Distressed Credit And The ESG Opportunity

Driving change is not always possible. The conventional wisdom regarding distressed credit investing is that the complex negotiations and fast pace of transactions at companies under duress thwart transitions toward sustainability and inclusion. Negotiating haircuts and covenants is already challenging, and the urgency of corporate distress amplifies the myriad difficulties of evaluating ESG, including inconsistency in defining and measuring ESG and lack of ESG data. The conventional wisdom is wrong: lenders and sponsors are increasingly incorporating ESG in investment decisions, and distressed investors can harness restructuring to drive sustainability and inclusion and with it long-term value creation. READ MORE

Charges Against Nikola Founder Provide Reminder to Use Caution in All Public Statements

On July 29, 2021, both the SEC and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced charges against Trevor Milton, the founder, former CEO and former executive chairman of Nikola Corporation, a company engaged in the development of electric trucks. The complaint and indictment allege a series of misleading and inaccurate public statements by Milton on social media and elsewhere leading up to and after the company’s merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) through which Nikola became a public company, which included related private placements (PIPEs). READ MORE

What employers can ask about your vaccination status

More companies are bringing workers back into the office -- and some employers want to know about vaccination status.

Morgan Stanley (MS) told employees who work at its Manhattan headquarters that they have to be vaccinated against Covid-19 before returning to the office. The bank also said in a memo to New York employees that staff working in buildings with a "large employee presence" must confirm their vaccination status by early July. READ MORE

After winning big in California, gig companies take their worker classification fight to Massachusetts

Last year, Uber (UBER), Lyft (LYFT), DoorDash and Instacart succeeded in getting Californians to vote in favor of a ballot measure exempting them from classifying drivers and delivery workers as employees. Now, the companies are in the early stages of taking a similar approach in Massachusetts.

The coalition representing these gig companies, Massachusetts Coalition for Independent Work, said it filed Wednesday to have a question put on the state's 2022 ballot that would "grant historic new benefits" and allow workers to "maintain their flexibility as independent contractors," something it says most drivers want. READ MORE

US comes in last in health care rankings of high-income countries

The US once again ranked last in access to health care, equity and outcomes among high-income countries, despite spending a far greater share of its economy on health care, a new report released Wednesday has found.

The nation has landed in the basement in all seven studies the Commonwealth Fund has conducted since 2004. The US is the only one of the 11 countries surveyed not to have universal health insurance coverage. READ MORE

Hiring the Right Personality Matters, and AI Can Help

Between companies and departments, businesses typically have many different people running interviews. While not everyone is good at reading personalities, an interviewer should be — if he or she hopes to find the best candidate. Interviewing for the right personality in a potential employee gives you greater security in his or her fit for the role and within the company and in that person's ability to build a long-term relationship. Combining human interviewers with AI systems allows you to find the best fit faster. READ MORE

Why remote work is a big problem for the economy

Americans are trickling back to their pre-pandemic workplaces, but most offices are still largely empty. And that's affecting local economies in a major way.

Love it or hate it, commuting is good for the economy. You pay train conductors' salaries with your subway fare. The dry cleaner by the office and the coffee shop around the corner all count on workers who have been largely absent for nearly a year and a half. READ MORE

Major companies requiring employees be fully inoculated

An increasing number of companies are requiring their employees to be fully vaccinated before heading back to the office amid fears that the delta variant of the coronavirus will hinder the economic recovery. 

In recent weeks, the corporate world has begun requiring masks and COVID-19 shots for employees, in order to combat the delta variant, which is fueling infection surges and threatening efforts to stamp out the pandemic. In certain cases, some companies have even delayed their return to office dates out of an abundance of caution.  READ MORE

Facebook whistleblower on Big Tech breakups, Section 230 and the fight against bot networks

A former Facebook data scientist who became a whistleblower on her way out of the company last September is calling for more transparency and oversight of social media giants while arguing in favor of keeping the controversial Section 230 clause in place.

"It’s certainly true that social media is a natural monopoly because people look for social media networks that all their friends are on," Sophie Zhang told FOX Business Friday. "And that means that once there’s an established company, it’s really hard to introduce a competitor." READ MORE

Why Employee Performance Management Fails (and Possible Solutions)

An employee performance management process is one of the oldest, natural and most universal forms of creating a conducive environment in an organization. It’s a continuous process to build a competitive atmosphere where people develop a sense of purpose and thrive. Studies, however, show that a critically high percentage of companies and workers claim to be dissatisfied with their existing performance management system. Without a doubt, rethinking performance management needs to be at the top of executive teams’ agenda today. To help companies overcome existing inefficiencies, we’ve listed a few reasons why employee performance management fails and what we can do to help people perform their job to the best of their ability. READ MORE

I mandated vaccines for my business. Here's how it has paid off

This past spring, I established a rule requiring all 150 of my employees to be fully vaccinated against Covid, regardless of where they are working. Although our employees have been allowed to continue working from home, all of them need to be able to attend a meeting at the office if they're called in. That meant mandating vaccines for everyone, unless they had a medical exemption from a doctor.

I also made the same rule for anyone else who wishes to visit our facilities. This includes representatives of businesses that might want to buy parts from us and wish to see our work in action. It also includes investors and contractors. READ MORE

Why Managers Fear a Remote-Work Future

In 2019, Steven Spielberg called for a ban on Oscar eligibility for streaming films, claiming that “movie theaters need to be around forever” and that audiences had to be given “the motion picture theatrical experience” for a movie to be a movie. Spielberg’s fury was about not only the threat that streaming posed to the in-person viewing experience but the ways in which the streaming giant Netflix reported theatrical grosses and budgets, despite these not being the ways in which one evaluates whether a movie is good or not. Netflix held firm, saying that it stood for “everyone, everywhere [enjoying] releases at the same time,” and for “giving filmmakers more ways to share art.” Ultimately, Spielberg balked, and last month his company even signed a deal with Netflix, likely because he now sees the writing on the wall: Modern audiences enjoy watching movies at home. READ MORE

Energy expert warns of ‘serious oil crisis’ within next five years

Maglan Capital President David Tawil argued on "Mornings with Maria" on Thursday that "with respect to oil supply, the rush for the exit doors is getting really serious" amid "strong demand" with the reopening of economies, which could soon lead to "a serious oil crisis in this world." 

The energy expert has been bullish on oil for the past couple of months, and told "Mornings with Maria" in June that he expects oil prices to hit $100 per barrel before the end of 2021. On Thursday, he told host Maria Bartiromo that he believes his projection still holds true, adding that it will happen sooner rather than later.  READ MORE