📊 Weekly Summary
Hi there,
Here are this week's developments across global markets and finance:
Wall Street's carry trade is having its best run in decades, hedge funds are dumping US tech at a record pace, and retail traders have all but abandoned the Magnificent Seven. Private capital is missing out on the IPO boom, PE firms are sitting on a record pile of ‘zombie fund’ assets.
Elsewhere, developed market debt is set to hit a record $76 trillion, the UK stock market is losing over $2B a week to takeovers, and financial services is now the top target for activist campaigns. In Asia, Hong Kong's listing boom is headed for a six-year high.
Let's dive in.
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📈 Recent Finance News
Wall Street's carry trade is having its best run in decades: Muted volatility has investors piling in, with one basket up 18% this year (YF)
Developed market debt is set to hit a record $76 trillion: Shocks and spending pressures keep mounting across major economies (RT)
PE firms are sitting on a record pile of ‘zombie fund’ assets: $348.5B is stuck in funds a decade or older, 3.5x the 2015 level, with no exit in sight (MSN)
Financial services is now the top target for activist campaigns: The sector drew ~19% of 2026 campaigns, just behind tech (HL)
Private capital is missing out on the IPO and deal boom: Alternative asset managers had little exposure to SpaceX and other blockbuster listings (YF)
Hedge funds are dumping US tech stocks at a record pace: Goldman's prime desk saw net selling in 6 of the last 8 weeks (YF)
Retail traders have all but abandoned the Magnificent Seven: Their share of trading volume hit a four-year low as money rotates into semiconductors (TR)
US Treasury is putting hedge funds on notice over ‘tax alpha’ strategies: Over $90B has flowed in since 2025 (HW)
The UK stock market is losing over $2B a week to takeovers: Cumulative deal value has topped $60B, with Mitie's $4.2B sale the latest to go (CNBC)
Hong Kong's listing boom is headed for a six-year high: 87 new listings raised HK$346B in H1, up 98% year-on-year on AI-linked IPOs (TS)
Hong Kong traders are fighting to keep their lunch break: The exchange is weighing its first trading-hours extension in over a decade (TS)
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🔍 Newly Released Reports
Bond Markets: Middle East Concerns & Softer U.S. Inflation (LBBW)
The New Role of Geopolitical Risk in Bond Investing (Barings)
Energy Demand, Supply & the Strait of Hormuz (Apollo)
How Accounting Firms Can Grow Through M&A (BDO)
Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Finance (CFA)
Embracing the Volatility Paradox (Goldman Sachs)
Building LT Portfolios via Private Markets (Meketa)
Private Enterprise Barometer Pulse 2026 (KPMG)
Mid-Year Outlook: Middle-East M&A (PwC)
Life and Health Insurance M&A (Milliman)
Global Wealth Investment Playbook (KKR)
US Private M&A Report (HSFK)
May Merger Monthly (EY)
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🤝 M&A Activity
Prologis secured Segro's board support for cash-and-share offer (CB)
Deal Value: $18.8B
Brookfield to acquire battery storage developer Aypa Power (GNW)
Deal Value: $7B
Platinum Equity nears deal for Nestlé's European water business (GBF)
Potential Deal Value: $5.7B
Blackstone, Apollo and KKR secured stake in five Williams power plants (FP)
Deal Value: $5.34B
John Paulson-backed NovaGold will have ownership of Donlin Gold project (BNN)
Deal Value: $4.2B
CD&R-backed OCS Group agreed to acquire rival Mitie Group (TG)
Deal Value: $4.1B
Penske Corp and Mitsui offered to buy out Penske Automotive Group (RT)
Potential Deal Value: $3.8B
German food company Intersnack acquires Utz Brands (YF)
Deal Value: $2.9B
Spanish utility Iberdrola will buy a stake in Finland's Caruna Group (IBD)
Deal Value: $2.3B
Amit Bhatia is in talks for a stake in Liverpool FC (IWF)
Potential Deal Value: $1.8B
That wraps up this week’s insights. More coming your way next week.
PE Bro
P.S. With zombie funds on the rise, I thought it was worth revisiting a post I wrote on the topic a while ago. Read it here and let me know what you think!
