The European lead in terms of ESG investing has widened substantially over the past two years, according to a new analysis by ShareAction that echoes similar findings from Morningstar.
Why it matters: The U.S. is home to the largest fund managers in the world — none more so than BlackRock, a company that turns out to have largely stopped voting for ESG resolutions over the past two years.
Carta's exit from the startup stock trading business ended one of co-founder Henry Ward's early visions for the company, but it's unlikely to affect its valuation or investor expectations.
Why it matters: Building out its secondaries marketplace — dubbed CartaX — has been a bumpy road.
Last Friday, January 5,the day a door plug flew off an Alaska Airlines airplane in mid-flight, was a day in which approximately 120 Americans died in motor vehicle crashes. Roughly 136 died from opioids. Perhaps 150 died as hospital inpatients due to preventable medical errors. About 230 died of COVID-19. And zero died in aircraft accidents.
Why it matters: Air travel is the one part of American daily life where the general public has zero tolerance for any kind of safety lapse.
Bill Ackman, a hard-charging hedge fund manager, is reasonably typical in terms of how he behaves upon publication of a story he doesn't like. Where he's not typical is in his willingness to be open about what he did:
When the "Neri Oxman admits to plagiarism story" broke, I reached out to a board member I knew at BI, and to its controlling shareholders, the co-ceos of KKR, and to Mathias Döpfner, the Chairman and CEO of Axel Springer. I assumed that with a call or two, I would be able to convince BI or AS to suspend the stories.
Gone are the days of "I'll sleep when I'm dead." It's cool to prioritize bedtime now.
Why it matters: Sleep is trending at companies, atcolleges and in the media — and there's a growing sleep economy worth billions of dollars, as new gadgets, mattresses, trackers and alarm clocks flood the market.
Vanguard is doubling-down on its "no-crypto" stance in investing, saying it will not only sit out the rush into spot bitcoin ETFs, but also yank existing bitcoin futures products from its brokerage offerings.
Why it matters: The asset management giant is moving away from bitcoin, even as other Wall Street titans move in. Shops like BlackRock, Invesco and Fidelity recently launched their own branded bitcoin ETFs.
What they're saying: "In addition to spot Bitcoin ETFs not being available for purchase on the Vanguard platform, effective immediately, Vanguard will no longer accept the purchase of cryptocurrency products, including Bitcoin futures ETFs,"a spokesperson for Vanguard tells Axios.
"This change allows us to focus on offering a core set of products and services consistent with our commitment to serve the needs of long-term investors," they said.
Between the lines: Vanguard is going to Vanguard. The firm has hardly kept its jaundiced views on crypto a secret; its long-term investment philosophy hews more closely to old-school value investors than the nouveau-riche enthusiasts who've jumped into digital coins.
State of play: Vanguard's step away from bitcoin follows a social media kerfuffle on Thursday. Some folks claiming to be customers complained about the newly minted offerings not being available on the platform.
Context: What Vanguard is doing aligns with its brand identity, rooted in its late founder Jack Bogle's investing principles, which champions simple, low-cost investing over speculation.
Our thought bubble: Bitcoiners who take a closer look at Vanguard might have offer more respect: Bogle was the original contrarian.
When his index fund invention ridiculed as "un-American", he dug in, positing that buying the whole S&P 500 was better for returns in the long-run.
The bottom line: It's no real surprise that Vanguard is going in the opposite direction of some of its peers. That's how you stand out.
Seven decades after its inventors took 40 attempts to get the formula right — hence the name — WD-40 is having a moment, Nathan writes.
Driving the news: The company that makes it — named WD-40, what else — has enjoyed a 56% runup in its stock over the last year.
That included a big bump earlier this week after strong earnings.
Zoom in: WD-40 is greasing the skids with an international growth strategy, strong e-commerce sales and what CEO Steve Brass called "premiumized products."
The first day of trading for bitcoin ETFs has been called both "terribly unsuccessful" and a "terribly huge success."
Why it matters: Judging the Day 1 impact of bitcoin's long awaited moment not only relies on a fuzzy picture, it depends on who you ask about the data.
"Miss America," once a network TV staple, can be watched Sunday via a free stream at watchmissamerica.com.
Why it matters: The final rounds of the 51-women competition will not be available for viewing on TV or other streaming services.
How to watch: Finals are 7pm ET Sunday at the Walt Disney Theater at the Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando, Florida.
The winner will be awarded $50,000 in tuition scholarships.
Flashback: Miss Wisconsin, Grace Stance, was crowned Miss America in 2023.
Miss New York, Taryn Delaine Smith, was first runner-up and Avere Bishop, the first Asian American Miss Texas in pageant history, was second runner-up.
View the full list of delegates for this year's competition here.
Alaska Airlines announced Friday that it would cancel all flights on Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft through Sunday as it continues to deal with the fallout from an exit door that flew off one of its planes mid-flight last week.
Why it matters: The airline, which already canceled a slew of flights in the wake of the incident, said in a statement it needed more time to inspect its MAX jetliners and prepare them for a return to service.
Quaker Oats expanded its recent recall by adding dozens of additional granola and cereal products at risk for possible salmonella contamination.
Why it matters: The bacteria can "cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems," the company said in its revised recall notice.
The New York Department of Financial Services on Friday announced a settlement with Genesis Global Trading over its compliance program.
Driving the news: Under the accord, Genesis Trading will pay an $8 million fine and lose its BitLicense, the state's authorization for virtual currency companies.
Why it matters: Boeing, one of the largest aerospace manufacturers in the world, is again facing regulatory and legal repercussions over malfunctions with its jetliners, which previously caused a pair of fatal plane crashes that killed more than 300 people.
CVS is shutting down select pharmacies inside Target stores with closures starting in February, the retailer confirmed to Axios.
Why it matters: The drugstore industry has been hit by mounting challenges from worker shortages and surging competition from mail-order pharmacies, big-box stores like Walmart and online threats like Amazon.
BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, on Friday announced a $12.5 billion agreement to acquire Global Infrastructure Partners.
Why it matters: This appears to be the richest acquisition ever of a private equity firm, even if BlackRock views GIP as more of an infrastructure owner/operator than a traditional PE shop.
Alaska Airlines passengers are suing Boeing in Washington after a "plugged" emergency exit door flew off mid-air on Flight 1282 last week that resulted in the grounding of all 737 MAX 9 planes in U.S. territory.
The big picture: A Seattle company filed the lawsuit against the aircraft maker on behalf of six named passengers and "all others similarly situated," who were aboard the 737 MAX 9 jet last Friday, alleging "the event physically injured some passengers and emotionally traumatized most if not all aboard."
On Christmas,my daughter, Sophie, pulled one of my favorite party tricks and asked everyone to share one meaningful thing they learned in 2023.
For two hours, two dozen family members — from small kids to grandma — shared things about themselves and others that otherwise might go forever unknown. Rapturous silence gripped the room. Tears and smiles flowed.
I told Mike Allen about it, and he did the same parlor game with 20 Allens gathered in New Orleans for their annual New Year's bowl trip. Same result: Everyone was super-honest. Each answer got applause. The kids came up all weekend and said they wanted to make it a new tradition.
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