Author: Arabian Media staff

Even hedge fund royalty Bobby Jain is having a hard time starting a firm to compete with the industry’s giants.The former co-chief investment officer at Millennium Management tried to pull off the world’s largest hedge fund launch last year. He had to settle for the largest launch since 2018 with $5.3bn in commitments from investors, after falling short of the initial fundraising target of $8bn-$10bn.A year on from the start of trading, high costs and a slow build-up mean Jain Global is at the bottom of the pack of so-called multi-managers that it is seeking to challenge. “This is a…

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the worldDonald Trump’s escalating attacks on the Federal Reserve have unsettled financial markets, with investors increasingly concerned about risks to the central bank’s independence and long-term ability to fight inflation. The US dollar, a proxy for the health of the world’s biggest economy, tumbled 1.2 per cent against a basket of peers on Wednesday immediately after reports saying the US president had asked a group of lawmakers whether he should sack Fed chief Jay Powell. Trump later insisted it was “highly…

One scoop to start: Diageo chief executive Debra Crew has quit with immediate effect, confirming an earlier report by the FT that she was to be replaced. The Guinness and Johnnie Walker owner is struggling with falling alcohol sales and waning investor confidence.And another thing: Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard has withdrawn its record-breaking $46bn proposal to acquire Japan’s Seven & i Holdings, bringing an end to its year-long campaign to pull the 7-Eleven owner to the negotiating table on friendly terms.Welcome to Due Diligence, your briefing on dealmaking, private equity and corporate finance. This article is an on-site version of the…

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the worldIf there’s one thing that US President Donald Trump’s tariff vandalism has done, it’s to stress test trading partners’ ability to make and execute trade policy at speed. The latest put under this pressure is the EU, which reacted with startled affront last weekend when Trump suddenly threatened its exports with a 30 per cent tariff.This last week has shown us one situation where the EU’s trade policy machine has worked with persistence and precision. It has also revealed a…

Image: Supplied In today’s volatile global environment, travel risks have become a board-level concern for organisations headquartered in or operating out of the UAE and the Middle East. Whether responding to geopolitical instability, natural disasters, health outbreaks or climate-related disruptions, businesses must remain agile and informed to safeguard their most valuable asset: their people. Dubai and the broader UAE have long served as strategic hubs for multinational and regional companies, owing to their connectivity and business-friendly infrastructure. As a result, many organisations here have employees regularly deployed to — or permanently based in locations with elevated risk profiles. These include…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Electric vehicles myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.A new UK subsidy scheme designed to boost the sales of electric cars has created confusion across the industry and is likely to hit short-term sales and second-hand car prices over the longer term, automotive executives have warned. The application for the £650mn grant kicked off on Wednesday, but carmakers will have to wait for weeks to learn which of their models will be eligible for the subsidies. Only Nissan has said its new electric Leaf model, which will be produced at…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The European Commission has stalled one of its investigations into Elon Musk’s X for breaking the bloc’s digital transparency rules, while it seeks to conclude trade talks with the US. Brussels was expected to finalise its probe into the social media platform before the EU’s summer recess but will miss this deadline, according to three officials familiar with the matter. They noted that a decision was likely to follow after clarity emerged in the EU-US trade negotiations. “It’s all tied up,” one…

The release of China’s second-quarter growth data this week embodied a dilemma for the country’s policymakers: real economic expansion was strong and steady at 5.2 per cent but widespread falling prices meant nominal growth was much weaker, at 3.9 per cent.Solid real growth reflects the expansion of Chinese industry and exports — but nominal growth is what Chinese workers feel in their wage packets and Chinese companies see on their revenue line.It also means that interest rates, when deflation is taken into account, are much higher, leading to an ongoing, contentious debate about whether China should follow the path of…

Global central banks face a dilemma over whether to embrace stablecoins or promote alternatives to the new technology, as the US’s aggressive backing of privately issued tokens thrusts the fast-growing sector into the financial mainstream.This week, politicians in Washington are advancing legislation to ban the Federal Reserve from issuing a digital currency and provide a regulatory framework for privately issued stablecoins. For the Trump administration, such tokens, which are mostly backed by dollar assets, offer a vehicle to project the strength of the greenback globally. But the Bank for International Settlements, the umbrella body for central banks, last month warned…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The value of Chinese companies’ new investment and construction contracts in countries that are part of President Xi Jinping’s global Belt and Road Initiative has hit a record high this year, a new study has found.The expansion in overseas markets and China’s increased engagement with countries under its flagship BRI infrastructure programme contrast starkly with the approach of the US, where President Donald Trump is imposing bruising tariffs on trading partners around the world. Chinese construction contracts and investments in BRI members…