Most analysts attribute the current strength in oil to production cuts and discipline exercised by OPEC countries in preparation for a global recession. However, demand has been resilient, contrary to expectations, even with a weak Chinese economy and rising recession risk in many parts of the world. 

According to Haitham Al Ghais, the secretary general of OPEC+, demand is expected to grow by 2.4 million barrels per day over the next couple of years. While many are encouraging the group to increase production in order to provide relief to consumers and temper inflationary pressures, Al Ghais is more concerned about the decline in CAPEX in the oil & gas sector. 

He believes this will lead to an unsustainably tight equilibrium that will be prone to supply shocks and potential shortages. He believes that many in the West are being naive about alternative energy given the world’s reliance on fossil fuels. 

In essence, Al Ghais sees a bigger crisis looming given that he sees oil demand continuing to grow steadily while investments in future production have declined due to poor returns in the past and concerns that alternative energy will displace oil & gas. This is laying the seeds for a future energy crisis in his opinion.

Finsum: OPEC’s secretary general Haitham Al Ghais shared his thoughts on energy, and why he’s especially concerned about the lack of investment in new production.

Direct indexing is the convergence of two developments. One is that we increasingly live in a world of customization and personalization whether it comes to our newsfeeds, food orders, playlists, etc. The other is that research continues to show that most investors are better off investing passively rather than actively managing their portfolios.

At first glance, there seems to be a contradiction between these two notions. However, direct indexing manages to thread the needle by retaining the benefits of passive investing such as diversification and low costs while also allowing for customization in order to account for an investors’ goals and needs.

For instance, a tech executive may have outsized exposure to the industry due to some compensation in the form of stock options. In their own portfolio, they may look to reduce exposure to tech in order to create more diversification and dampen risk. 

Another benefit is that capital gains losses can be more effectively harvested with direct indexing. This means that if the tech executive were to sell some of their stock options, then the tax bill can be lowered by applying harvested tax losses from the direct indexing portfolio.   

Finsum: Direct indexing provides many advantages compared to passive or active management. Here are some of the benefits.

If you’re tinkering with the idea of bonds, consider this: the challenges on the fixed income landscape, according to money.usnews.com. For those who aren’t initiated, individual bonds – which trade over the counter – it can be a tough road to hoe.

That’s where bonds funds come in. For investors, they’re an entrée to diversified bonds. And what about the complexities of direct bond investment? There are none.  

"Given the higher risks and costs associated with portfolios of individual bonds, and the time they take to manage, most investors are better served by low-cost mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, or ETFs," said Chris Tidmore, senior manager at Vanguard's Investment Advisory Research Center. "This is particularly true in the case of municipal and corporate bonds, which are less liquid and harder to purchase than Treasury bonds."

Meantime, calling it a day was Eric Needleman, global head of Fixed Income, who plans to do so by year’s end, according to an announcement by Stifel Financial Corp., reported yahoo.com.

"We are deeply grateful for Eric’s dedication, leadership, and the lasting impact he has made on our firm,” said Stifel Chairman and CEO Ron Kruszewski. “He set a standard of excellence that will continue to define Stifel's approach to the fixed income business.”

You don’t have to double check a wealth of sources like wikepedia to ferret outthe meaning of succession plaining; it’s simply the way you pinpoint and developing your organization’s possible leaders in the making as well as key employees, according to linkedin.com.

It abets your ability to make sure you maintain continuity, hang onto talent and get ready for changes that weren’t expected. That said, succession planning recruiting posed challenges and is susceptible to mistakes. 

How can you go about circumventing pitfalls and biases in the process? These strategies can help:

Assess your current and future needs

Develop a talent pool and a succession plan

Use objective and consistent methods

Involve multiple stakeholders and perspectives

Monitor and evaluate your results

Broadly speaking, talent development’s on the ascension – and fast – with succession planning squarely in the middle, according to sigmaassessmentsystems.com.

For senior managers and leaders of organizations who need to keep current on industry trends to help their team with the most effective and relevant growth opportunities, succession planning struts important implications.

SIGMA gathered a report on the State of Succession Planning for the year. Four emerging trends:

--Recruiting and retention of staff are the focus of most organizations

--Keeping up with Industry innovation’s key for many organizations to recognize

--Stepping up customer experience is a commitment among many leaders

--The transformation of their brand and culture’s a goal of a significant number of organizations

Each month, more than four million workers walked away from their job, according a 2021 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report.

Within asset management, active fixed income is in a growth boom based on a surge of inflows and new issuances to meet this demand. There are two secular components as ETFs continue to displace mutual funds as preferred vehicles for fixed income investing, and institutions and advisors become more aware and comfortable with the category. 

And, a cyclical factor is the current market environment given the combination of attractive yields and uncertainty about the trajectory of monetary policy. These environments tend to favor active over passive strategies since active managers have more latitude in terms of credit quality and duration.

In recent months, we’ve seen a frenzy in terms of new issues with Vanguard and Blackrock introducing active ETFs that mirror their own active fixed income mutual funds. Now, Capital Group is joining the fray with the launches of the Capital Group Core Bond ETF (CGCB) and the Capital Group Short Duration Municipal Income ETF (CGSM). Asset managers are responding to demand for these products, or otherwise would lose market share to firms who provide ETF versions of popular mutual funds. 

CGCB invests across the entire fixed income spectrum with a focus on capital preservation and generating income. CGSM invests in municipal debt that is exempt from federal taxes and typically short-duration. 

Finsum: Capital Group is launching two new active fixed income ETFs which is a major trend in the asset management world.