According to a Bank of America analyst, the cybersecurity industry is in the midst of a spending slowdown. The slowdown has mostly affected small and mid-sized businesses. While large enterprises haven’t shown signs of a slowdown just yet, this might change as larger firms may need to reduce budgets, likely starting next year. While the demand for cybersecurity solutions has been surging as war rages on in Ukraine, uncertainties from the global economic slowdown are starting to have an effect. Distributors are expected to see slowdowns in Identity and Access Management (IAM) and Virtual Machine (VM), while areas such as endpoint solutions, cloud security, and privileged access management are seen as more resilient. Companies such as Microsoft with its bundle offerings, and SentinelOne and CrowdStrike that provide endpoint security should benefit, at least initially. Cloud security providers Zscaler and Palo Alto Networks are expected to benefit as well.

Finsum: Uncertainties arising from the global economic slowdown have triggered a slowdown in spending on some cybersecurity solutions.

Active bond giant Pimco saw clients pull their money for a second straight quarter amid the global bond selloff. The firm saw outflows of $29.4 billion during the second quarter as investors fled bonds due to Fed rate hikes triggered by sky-high inflation. High-interest rates make bonds less attractive. This was after the California-based company saw $14.3 billion drawn by investors in the first quarter. Analysts at Citigroup noted that the outflows during the second quarter were much higher than expected. The fund company has been trying to navigate a less than ideal fixed income environment where high levels of inflation not seen in a generation are eroding the value of their bond holdings. Overall, Pimco’s parent company, Allianz, saw its third-party assets under management fall to $1.83 billion.

Finsum: Amid the global bond selloff, active bond manager PIMCO saw massive outflows for the second straight quarter.

According to a July survey conducted by VettaFi and State Street Global Advisors, high yield credit strategies were the bond style most appealing for advisors to add to client portfolios. With treasury yields narrowing and the Federal Reserve aggressively hiking rates to tackle inflation, investors are looking to take on more credit risk to receive higher yields. This is evident as three top high yield corporate bond ETFs, that collectively manage $44 billion, pulled in $4.7 billion in flows during July. The iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG) brought $1.9 billion in new assets during July, while the SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF (JNK) and the iShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (USHY) brought in $1.7 billion and $1.1 billion, respectively. It appears that investors currently prefer high yield bond ETFs with higher risk profiles to funds that offer more protection against rising rates.

Finsum: Due to the Fed’s rising rates policy and narrowing yields, investors flocked to high-yield bond ETFs last month. 

First Republic Bank’s wealth management unit added two wealth management teams to its ranks last week. The firm announced on Wednesday that a Merrill Lynch Private Wealth Management team that manages over $1 billion in assets left the wirehouse after 15 years to join First Republic in Palo Alto. Theresa Rutledge and Anthony Custodio, the lead advisors, each produce $4.3 million in annual revenue. Both have a $10 million account minimum. Then on Friday, the Silicon Valley bank announced that it lured another top producer to the bank, this time from J.P. Morgan Advisors. David J. Loeb generates $1.8 million in annual revenue and manages $250 million in assets. The advisor is located in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, where First Republic is looking to expand. The company, which has over 200 brokers, has hired around five teams this year, which puts it on pace with its annual average of 10.

Finsum: First Republic Bank continues its advisor recruitment program by luring two wealth management teams to its ranks last week. 

Tech stocks are suffering and pushing the Hong Kong broad market index lower early this week. Companies like Alibaba and JD.com were driving this slump. Overall, economic data has been positive for China though. The latest report showed that dollar-based exports grew by almost 20% in July. The region as a whole is experiencing diverging patterns in equity performance as South Korea and China excluding Hong Kong both grew. Still with currency risk higher than usual as a direct result of Fed tightening and higher inflation emerging market investors are having a difficult time finding North in the current environment.

Finsum: If covid is starting to slow as a result of the climate it could be great for countries relying on trade.