January 2024 Quarterly Insights

Chief Market Strategist David Zervos says the most recent FOMC meeting, and resulting Fed commentary, suggests that the risk of overtightening is in balance with the risk of being too accommodative.

Fewer activist hedge funds have recently used ESG themes as a wedge to extract concessions from target companies given the challenge of aligning a fund’s investment horizon with what could be a much longer timeline for ESG focused themes.

There is a burgeoning trend of multinational corporations (“MNC”) actively restructuring their China businesses through any number of divestitures and / or carve-outs to realign their balance sheets and maximize shareholder value.

After two years of limited IPO activity, we are cautiously optimistic about 2024. 

Issuers should take advantage of strong technicals and robust investor demand to pursue a variety of opportunistic transactions including refinancings, repricings, and dividend deals.

Companies that require new capital to refinance upcoming debt maturities, fund ongoing business, and/or fund incremental growth should consider raising “hybrid” capital in the form of structured/preferred equity as an alternative to raising secured debt.

Companies in need of new capital that are evaluating a Double Dip transaction should consider whether structuring the Double Dip as a “Pari Plus” financing is a viable alternative.

he Global Gas and LNG markets will start normalizing after 2024 with loose market conditions likely starting in 2026 and persisting until the end of the decade.