Latest news with #Freund
The Star
a day ago
- Business
- The Star
Mekong Capital plans US$200mil agriculture fund next year
Officials from Thanh Hoa Forest Ranger sub-department patrol in Xuan Lien National Park. Mekong Capital is interested in firms specialising in sectors such as forestry, organic fertiliser and ocean health. - Vietnam News/ANN HANOI: Mekong Capital Ltd., a Vietnam-focused private equity firm, plans to launch a regenerative agriculture fund in 2026 with as much as US$200 in capital, according to its founder and partner Chris Freund. "We're making progress getting that fund off the ground and currently at a stage where we're working on the pipeline' of potential companies to invest in, Freund said in an interview. Mekong Capital, which previously mostly focused on retail, restaurants, education and consumer sectors, is shifting to areas such as biotech and agricultural technology, Freund said. While continuing to invest in consumer companies, it is also interested in firms specialising in sectors such as forestry, organic fertiliser and ocean health, he said. Companies operating in data-rich sectors that are capable of collecting, analysing and leveraging large volumes of information are well-positioned for future growth, Freund said. Mekong Capital is looking at how data technologies can improve performances of companies it invests in, he said. Mekong Capital, founded in 2001, has launched a total of five funds in Vietnam, including Mekong Enterprise Fund IV, or MEF IV, its most recent. The MEF IV fund was started in 2019 with committed capital of US$246 million. - Bloomberg
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Opportunities Still Exist In High-Yield Debt: Calamos
Despite the volatility of in the bond market, particularly the recent rise in U.S. Treasury 10-year rates after last week's poor auction, there are still opportunities in higher-yielding fixed income, says an active exchange-traded fund manager. Matt Freund, co-manager of the $11.1 million Calamos Alternative Nasdaq & Bond ETF (CANQ), and co-chief investment officer at Calamos Investments, says the yields on high-yield, bank loans, emerging-market debt and other higher-risk fixed-income sectors still offer a good value for the risk taken. While he expects the U.S. economy to soften, he's not expecting a recession yet. 'I'm not willing to commit to, 'yes, we're having a recession.' I think that's a little premature, and it depends on a lot of factors which have yet to be decided ... The fundamentals are still good,' he said. Calamos Investments is a global investment manager founded in 1977, with its beginnings in the convertible bond space. It launched the actively managed CANQ in February 2024 as its second ETF. The fund uses options-based exposure across Nasdaq-100 stocks coupled with diversified fixed-income holdings. To get fixed-income exposure, CANQ uses several fixed-income ETFs, including the Simplify MBS ETF (MTBA), at 22.3% of the fund's allocation, the Vanguard Emerging Markets Government Bond ETF (VWOB) at 20% and the SPDR Portfolio High Yield Bond ETF (SPHY) at 14.5% to round out the fund's top three by weight. Fixed income is 77.2% of the fund's allocation. The distribution yield for the fund is about 5.5% with a weighted credit of BBB-. While that may seem like a significant amount of credit risk in a volatile bond market, Freund pointed out that CANQ's duration of 3.1 years is shorter than that of the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG), which has a duration of 5.8 years, and AGG's yield is lower, at 3.8%. Given his outlook on the U.S. economy, the shorter duration and higher yield of CANQ versus AGG, Freund said, 'I'm not overly concerned with the high-yield allocation.' He might begin to pull back on risk if the current uncertainty around tariffs remains unresolved, Congress is unable get the current tax cuts passed or inflation rises again. 'If I'm wrong about recession, if I'm wrong about taxes, if I'm wrong about tariffs, and you've got the geopolitical (issues), well, that would clearly be something that would cause us to reduce our risk budget,' he | © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved 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
Time of India
13-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
EU faces heat over millions paid to Musk firms
The EU handed over hundreds of millions of euros to companies belonging to the world's richest man, Elon Musk , a key ally of US President Donald Trump and frequent critic of the bloc, a document seen by AFP showed Tuesday. German Green EU lawmaker Daniel Freund sent a letter in March to the European Commission, asking for information about EU funding to Musk-linked businesses. In a response to Freund, the European Commission said it paid around 159 million euros ($176 million) to automaker Tesla to build charging stations for electric cars in 2023. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 2025 Top Trending local enterprise accounting software [Click Here] Esseps Learn More Undo It also said in 2024, the EU commissioned Musk's SpaceX to launch satellites for the European Galileo satellite system , in a contract worth around $197 million. The commission said it used SpaceX "due to delays in the commissioning of Ariane 6, the standard launch vehicle for Galileo". Live Events The EU also paid Musk's X 630,000 euros for paid advertising on the social media platform until it suspending use of such services in October 2023. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories Transatlantic relations have hit historic lows since Trump returned to the White House in January and Musk has attacked the EU's digital laws as censorship. Critics including Freund cite that as good reason for the EU to pull the plug on payments to the tech billionaire. "This man is an outspoken enemy of the EU and our core values. It is unacceptable that we continue to pay the richest man in the world hundreds of millions," Freund said on X.
The Hindu
13-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
EU faces heat over millions paid to Musk firms
The EU handed over hundreds of millions of euros to companies belonging to the world's richest man, Elon Musk, a key ally of U.S. President Donald Trump and frequent critic of the bloc, a document seen by AFP showed On Tuesday (May 13, 2025). German Green EU lawmaker Daniel Freund sent a letter in March to the European Commission, asking for information about EU funding to Musk-linked businesses. In a response to Mr. Freund, the European Commission said it paid around 159 million euros ($176 million) to automaker Tesla to build charging stations for electric cars in 2023. It also said that in 2024, the EU commissioned Mr. Musk's SpaceX to launch satellites for the European Galileo satellite system, in a contract worth around $197 million. The commission said it used SpaceX 'due to delays in the commissioning of Ariane 6, the standard launch vehicle for Galileo'. The EU also paid Mr. Musk's X 630,000 euros for paid advertising on the social media platform until it suspends the use of such services in October 2023. Transatlantic relations have hit historic lows since Mr. Trump returned to the White House in January and Mr. Musk has attacked the EU's digital laws as censorship. Critics, including Mr. Freund, cite that as good reason for the EU to pull the plug on payments to the tech billionaire. 'This man is an outspoken enemy of the EU and our core values. It is unacceptable that we continue to pay the richest man in the world hundreds of millions,' Mr. Freund said on X.
Hamilton Spectator
02-05-2025
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
Bayern Munich confirms defender Eric Dier is leaving at end of the season
MUNICH (AP) — Bayern Munich has confirmed that English defender Eric Dier will leave at the end of the season when his contract with the club expires. 'We had discussions with Eric about a new contract. He told us that he doesn't want to extend and will leave us,' Bayern sporting director Christoph Freund said Friday. 'He's a great guy. We had a great time together. Hopefully he crowns his time with us with his first title.' The 31-year-old Dier has reportedly agreed to join French team Monaco, where he's set to get a longer contract than Bayern was offering and the opportunity to play more often than he did at the German powerhouse. Dier joined Bayern from Tottenham in January 2024 and went on to make 45 appearances. But he didn't get many opportunities under coach Vincent Kompany this season until recently, when he began showing his worth to the team. 'We had good talks with the agent. There's another possibility where he can sign a longer contract,' Freund confirmed. 'You have to respect that.' Bayern can secure the Bundesliga title with a win at Leipzig on Saturday. It's unclear if Dier will stay with Bayern for FIFA's new Club World Cup competition in the United States from June 14 to July 13. Freund said the club will 'speak with him internally' soon about it. ___ AP soccer:
