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23 minutes ago
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Hong Kong Strikes Back: Billion-Dollar Insurers Face Pressure to Pull Capital Out of Singapore
Hong Kong regulators are dialing up quiet pressure on life insurers like AIA Group Ltd. (AIAGF) to shift investment decision-making back homeafter years of watching it gradually migrate to Singapore. People familiar with the situation say the Hong Kong Insurance Authority (HKIA) began engaging with insurers in early 2024, concerned about growing talent drain and concentrated capital risk as more firms favored Singapore's tax perks and flexible fund structures. While the relocations were allowed, the regulator has become increasingly active behind the scenesrequesting more visibility into where and how investment decisions are made. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 6 Warning Sign with AAIGF. At the center of this capital tug-of-war is AIA's Singapore-based unit, AIA Investment Management Private Ltd., which managed $139 billion at the end of 2024. The VCC structure gave it an operational edge, allowing AIA to shift global equities and private equity strategies south while keeping pensions anchored in Hong Kong. Insiders say high-level investment principles still come from Hong Kong, but it's the Singapore team that selects funds and talks to managers. The HKIA, invoking a guideline known as GL14, has begun examining whether ultimate mandate control remains in the cityand has privately discouraged at least one insurer from moving assets into Singapore's structures. There's no law forcing insurers to run portfolios from Hong Kong. But the HKIA has made its message clear: asset concentration overseas could raise red flags, especially if capital can't move easily in a crisis. Meanwhile, Singapore's Monetary Authority has defended the city-state's growth, attributing it to global demand and operational flexibility, not jurisdiction shopping. Still, with Hong Kong's regional HQ count dropping from 1,457 to 1,410 between 2021 and 2024, and Singapore gaining momentum, the pressure may be just beginning. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Benchmark Co. Maintains Buy Rating on ACM Research (ACMR) Stock
ACM Research, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACMR) is one of the Most Undervalued Semiconductor Stocks to Buy According to Analysts. On June 11, Benchmark Co. analyst Mark Miller maintained a 'Buy' rating on the company's stock and set a price objective of $38.00. The analyst's rating is backed by a combination of factors, which include significant market opportunities and strategic geographic expansion. ACM Research, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACMR)'s commitment to expanding presence in the US and Korea, together with established operations in Europe, places it for growth. Close-up of a worker wearing protective gear inspecting a silicon wafer in a laboratory. Furthermore, it also tends to benefit from the majority ownership in ACM Shanghai, which happens to be financially rewarding via dividends. The analyst believes that, with a healthy outlook for shipment growth in 2025 as well as a long-term sales model, ACM Research, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACMR) exhibits robust potential for success. ACM Research, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACMR) posted revenues of $172.3 million in Q1 2025, up 13.2%, showcasing increased sales of single wafer cleaning, Tahoe and semi-critical cleaning equipment and ECP (front-end and packaging), furnace, and other technologies. While we acknowledge the potential of ACMR as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 13 Cheap AI Stocks to Buy According to Analysts and 11 Unstoppable Growth Stocks to Invest in Now Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
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23 minutes ago
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High-grade US firms finance new M&A with more equity and cash, less debt
By Matt Tracy (Reuters) -Top-rated U.S. companies have financed their acquisitions mostly with equity and cash instead of debt this year, and could continue doing so even as M&A activity and hopes of interest rate cuts rise, bankers and investors said. High debt costs and worries of credit-rating downgrades for taking on debt made funding acquisitions with cash and stock with sky-high valuations more compelling, they said. Last week, rail operator Union Pacific announced an $85-billion deal to acquire Norfolk Southern, and analysts expect it to finance the deal mostly with stock, some cash, and $15 billion to $20 billion of debt. The deal could set a record for the largest buyout in the sector. Such cash-and-stock deals have become popular due to a narrowing gap between the pre-tax costs of equity and debt, according to Piers Ronan, co-head of debt capital markets at Atlanta-based investment bank Truist Securities. Some $250 billion, or 11% of total M&A funding this year, was stock funding, while 15.3% of deal volume was funded by a mix of cash and stock, according to LSEG data. This compares with $441 billion, or 14% of all M&A funding in 2024 that was stock-funded and 7% cash-and-stock funded, the data showed. "Debt is not really so attractive right now -- because equity is so attractive," Ronan said, pointing to its attractive earnings yield. Many corporations have posted strong earnings and generate healthy free cash flow, which has contributed to "an uptick in equity financing of M&A transactions and a little less reliance on debt financing," said Natalie Trevithick, head of investment grade strategy at Los Angeles-based asset manager Payden & Rygel. Investment-grade companies have also grown wary of adding debt to avoid downgrades, which could increase their funding costs. Ratings agencies Moody's, S&P, and Fitch warned their ratings on Union Pacific could be downgraded if the company pushes its leverage higher due to its planned Norfolk Southern acquisition. '(A ratings downgrade) is going to have a pretty big impact on how your bonds trade in the secondary market,' said Mike Sanders, head of fixed income at Madison, Wisconsin-based asset manager Madison Investments. Sanders pointed to the poor trading performance of media company Warner Bros Discovery's bonds following its announced split into two separate publicly-traded companies and downgrade to junk status in June. Less reliance on debt by M&A-intent companies could cause end-of-year volumes for investment-grade issuance to fall short of their $1.5-trillion level in 2024, bankers said. The average spread on investment-grade bonds was last at 82 basis points, just shy of the 77-bps level it touched in 1998, according to the ICE BofA U.S. Corporate Index. Kyle Stegemeyer, head of investment-grade debt capital markets and syndicate at Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank, expects M&A-related bond supply to total $225 billion in 2025. "As we move deeper into the year, it becomes less likely that we get the large multinational transformational M&A financed this year to help drive the numbers materially higher," Stegemeyer said. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
