Happy Friday. Welcome to The Chaos Coordinator! We are Brain Candy's snarky little sister, delivering carefully curated news happening across the industry (that you should probably care about) right to your inbox, with a hefty dose of irreverence.
In this issue, we dive into:
The State of PE
GA4
IPOs
ChatGPT
Morgan Stanley's Interns
What's happening in.....
PE/VC
"We're in a Period of Stress, Not Distress,"
Wish I could say the same. I'm in a period of both.
In spite of the recent volatility within the asset category, Commonfund, the multibillion dollar asset manager that constructs portfolios for foundations, endowments, pension funds and family offices, maintains a bullish outlook on PE. Despite encountering challenges to its financing structure and increasing competition, private equity has identified areas of security within low and middle-market investments, as well as highly specialized funds. Driven by the demand from LPs, middle-markets are expected to stay hot. In a Coller Capital survey of 100 investors in PE funds, over 80% of respondents said they expect to see good investment opportunities for GPs in mid and lower-mid market buyouts and special situations over the next two years. Commonfund sees the greatest opportunity in mid and lower-market players that are highly specialized in sectors like healthcare and SaaS, reports Pitchbook - "Certainly within mid-market PE funds, we're seeing more specialized funds coming to market," said David Fowler, global co-head of product for Apex Group's PE practice.
Google Analytics 4, or GA4 for us cool kids, is coming in hot.
If you’ve been using Google Analytics at all lately, you’ve likely seen the doomsday countdown reminding you about the switch to GA4. Starting July 1st, Universal Analytics will be cashing in its 401K and entering its retirement era: properties will no longer process new hits and will be replaced by GA4, a cookiless alternative. The measurement data model is now based on events and parameters, shares MarTech.org. A page view, for example, is an event, while a parameter would be tracking video views or page scrolling.
July 1st will be here before you know it, and even if you think you’re prepared, we have some key points you may still need to consider. Check out RG's tips and tricks on how to make the switch here.
CAPITAL MARKETS
A Light at the End of the IPO Tunnel
Surprise, it's actually a CAVA bowl.
As major stock market benchmarks relentlessly surge towards new year-to-date peaks, the seemingly never ending IPO drought might be coming to an end. The Renaissance Capital IPO ETF (IPO) tracks the performance of newly public company stocks - the fund has outperformed the S&P 500 this year, up 30% compared to the benchmark’s nearly 14% gain, as of Tuesday’s close. “Outperformance is the fuel that powers the IPO issuance engine,” said Matt Kennedy, Senior IPO Market Strategist. “If returns hold up, activity should gradually return." If CAVA's mega slay IPO debut on Thursday hinted at anything, it's that the people are ready for new offerings from companies that have a road of growth ahead of them. And tzatziki.
From Apple to Samsung to Wall Street, big name companies (and a few countries) have been increasingly banning the use of generative AI platforms like ChatGPT over the past month. Fears surrounding data privacy, accuracy, and the accidental sharing of confidential information have been cause for concern, even for the most cutting edge tech firms.
Tech.co outlines which companies have banned AI and why here.
MARKETING TRENDS
Hot or Not: Morgan Stanley Intern Edition
Further proof that even with the best intentions, nothing good can happen in Times Square.
Morgan Stanley paid homage to its 2023 summer analyst class by broadcasting their faces and full names to all of Times Square via the mega-screens at the bank's HQ and TikTok had a lot to say. TikToker Benton McClintock shared the wealth, and suggested the flipping screen of interns would be a good place to "source through prospective new spouses who will probably be breadwinners in their future working at Morgan Stanley." Others did not have love on the brain and were quite horrified at the idea of names and faces being broadcasted to Times Square, some raising concerns that the now public info could be used by stalkers. "No cuz this is a hate crime in my book," one user commented. "If I found out my company was broadcasting me like that I would release another swarm of bees in Times Square," another said. "FULL NAME IS CRAZY," one user wrote.