Hedge Funds: Bain to Raise Up To $7 Billion For New Long-Only, Public Equities Fund
Bain to Raise Up To $7 Billion For New Long-Only, Public Equities Fund. Alternatives investments specialist Bain Capital will be less ‘alternative’ soon after its proposed fundraise. The new fund will be overseen by Josh Ross, who has been running the firm’s public equities group since 2017.
Hedge Fund Citadel Distances Itself from Ex-Employee over Illegal Trading
Hedge fund Citadel issued a statement last week that distanced itself from a former trader who profited from non-public information. Michael Mindlin worked for Citadel between June 2016 and June 2018. However, U.S. regulators just fined him for illegally profiting from tips tied to the Affordable Healthcare Act in 2014. At the time, Mindlin worked for Stelliam Investment Management.
Garry Kasparov on Artificial Intelligence: It Won’t Destroy Mankind
Garry Kasparov, the great chess grandmaster, said that AI won’t destroy, let alone replace, mankind. His comments came over the weekend in an interview with Gerry Baker of Fox Business.
Fintech: California Pushes New Fintech Regulations
The State of California could soon overhaul the regulatory oversight of financial technology companies. Governor Gavin Newsom released details of his 2020-2021 budget. Inside, the proposal includes a provision to make the California Department of Business Oversight as the regulator of fintech companies. The agency would also regulate debt collectors, credit reporting agencies, and other firms tied to consumer finance.
Hedge Fund PointState Capital Blocks Investors from Withdrawing Cash in Full
PointState Capital has moved to stop investors from pulling all of their capital in full. According to an investor letter seen by Bloomberg, the company will only allow recent redemption requests to obtain 88% back in cash. The remaining 12% will be distributed as portfolio shares for new vehicles that have “somewhat limited liquidity.”
Venture Capital: What the IPO Market Needs Now – To Wake Up
Casper Sleep, the online mattress retailer, has filed for its initial public offering. According to an SEC filing, the company has planned an offering at $100 million. Morgan Stanley, Jeffries Financial Group, and Goldman Sachs are leading the share sale.
Amazon Tells Users to Uninstall Fintech Browser Honey Over Security Issues
The browser extension Honey just lost a huge source of opportunity. Just weeks after PayPal purchased the browser extension for $4 billion, Amazon has told customers to uninstall it. The e-commerce raised questions about consumer privacy and said that the extension represented a “security issue.”
ETF Challenger WisdomTree Wants to Launch a Stablecoin
WisdomTree is pushing to launch a regulated cryptocurrency in the U.S. markets. The firm’s stablecoin would be pegged against a basket of assets – which could include government debt, the U.S. dollar or even gold.
Pitchbook: Private Equity Firms Topped $300 Billion in Fundraising Last Year
Pitchbook data reveals that private equity firms shattered fundraising records last year as investors seek alternatives to traditional markets. A new report shows that PE shops raised more than $300 million last year. That figure is 52% higher than the $198 billion raised in 2018. It also shatters the previous record of $241 billion from 2016, Pitchbook says.
BlackRock Joins Climate Action 100+
Climate Action 100+, an investor network that is pushing for disclosures into carbon emissions, has inked BlackRock to its roster. The three-year-old investor group is pushing for commitments to reduce fossil fuel-related emissions. The world’s largest asset manager joins firms like CalPERS, Allianz, and UBS Asset Management.
Private Equity: TPG to Launch Strategic Capital Fund
TPG has announced plans to launch a new strategic fund that emphasizes stakes in public companies. The activist bend operates on a different approach. Rather than taking the hostile approach of corporate raiders, TPG aims to mirror Berkshire Hathaway.
Alternative Investments: Sen. Ron Wyden Dismisses Ethos’ Response to .org Domain Sale
The protest over the sudden and non-transparent sale of the .org domain to an obscure private equity firm for $1.35 billion has three Democratic Senators embroiled in it. Last month, U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., with Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., questioned whether nonprofit groups, free speech, and internet users would be harmed selling control of .org domains to Ethos Capital, a private equity firm.
Private Equity: Sustainability Ratings Provider EcoVadis Gets $200 Million Investment
The Environmental-Social-Governance (ESG) space commands a lot of investing heft these days. That much is evident from the confidence placed by CVC Growth Partners in EcoVadis, a provider of sustainability ratings for global supply chains. CVC’s investment of approximately $200 million is validation of its view that ESG is extremely important to business success over the long term.
Artificial Intelligence: Warner Bros Will Use AI to Decide Which Films to Make
Artificial intelligence gets a foothold in Hollywood. Warner Bros has signed on L.A-based startup Cinelytic to use the latter’s AI-based film management system, according to an exclusive from The Hollywood Reporter.
Cinelytic’s system will enable the studio to make quicker and more data-driven decisions on which films to put on the production floors.
Private Equity: Nuveen Combines Two Owned Entities to Form a $21B Private Capital Platform
Nuveen has created a unique direct access private capital platform by bringing together its private equity and junior capital group with Churchill Asset Management, its middle-market senior loan and unitranche financing business. for 2018 at the USA M&A Atlas Awards.
The new platform, to be known as Churchill, would manage over 250 portfolio investments and more than 150 limited partner investments in middle market private equity funds. It would be a one stop capital source for private equity firms and institutional investors.
Alternative Investments: CalPERS May Foray Into Private Debt
CalPERS, the largest pension fund in the country, may invest in private debt to boost returns. The fund may also change its investment policy on private debt on the initiative of Chief Investment Officer Ben Meng. Meng would certainly be aware that other funds are likely raking in returns as high as 10% on private debt.
The DailyAlts Playbook – “Clown Airplanes”, Russian and Chinese-focused funds, AQR staff cuts, and Brexit Beginnings – January 10, 2020
Today, the DailyAlts Playbook talks “Clown Airplanes”, Russian and Chinese-focused funds, AQR staff cuts, Brexit Beginnings, and an offer for our new readers.
Alternative Investments: Venture Capital Joins PE in Solar Development – Mercom Capital Group Report
Mercom Capital Group reported that corporate funding for solar development topped $11.7 billion in 2019. That figure represented a sharp increase of more than 20% from the previous year. The consulting firm tracked funding last year from public markets, debt financing, venture capital, and private equity.
CrunchBase: VC Deal Volume in 2019 Doesn’t Quite Match 2018
CrunchBase says that between 2010 and 2019, roughly $1.5 trillion spilled into VC deals. The bulk of that figure came from an acceleration of deal-making over the last few years, the report says. The report states that deals came in at $322 billion in 2018, with a huge uptick in late-stage investment. CrunchBase expects that 2019 VC deal-making will total $294.8 billion, which would be the second-largest figure on record.
Artificial Intelligence: AI Can Detect Brain Cancer In Minutes With Patient Lying on The Operating Table
A new optical imaging technique used together with an artificial intelligence (or AI) algorithm accurately diagnoses the presence, or otherwise, of a brain tumor in under two minutes. New research published Monday in Nature Medicine said the AI-based diagnosis was 94.6% accurate compared to the 93.9% accuracy from the standard lab-based procedure.
Private Equity: Manulife Investment Management Closes $1.5 Billion PE Fund
Manulife Investment Management has closed $1.5 billion in commitments for a new fund, Manulife Private Equity Partners (MPEP). MPEP is the company’s first fund-of-funds product. It is part of the firm’s shift toward specialized asset management solutions for global investors.
ESG: Corporate Borrowers Beware; Banks Screening for ESG, Says Fitch
ESG bites into banks’ lending to corporates, says a report by Fitch Ratings.
Fitch Ratings fielded a survey in the third quarter of 2019 and received 182 responses from banks. The survey examined how environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations are being incorporated into banks’ risk, financing, and prudential supervision frameworks.
Fintech: Bond Bot Creator Katana Labs, Incubated at ING, is Spun Off
ING announced Tuesday the spin-off of Katana Labs – an in-house start-up nurtured at its ING Lab incubator.
ING Ventures, the venture capital arm of ING, will invest £ 1.5 million along with other investors in a £ 3 million funding round that will take the startup forward in its life as an independent fintech. ING Ventures is a € 300 million venture fund that makes minority investments in early-stage companies having a strategic relevance to ING.