JPMorgan Chase is taking a bigger swing at wealth management, revamping its business units in an effort to better compete with big-bank rivals such as Morgan Stanley. The bank is creating a unit that will combine its U.S. wealth-management operations for affluent clients and the Chase branch network’s financial-advisory business, according to a memo reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Below, some of the best analysis and insight from WSJ writers and columnists, the Dow Jones Newswires team and occasionally beyond, on investing, the wealth-management business and more.
PLANNING & INVESTING
Bond-Yield Forecasters Disagree on 2020 After 2019 Surprise: Investors are split about the direction of government-bond yields in 2020, a sign of confusion about the course of the economy and monetary policy.
MARKET TALK
From Dow Jones Newswires
Asia has trumped Continental Europe as an attractive location for cross-border investing among US private-equity and venture-capital firms, according to a survey of 200 firms conducted by midmarket financial advisory firm BDO USA. Among private-equity firms surveyed, 30% cited Asia and Southeast Asia as the most attractive region for cross-border investment, up from 27% of firms in a similar survey a year ago. By contrast, only 16% of firms surveyed cited Continental Europe as most attractive, down from 45% of firms in last year’s survey. “Besides China, you have upticks in places like Korea, Vietnam and other [Asian countries],” said Scott Hendon, co-leader of global private equity at BDO USA. “We see a bit of dampening on some of the China stuff with the tariffs, but the overall market in Asia has bigger upside than the European or Latin American markets.” ([email protected]; @LauraKreutzer)
UBS assumed coverage of GE with a buy rating, encouraging clients to buy the stock ahead of 2020 when the firm predicts better understanding of a turnaround and the company’s cash drags turning into cash flows. The stock, with a $14 price target, should continue to perform “as the narrative on the stock shifts from survival to transformation.” UBS sees 2020 free cash flow of $2.3B excluding the biopharma business it is selling, compared to an estimate of $700M this year including $1.3B coming from biopharma. UBS sees 2022 cash flow of $5B-$6B. Shares rise 3.6% premarket to $11.36. ([email protected]; @tgryta)
BUSINESS & PRACTICE
Safeway Owner, Rival Grocers Bet on Smaller Warehouses: Food retailers are making big bets on small warehouses to bulk up their growing delivery businesses, as supermarkets try different approaches to get groceries to customers more efficiently.
IMPACT INVESTING
European Green Deal Calls for Taxes on Transport and Energy: Fossil-fuel and transport companies could end up paying tens of billions more in taxes under the European Green Deal, a package of proposals to fight climate change.
TALKING POINTS
Warren Wealth Tax Would Raise Nearly 30% Less Than Projected, Study Finds: Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax would raise $2.7 trillion over a decade, $1.1 trillion short of her presidential campaign’s estimates, according to a new analysis from the Penn-Wharton Budget Model.
TRAVEL & LIFESTYLE
