Below you will find short commentary from me as to the current deal environment and then updates on collaboration from Zaya Bold and compliance from Michelle Mueller.
To all of our success,
Jay Turo
Managing Director
GT Securities, Inc.
Commentary on Current Deal Environment
The 2022 macro environment is off to a challenging start, with multiple whammies of record high inflation (7.5% most since 1980), poor public market performance (NASDAQ down 15%) and most concerning a major political and humanitarian crisis in the Ukraine.
Luckily and contrastingly, the M&A and private equity financing markets have held up well.
Over $740 billion of M&A deals were announced during the first two months of 2022, close to an all-time record and a comparable amount to Jan-Feb 2021 (ValueWalk).
As for venture capital and private equity, bullish sentiment remains strong, with more than 75% of venture capital and private equity firms raising capital in 2021, and 80% planning to raise more cash this year.
And the money is being invested: venture capital funding in February was up 6% over January, and a whopping 149% when compared to February 2021 (AlleyWatch).
Perhaps more surprisingly, in spite of all of the bad news out there, at $42 billion January 2022 global private equity investment had its third strongest start to the year since 1980 (albeit down from a record 2021 start)
So for sure a solid “banker talking point” is that no matter how negative public market sentiment and geopolitical conditions might get, the private company investment sector remains a very good place to be and now more than ever could be considered comparably less risky than more exposed asset classes.
What do you think? Take our Banker Confidence Survey (and we will share results in next month’s newsletter).
Collaboration Updates
GT Securities Named to Axial’s Top 50 List. We are quite excited and proud to have been recently named to Axial’s Top 50 List of Software Private Equity Investors and M&A Advisors!
Please see more about the list here.
Website Profile. Whether you utilize your own branding and website or those of GT Securities, we offer all our bankers the opportunity to have your profile up on the Banker page on our website to benefit from the broader brand and platform reach. Please reach out to me if you are interested in this service.
Referrals. Do you know an investment banker looking for the benefits of independence and professionalism provided on the GT Securities platform? We are always interested in speaking to highly ethical and credentialed banking professionals to join our platform, and starting in 2022 we are offering credits and bonus for referred bankers. Please reach out to me at [email protected] to learn more.
– Zaya Bold, Director of Banking Synergies
Compliance Updates
Regulatory Notice 22-06: Russia-related Sanctions. The United States government imposed sanctions on Russian entities and individuals Feb 24, 2022. Read the full notice here.
FINRA Definition of Compensation. FINRA reminds member firms and registered persons’ compensation is not only limited to salary or commissions, receipt of membership interests, preferred stock, and tax benefits, or any indirect financial benefits fall under this definition.
Private Securities Transactions (PSTs) shall mean any securities transaction outside the regular course or scope of an associated person’s employment with a member, including, though not limited to, new offerings of securities which are not registered with the Commission, provided however that transactions subject to the notification requirements of Rule 3210, transactions among immediate family members (as defined in FINRA Rule 5130), for which no associated person receives any selling compensation, and personal transactions in investment company and variable annuity securities, shall be excluded.
“Selling compensation” shall mean any compensation paid directly or indirectly from whatever source in connection with or as a result of the purchase or sale of a security, including, though not limited to, commissions; finder’s fees; securities or rights to acquire securities; rights of participation in profits, tax benefits, or dissolution proceeds, as a general partner or otherwise; or expense reimbursements.
For more information, please refer to FINRA Regulatory Rule 3280 here.
Tune in to the FINRA Unscripted podcast. In this latest episode, FINRA celebrates 100 episodes by revisiting some of their most important discussions. Listen to the podcasts here.
Common cybersecurity threats. Learn more about current cybersecurity threats here.
– Michelle Mueller, Compliance Manager
Happy March (and Spring!) to All!
