Jim Kane

to the extent that the administration's words mean anything, they said there would be a 6 month phase out period.

Statement from SEIU on the Trump Administration’s Unconstitutional Attack Against Iran, Reckless Disregard for Working People’s Lives:

Propaganda vs reporting

"Please god just let us nuke Iran, nothing else matters, I'll do anything please I just want to see burning flesh one last time before I die." --Sen. Bloodfeast (D) NY

"To the extent our funds perform well, we can support a better retirement for tens of millions of pensioners, including teachers, nurses and firefighters." -Blackstone 10-K, p.7, filed Feb 28, 2025

appears to be a Thoma Bravo fund

www.sec.gov/Archives/edg...

From Blue Owl's portfolio holdings list 🫠

www.blueowlcapitalcorporation.com/portfolio/po...

😂

BlackRock Private Debt Fund Slumps After Slashing Dividend A BlackRock Inc. private debt fund sank after cutting its dividend, as declining rates and losses on soured loans pressured results.

and BLK

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Private Credit and the Dangerous Rise of Unregulated Finance. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. More and more companies are raising money in the growing private credit market rather than from banks. What does this growth of unregulated credit mean for the long term future of these borrower compa...

still wondering, what is private credit, again?!

join me for a webinar organized by @ourfinancialsecurity.org on wed march 4th at 3pm et

us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

In recent weeks, GSA officials were told to put xAI’s logo on a tool called USAi, which is essentially a sandbox for federal employees to experiment with different AI models. Grok hadn’t been made accessible through USAi largely due to safety concerns, and it remains off the platform, people familiar with the matter said. The website shows xAI’s logo but only offers models from Anthropic, Google and Meta. A team at the GSA studying AI has circulated a report to top agency officials that flags Grok’s safety problems, the people said. Grok has been suspended for use by GSA staffers for months. Demand from other agencies to use Grok has been anemic, people familiar with the matter said, except in a few cases where people wanted to use it to mimic a bad actor for defensive testing.

www.wsj.com/politics/nat...

Big Tech workers press bosses to back Anthropic in Pentagon clash Amazon, Google and Microsoft staff urge their executives to adopt tough AI guardrails and refuse any defence contracts

Interesting development. Stirrings of dissent among the rank and file tech sector workers. www.ft.com/content/7bbc...

Besieged Berkshire Utility Tries to Rewrite Who Pays for Wildfires Utility-ignited fires have become a thorny issue for Warren Buffett’s successor.

Story with @michellema.bsky.social
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Vanguard settles Republican states' antitrust suit for $29.5 million Fund manager Vanguard Group said on Thursday it agreed to settle litigation filed by the Republican attorneys general of Texas, Kansas and other states, who had alleged the fund manager and rivals vio...

👀

www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

Bloomberg headline made to look like the Simpsons Lionel Hutz business card meme. Original headline said: "Carlyle CEO Says Firms Erred Labeling Retail Funds ‘Semi-Liquid’" Edited version says: Carlyle CEO Says Retail funds, semi! Liquid, no.

This was literally a Simpsons joke THIRTY YEARS AGO

Marge: Can we get rid of this Ayatollah t-shirt? Khomeini died years ago.

Homer: But, Marge, it works on any Ayatollah! Ayatollah Nakhbadeh, Ayatollah Zahedi...

If there’s an audiobook, I hope this soundtrack plays on loop in the background.

Private credit software loans are “not a systemic issue.” That’s what Brookfield Chief Executive Officer Bruce Flatt tells Bloomberg’s Francine Lacqua. Speaking on Bloomberg Television, Flatt says: “Private credit is very small and software loans are even smaller.” The concern is not a big deal and doesn’t portend a new financial crisis, Flatt said: “It is definitely not an 08, it has got nothing to do with 08.”

My "this is not the gfc t-shirt is raising questions already answered by the t-shirt"

www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

Is it a good hedge for my UFO ETF?

www.marketwatch.com/investing/fu...

BlackRock: A Case Study in Finance Capital (Part 1)

This is the last of the old posts that we're republishing here before moving on to new material. Up next (hopefully soon) will be part 2 in this case study.

Narrator: they will not understand it.

"'With retail exposure to alternative investments becoming more common, we want to help everyday investors understand the different valuation approaches used in these products,' said Brian Daly, Director of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management."

the thing that's so funny re Jensen & Meckling is that they're just mad about managers getting non-pecuniary perquisites like "an attractive office staff" and thick carpets

& in their model outside equity is *non-voting*

this is the bible of shareholder primacy! 🤷‍♀️

Unions and industry rally against Reform UK’s LGPS plans Pensions UK has said Reform's comments about the LGPS are "not supported by evidence", as the party's deputy leader confirms plans for a DB to DC switch.

Reform coming for local government worker pensions www.pensions-expert.com/lgps/unions-...

I have a new review paper out in @environmentalpol.bsky.social! ✨

What would it actually take for states to pursue green transformations? I identify 5 capacities — planning, disciplinary, strategic, legitimation and adaptive — and their respective policy elements, capabilities and institutions

Quite the week to role this out

The State of Michigan has made its first foray into offering a private markets investment for defined contribution participants, approving a State Street Investment Management product that contains a 10% allocation to a mixture of private credit, private equity and private real assets. The State of Michigan Investment Board approved offering the State Street IndexPlus Multi-Asset Fund at its Dec. 17 meeting, saying the fund will provide participants with greater investment diversification. “The other 90% allocation is predominantly in public equities and public fixed-income assets,” a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Treasury wrote in an email.

And it begins…

www.pionline.com/institutiona...

actually, there should have been a 3rd option in there: continue with full funding, but rely on higher contributions.

Moving to a less extractive model would lower the arr and increase the present value of the liabilities. So, you end up with a choice of 1) abandoning full funding (plan sponsor isn't at risk of liquidation) and relying more on tax revenue or 2) sticking with full funding aim and cutting benefits.

I do think that choice would force discussions about the plan design. For example, almost all public plans have chosen 1) full funding over paygo or partial funding and 2) an assumed rate of return (arr) that's some multiple of economic growth and requires investments in private sector assets.

How authoritarianism went from defense to offense on the world stage Quickly and easily listen to The Rhodes Center Podcast with Mark Blyth for free!

New Rhodes Center Pod just up. Great conversation with Alex Cooley and Alex Dukalskis about their new book Dictating the Agenda.
AKA - How authoritarians go from playing defense other than offense.
Great book. Read it. But listen here first: player.captivate.fm/episode/5e16...