By Diane Swonk, Chief Economist, Grant Thornton & Yelena Maleyev, Economist, Grant Thornton The Commerce Department released a flurry of economic data before the Christmas holiday. Everything from consumer spending to home sales and investment were strong in November before the onset of the Omicron variant. It is important to note that much of the…
By Mark Herzinger, Baker Tilly Many hedge fund, private equity and alterative asset professionals still seek clarification on the outcomes from the difficult year. As 2021 comes to an end, we reflect on the many changes the asset management industry encountered regarding tax reform and regulations. Watch Baker Tilly’s informative year end webinar. Our asset…
By Jessica DeRosa, Baker Tilly Fund managers are focusing on the diversity of their boardrooms and their impact on investment strategies. Boardroom diversity relates to gender, ethnicity and socioeconomic upbringing in the boardroom. John Galloway, principal and investment stewardship officer at Vanguard, authored an article focusing on this. The premise, based in Vanguard’s beliefs, is…
By Nicholas Prentiss, Baker Tilly In today’s day and age, digital trading is everywhere. Cryptocurrencies are being mined daily, blockchains and secured wallets are being generated and released left and right. The new trend that has caught the eye of investors is the nonfungible token (NFT) market. NFTs are digital records of proof that represent…
In the run up to the holiday, major U.S. and U.K. regulators met over zoom to share the latest on financial regulation. UK and U.S. participants held the fifth meeting of the UK-U.S. Financial Regulatory Working Group (Working Group) virtually on 15 December 2021. The Working Group was formed in 2018 to deepen bilateral regulatory…
Background Cryptocurrencies can make it easier for fraudsters to obscure the source of criminal proceeds and are increasingly becoming the preferred currency of cybercriminals, from purchasing illicit goods using Bitcoin as a payment method to ransomware attacks where payments by Bitcoin are demanded. This trend is more prevalent because cryptocurrency offers a combination of anonymity,…
Special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) have existed for many years but recently surged in popularity. In Baker Tilly’s session at the Workiva Amplify 2021 virtual conference, our specialists explore the differences between a SPAC and a traditional initial public offering (IPO), and discuss what risks organizations must consider before going public via a SPAC. After watching…
In 2021, the investment management industry fared well despite the pandemic-driven market volatility. While the overall outlook looks promising as we head into 2022, uncertainty around potential COVID-19 variants remains. This, along with a host of other factors, will likely continue to test investment management leaders as they strategize for the future and come up…
Internal controls have traditionally been viewed as a requirement to avoid regulatory, legal and external audit/examination consequences. Rarely are they seen as a strategy for building business value and consumer confidence. Yet, in virtually every industry, internal controls are becoming an important competitive differentiator. They are being elevated from a necessary evil to a valuable…
Driven by the global pandemic and shifts in the financial services industry, cryptocurrencies and digital payments are becoming increasingly mainstream. Rising interest in cryptocurrencies and uncertainty related to the traditional financial markets have piqued the interest of institutional investors and retail consumers alike. Some investors also view cryptocurrency as an anti-inflationary growth asset that can…
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