Capital MarketsInvestment Management
August 9, 2023

Gear Shift: Cash Investment Managers Eying Eventual Rate Cuts

With the end of Fed rate hikes in view, some managers are now talking about extending investment duration. When 2023 began, corporate cash investment teams were battening down the hatches, keeping maturities very short in anticipation of more interest rate hikes. Almost eight months later, the discussion has shifted to when the Fed might start cutting rates, leading to a flatter and eventually steeper yield curve, opening the door to extending duration. “Short-term rates may exceed or be more optimal than investing…
BankingCapital MarketsTechnology
June 22, 2023

Best of NeuGroup Insights, First Half of 2023

Technology, the banking crisis and uncertainty about interest rates created challenges and opportunities for treasury, FP&A and other finance teams, reflected in these top-10 posts, which include a podcast and a video. Telling topics. The 10 most popular posts from NeuGroup Insights from the first half of 2023 provide a clear window into how finance teams throughout the Office of the CFO—such as treasury and FP&A—have stepped up this year and managed new, complex risks posed by the banking crisis…
Capital Markets
June 14, 2023

High Rates Boost Allure of Upgrades to Investment Grade Ratings

Companies on the cusp of IG may want to push for an upgrade and sacrifice some flexibility amid higher interest rates. The surge in interest rates to 15-year highs has treasury teams at companies with credit ratings on the brink of investment grade (IG) grappling with an important decision: Should they push to achieve IG status or maintain the financing flexibility of being just below IG—an easier choice when Fed Funds rates were near 0% vs. 5% today. One treasurer…
Capital MarketsRisk Management
April 6, 2023

Volatile Rates Spark Corporate Interest in Pre-Issuance Hedging

Multiple members have executed pre-issuance hedges in recent weeks, with many more strongly considering them. Extreme volatility in interest rates is fueling strong interest in pre-issuance hedging among NeuGroup members who want to mitigate risk—especially those who plan to issue fixed-rate debt in 2023. At the first-half meeting of NeuGroup for Capital Markets sponsored by Chatham Financial and Loop Capital Markets, members and representatives from Chatham agreed that this is an opportune time for companies to consider pre-issuance hedging, particularly using forward-starting swaps.…
Capital MarketsDiversity & Inclusion
March 9, 2023

Win-win: Prioritizing D&I Firms for Share Repurchase Programs

Many NeuGroup members say diverse-owned firms excel at open market share repurchases. A long-simmering debate over share repurchases is heating up, generating headlines featuring President Biden and Warren Buffett. But there is no debating that stock buybacks remain a hugely significant tool for corporate capital allocation: they’re projected to exceed $1 trillion in 2023. Bigger insight: Comments about buybacks by NeuGroup members at recent meetings also reveal growing agreement that diverse-owned banks and brokerage firms are distinguishing themselves on share repurchases, providing treasury teams with top-rate…
Capital MarketsESG
February 23, 2023

How GM Treasury Drives the Company to a Sustainable Future

GM’s aims for carbon neutrality by 2040 will rely on treasury’s contributions—from acquisitions to green bonds. Treasury at General Motors is playing an active role and working closely with the business as the automaker moves away from producing vehicles with internal combustion engines (ICE) and pushes deeper into manufacturing electric vehicles (EVs). Speaking at the pilot session of NeuGroup for Auto and Transportation, GM assistant treasurer Gustavo Vello described how treasury is helping the automaker achieve its strategic goals. Gustavo…
Capital MarketsCash InvestmentsDiversity & InclusionThe NeuGroup Insights Interview
February 23, 2023

Empowering Diversity in Finance: Views From Two Women Bank Execs

Loop Capital’s Sidney Dillard and Sobani Warner of Siebert Williams Shank discuss their careers, working at Black-owned firms, the role of D&I coordinators and more. Many multinational corporations in recent years have increased their commitment to hiring banks, brokerage firms and asset managers that are owned by members of minority groups—so-called diverse-owned firms. NeuGroup is committed to learning and sharing more about these firms, the people who run them and the value they bring to corporates in capital markets transactions…
Capital MarketsInvestment Management
February 16, 2023

Strengthening Bonds With Fixed-Income Investors Pays Dividends

A strong commitment to fixed-income investor relations in good times helps one company prepare for rough patches. Say “investor relations” and most people immediately think of equity investors. But not the director of capital markets at a large manufacturer that has more than $100 billion outstanding in unsecured, asset-backed and convertible debt—and who has two team members dedicated solely to fixed-income investor relations (IR). At a fall meeting of NeuGroup for Capital Markets sponsored by Deutsche Bank, the director described his company’s…
Capital MarketsD&IInvestment Management
February 2, 2023

Reaching Out: Treasury Leads Engagement With Diverse-owned Firms

NeuGroup research reveals treasury is the primary driver of greater engagement with minority-owned banks, brokers and asset managers.  As chief procurer of financial services, treasury is at the epicenter of a complex ecosystem of financial partners, from banks to brokers to pension and cash investment managers. According to NeuGroup’s D&I Financing and Asset Management Survey, treasury is not only seeking greater engagement with minority-owned firms but is the driving force behind companies’ efforts to build more expansive financial relationships with these…
Capital MarketsTechnologyThe NeuGroup Insights Interview
February 2, 2023

Tech in the Spotlight: The Outlook for Financing Growth in 2023

Capital markets insights from Bank of the West Head of Technology Banking Andreas Bubenzer-Paim. If you only read the headlines, you might think that every technology company in the world is cutting jobs. But Andreas Bubenzer-Paim, Managing Director and Head of Technology Banking at Bank of the West, knows that layoffs by giants like Alphabet, Microsoft, IBM and other mega-caps are only part of a tech sector landscape which includes thousands of smaller, high-growth tech firms—many still private—that are actively hiring, not…