NIC’s February Newsletter

In our Macro Overview section, Analysts from both divisions will cover broad macro themes while reviewing major economic news from the past month. In our Deeper Dive section, Rita Silva Marques elaborates on the Chinese banks non-performing loans recent surge, amidst a slow growth economy looking for stimulus. Moreover, in our Regional View, Francisca Anselmo examines the Belt and Road Initiative as a Chinese “debt-trap” diplomacy for global dominance.

Our Investment Banking Division will guide you through January’s M&A overall activity. Read about Bristol-Myers Squibb acquisition of Celgene, Newmont Mining to acquire Goldcorp Inc. and Fiserv plans to acquire First Data. Additionally, get a detailed overview on what happened to Deutsche Bank and Alibaba, as well as consider our opinion on Deutsche Bank’s restructuring.

Our Financial Markets Division will present the monthly results of the NIC Fund, an active relative return fund investing across four different asset classes: Equities, Fixed Income, Commodities and Currencies. The analysts will also provide commentary on each of the four major asset classes through analysis of the past month’s major market moves. The active positioning of the NIC Fund in January was slightly superior to the benchmark. During January, the NIC fund outperformed all developed markets stock indices.

Lastly, Viktoria Wagner elaborates on the emergent industry of robotaxis and Sérgio Ferrás examines the recent Huawei’s sanctions in US soil. Furthermore, Tim Borneck analyses Venezuela’s fragile diplomatic state and Pedro Leão glances at market irrationality and economic cycles.