logo
Lazard hires BofA banker to strengthen financial sponsors division, source says

Lazard hires BofA banker to strengthen financial sponsors division, source says

Reuters03-07-2025
July 3 (Reuters) - Investment bank Lazard (LAZ.N), opens new tab has hired Bank of America's (BAC.N), opens new tab Bill Hart to lead their financial sponsors division's coverage focused on West Coast clients, a person familiar with the move said on Thursday.
Hart, who has over a decade of working experience with financial sponsors, will oversee large and mid-cap sponsors at the investment bank starting this fall season, the person said.
He is currently the managing director for financial sponsors - private equity firms and other buy-side funds - at Bank of America's wealth management and investment division.
The move is in line with Lazard's efforts to bulk up their activity involving buyout firms and alternative asset managers as it looks to increase its share in private capital.
However, Lazard CEO Peter Orszag had warned in his post-earnings conference call last quarter that economic uncertainty could keep dealmaking in check.
In 2024, Lazard hired Adam Cady from Bank of America for North America's large-cap financial sponsor coverage and Courtney Haydon from Guggenheim Securities for dealmaking involving private equity firms and alternative asset managers.
The investment bank also hired former Citigroup dealmaker Ali Syed to cover sovereign wealth funds and pension funds last year.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

US tech-stock stumble shows vulnerability in AI trade
US tech-stock stumble shows vulnerability in AI trade

Reuters

time5 minutes ago

  • Reuters

US tech-stock stumble shows vulnerability in AI trade

NEW YORK, Aug 20 (Reuters) - U.S. technology shares are showing signs of vulnerability after a massive run, which has some investors pointing to overdone AI-driven gains while funds have taken steps to position away from the high-flying sector. Investors are looking to de-risk portfolios or lock in profits during a seasonally difficult period for stocks. Friday's looming speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the annual Jackson Hole symposium is creating caution, investors said, with the potential for volatility if his comments fail to meet growing market expectations that the central bank is poised to cut interest rates. "When you have overcrowding and you have had such strong performance, it doesn't take much to see an unwind of that," said Keith Lerner, co-chief investment officer at Truist Advisory Services. "At the same time this week, everyone is waiting for the Fed, and there is repositioning ahead of that." The heavyweight S&P 500 tech sector (.SPLRCT), opens new tab fell sharply for a second consecutive session on Wednesday, putting its decline on the week at about 2.5%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab was off about 2% for the week. Shares of some highflyers, including Nvidia Corp(NVDA.O), opens new tab and Palantir Technologies (PLTR.O), opens new tab, were getting hit particularly hard. The pullback comes after a huge rally in which the tech sector soared over 50% through last week since the market's low for the year in April. That easily topped the 29% gain of the broader S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab during that period and drove up valuations of tech stocks to lofty levels. Investors cited wariness about the artificial intelligence trade, which has been a key driver of tech stocks and the broader market as indexes have soared to record highs this year. Shares of Nvidia, the semiconductor giant that has symbolized the AI trade, have gained about 30% this year while shares of AI-focused data and analytics firm Palantir have roughly doubled year-to-date. Indeed, the tech sector's price-to-earnings ratio recently reached about 30 times expected earnings for the next 12 months, its highest level in a year, according to LSEG Datastream, while tech's share of the overall S&P 500's market value is nearly its highest since 2000. Recent cautionary signs included a study from researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that found that 95% of organizations are getting no return on AI investments, as well as comments by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who told tech news website the Verge last week that investors may be getting overexcited about AI. Since last week, some AI-linked shares have pulled back sharply: Nvidia has dropped about 5% while shares of Palantir have slumped some 16%. In Europe, stocks of so-called AI adopters have been under pressure over concerns over how powerful new AI models could disrupt the software sector. Still, some investors said, the caution is unlikely to be a sign that enthusiasm over AI is fizzling. 'These are price corrections," said Andrew Almeida, director of investments at financial planning network XYPN. "But if you look at the big picture, it's clear that more people will be investing more dollars in AI infrastructure. This is certainly not a 'reckoning' with the AI theme." Investors also could be paring back their stock exposure during a traditionally rocky period for equities. August and September rank as the worst-performing months on average for the S&P 500 over the past 35 years, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac. "Valuations were stretched, these names have not taken a breather, and we're going into a tougher season for stocks," said King Lip, chief strategist at Baker Avenue Wealth Management. Other sectors such as consumer staples (.SPLRCS), opens new tab, healthcare (.SPXHC), opens new tab and financials (.SPSY), opens new tab were up on the week, while relative strength for the equal-weight S&P 500 (.SPXEW), opens new tab signaled to some investors a possible start of broadening of gains beyond the massive tech stocks that have led indexes higher. Powell's upcoming speech comes as Fed fund futures on Wednesday were indicating an 84% chance that the central bank will cut rates at its next meeting on September 16-17. Investors will be watching to see if Powell gives any indication that the central bank is on track for such a move or if he pushes back on the market's expectation for easing, which could spark volatility. Tech stocks tend to carry higher valuations which could make them sensitive to higher-than-expected interest rates going forward. "There are a lot of people who have overweighted tech, and it has worked for them," said Chuck Carlson, chief executive officer at Horizon Investment Services. "They don't want to get caught on the wrong side of that if in fact, the Fed doesn't do anything in September. So I think that is also causing (investors) to maybe not necessarily get out of tech, but to reduce the overweight a little bit."

Indiana's BP refinery restarts after severe flooding
Indiana's BP refinery restarts after severe flooding

Reuters

time5 minutes ago

  • Reuters

Indiana's BP refinery restarts after severe flooding

NEW YORK, Aug 20 (Reuters) - BP's (BP.L), opens new tab 440,000-bpd refinery in Whiting, Indiana, was in the process of restarting after flooding disrupted its operations earlier this week, industry monitor IIR said on Wednesday, adding the units would take several days to ramp up. The facility aims to be back running at full rates by early next week, IIR said. The refinery reported flaring due to flooding caused by a severe thunderstorm. Materials will continue to be burned in the flares as needed to maintain safe operations, BP said in a social media post on Wednesday, adding that response and operations teams have been on site since Monday evening. BP declined to comment on the refinery's restart timeline. The Whiting refinery, the largest in the U.S. Midwest, produces a wide range of liquid fuels, including gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Consumers in the Great Lakes region including in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin and Illinois will likely see retail gasoline prices rise 15 to 30 cents a gallon due to disruption at the Whiting refinery, while those in Chicago might see prices surge 20 to 50 cents, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a social media post on Wednesday.

Google spotlights AI over hardware upgrades in unveiling new smartphones
Google spotlights AI over hardware upgrades in unveiling new smartphones

Reuters

time5 minutes ago

  • Reuters

Google spotlights AI over hardware upgrades in unveiling new smartphones

Aug 20 (Reuters) - Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google introduced on Wednesday a new lineup of Pixel smartphones and gadgets, intensifying its efforts to embed artificial intelligence across a wide ecosystem of products. The products were launched at the annual "Made by Google" event held in New York that diverged from its typical format to emphasize mainstream consumer appeal over technical details. Talk show host Jimmy Fallon, the Jonas Brothers and other celebrities featured heavily across the presentation, as they helped demonstrate real-world applications of Google's AI integrations into the hardware. As for the hardware itself, the upgrades were comparatively modest. "There has been a lot of hype about (AI in phones) and frankly a lot of broken promises too, but Gemini is the real deal," said Rick Osterloh, Google's senior vice president of devices and services, referring to Google's AI chatbot and model. At its developer conference in June, iPhone maker Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab toned down its AI promises a year after it failed to deliver AI upgrades to key products such as Siri. Apple is expected to unveil its new line of iPhones this autumn. While Google's hardware upgrades were modest compared with its bold refresh in 2024, the company maintained its forward progress on its stated ambition to develop a universal AI assistant. "We've got the best models, we've got the best AI assistant, and it means this can just unlock so much helpfulness on your phone," Osterloh said. New AI features rolling out with the Pixel 10 lineup include a "coach" in the camera app to help users take better pictures and an assistant that displays relevant information without a user's explicit request, such as showing a flight confirmation email when they call an airline. Employees also demoed integrations of AI features earlier unveiled at Google's developer conference in May, such as a real-time language translation function for phone calls. The exteriors of the phones remain largely the same, though Google added a telephoto lens on the base model to bring it in line with the cameras on its pricier units. Prices, starting at $799 for the base unit and $1,799 for the foldable model, remained flat despite concerns earlier this year that some smartphones could experience drastic price hikes due to U.S. tariffs. "A lot of the stuff they showed today would probably run almost exactly the same way on last year's hardware. Their point is it's not about just the hardware anymore," said Bob O'Donnell, chief analyst at Technalysis Research. Google's annual hardware event has traditionally served as a way for the company to show off to device makers and software developers the potential of Android, a key strategic component to battling competition from Apple, which has its own operating system for its iPhones. Though Google develops the Android operating system underlying more than 80% of smartphones worldwide, its Pixel line generates only a fraction of the sales of other firms selling Android-powered phones, such as Samsung ( opens new tab and Xiaomi ( opens new tab. Analysts told Reuters this year's event appeared to be an attempt by Google to broaden the appeal of Pixel beyond its traditional base. "Last year there was such a jump in the hardware, from a design and feature perspective," said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Creative Strategies. "This feels more like a big push from a marketing perspective." Google's AI push has not yet translated to a material improvement in market share: for the second quarter, Google held 1.1% of the worldwide smartphone market, up from 0.9% one year ago, according to IDC. In the United States, Pixel's biggest market in terms of shipments, the share slid to 4.3% from 4.5% in that same time period, according to IDC. Google has so far limited its focus to the high-end market. Nearly three-quarters of Pixel shipments occurred in the United States, Japan and UK, according to research firm IDC. On Wednesday, the company announced it would begin selling the Pixel devices in Mexico for the first time. Google's limited geographical presence with Pixel has inhibited its ability to amass market share, analysts told Reuters. "I hope this is the start of expanding their channel presence," Milanesi said. "The opportunity of the addressable market they can reach is still what is kind of holding Google back." The Pixel 10, as well as the souped-up Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL, will be available later this month, while the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is slated to ship in October. All the Pixel phones are equipped with Google's latest mobile processor, Tensor G5, and for the first time, feature a magnetic charging technology called Pixelsnap that is reminiscent of the MagSafe functionality on Apple's iPhones. Google unveiled a series of Pixelsnap chargers, cases and phone stands to accompany the launch. Google also announced new versions of its smartwatch, the Pixel Watch 4, and its cheaper Pixel Buds 2a wireless earbuds, though it did not update the Pixel Buds Pro 2 besides announcing a new color and upcoming device-specific software upgrades.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store