AGM Alts & Wealth Weekly News Roundup | 3.20.26
The AGM Collective announced the launch of its AGM Community, an advisory board of RIA executives, and its first RIA field trip in New York for May 19‑20. Across the private‑markets landscape, asset managers are pivoting toward high‑net‑worth (HNW) households, now controlling 40% of U.S. investable assets, while valuation multiples for $10bn‑plus RIAs rose to 21x. Major firms are deepening platform capabilities: iCapital acquired Hexure for annuity processing, Goldman Sachs took a $42.5 million minority stake in GeoWealth, and Blackstone closed a $12 billion Asia‑focused PE fund. These moves signal intensified focus on integrated wealth‑management solutions and robust fundraising in alternative assets.
As Employers Up Demand for Experience, a Nonprofit Is Building It Into High School
Genesys Works, a nonprofit that creates paid high‑school internships, is launching its ninth market in Nashville, expanding a model that pairs underserved students with real‑world work experience. The program begins with 160 hours of summer instruction before placing 12th‑graders in...
The Secret Sauce of Leadership Trust in Health Care Teams
The article argues that trust is the "secret sauce" for high‑performing health‑care teams, linking neuroscience to better collaboration, reduced burnout, and superior patient care. It presents Harvard Business School professor Frances Frei’s three‑pillar framework—authenticity, logic, and empathy—as practical levers for...
How I Built an AI-Powered Sales Enablement System that Actually Works
Caroline Maloney, Global Head of Sales Enablement at The Travel Corporation, built a bespoke sales framework and wrapped it with AI to drive real‑time reinforcement. She argues that traditional frameworks fail because they stop at training, treat all reps alike,...
Vincent
Vincent, also known as WithVincent, is a search engine and data platform dedicated to the alternative‑investment market. Founded by Indiegogo creator Slava Rubin and former Congressman Eric Cantor, it aggregates thousands of opportunities across real estate, venture capital, crypto, art,...
Critics Urge Ottawa to Help Inuit Resist Chinese Surveillance and Economic Dependence – by Dylan Robertson (National Observer/Canadian Press –...
Critics say the Liberal government is exposing Inuit communities to Chinese surveillance and economic dependence through unchecked Arctic investments. A report by the China Strategic Risks Institute warns that Beijing is leveraging infrastructure deals to gain data access and influence...
Your Fans Are Waiting
David Meerman Scott argues that modern marketers must move beyond fleeting attention and sales to create genuine human connections that turn customers into fans. He explains that fans exhibit deep loyalty, staying with a brand even when cheaper or flashier...
Valence
Valence has launched Nadia, the first AI‑powered enterprise coach that embeds directly into collaboration tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams. The platform uses actionable AI to assess working styles and team dynamics, delivering personalized leadership guidance at scale. Fortune 500 customers...
Vahan
Vahan.ai is an AI‑driven recruitment platform that automates high‑volume hiring for India’s blue‑collar and gig workforce through WhatsApp and voice interactions. The service powers hiring for giants such as Zomato, Swiggy, Uber and Amazon, handling millions of candidate matches. In...
Mitigating the Unexpected Cost Impact of Virtualization: Why CIOs Must Rethink Their Relationship with the Hypervisor
Virtualization, once a cost‑saving foundation, is now generating unexpected licensing fees that strain CIO budgets and stall digital initiatives. Recent shifts in vendor contracts and mandatory feature bundles have turned the hypervisor into a financial liability, prompting leaders to reassess...
Mercor: The Remote Work Platform Where Top Earners Are Quietly Making a Fortune
Mercor is an AI‑powered remote talent platform that matches skilled freelancers directly with well‑funded tech clients, bypassing traditional job boards. The service promises rates up to $150 per hour, translating to $12‑$20k monthly for mid‑level to senior engineers and data...
Mobilezone Inks Agreement to Buy Apfelkiste.ch and Marein for CHF 180 Mln
Mobilezone has signed an agreement with the AK Group to acquire the Swiss e‑commerce platform Apfelkiste.ch and retail branding specialist Marein for CHF 180 million. The deal will integrate Apfelkiste’s online catalog with Mobilezone’s extensive brick‑and‑mortar network across Switzerland. By adding Marein’s...
Pharma M&A Roundup: Novartis to Acquire Pan-Mutant-Selective PI3Kα Inhibitor From Synnovation Therapeutics, Collegium to Acquire Azstarys From Corium Therapeutics
Novartis announced a deal worth up to $3 billion to acquire SNV4818, a pan‑mutant‑selective PI3Kα inhibitor aimed at hormone‑receptor‑positive, HER2‑negative breast cancer. The transaction includes $2 billion upfront and potential milestones exceeding $1 billion, with closing expected in early 2026. Collegium Pharmaceutical agreed...
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When Your Vibe Coded App Goes Viral—And Then Goes Down
Proof, an AI‑driven, agent‑native document editor, launched and quickly amassed over 4,000 documents before its server crashed repeatedly. The author recounts a sleepless week of debugging, relying on the same Codex agents that built the app to diagnose deep code...
Forescout Reports Strong Growth and Profitability in FY2025
Forescout Technologies reported robust FY2025 results, adding over 230 net new customers and closing 58 deals worth $1 million or more, a 26% increase year‑over‑year. Revenue growth was strong across financial services (up 25%) and healthcare (up 24%), while gross dollar...
Grim Week in Review
Industrial production nudged up 0.2% in February, marking a modest 1.4% year‑over‑year gain, a small but positive signal for the NBER recession gauges. Homebuilder confidence ticked higher in March yet remains historically low, with 37% of builders cutting prices. Gasoline...
Tariffs and Economic Uncertainty: Why There’s Still Reason for Optimism
U.S. tariffs have narrowed the trade deficit with China from roughly $290 billion to $202 billion, while shifting import volumes toward Vietnam, Taiwan, India and Mexico. The policy has spurred “origin‑washing,” where Chinese goods are mislabeled to evade duties, complicating enforcement. Manufacturing...
A Seventh Central Bank Interest Rate Cut in Russia
On March 20 2026 the Central Bank of Russia trimmed its benchmark rate by 50 basis points to 15.0%, the seventh reduction since the October 2024 peak of 21%. The cumulative easing amounts to six percentage points, the deepest policy shift in over two...
Weekend Reading and MB Media Appearances
Recent coverage underscores a convergence of fiscal and energy pressures in both the United States and Australia. In the U.S., the national debt has breached $39 trillion, while President Trump’s hard‑line stance on Iran and rising oil prices are being linked...
Trump Cheers Oligarch Takeover of CNN
President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly backed the Ellison family’s bid to acquire CNN as part of Paramount‑Skydance’s $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, while the DOJ antitrust division reviews the deal. Meanwhile, xAI faces a class‑action lawsuit alleging...
Marvell Technology: Fiscal 4Q26 and FY26 Financial Results
Marvell Technology reported record fiscal 2026 results, posting $8.195 billion in net revenue, a 42 percent year‑over‑year increase, and a Q4 revenue record of $2.219 billion. GAAP earnings per share rose to $3.07, up 81 percent, while non‑GAAP EPS reached $2.84. The growth was...
Malaysia Cracks Trump’s Tariff Wall
Malaysia announced it is terminating its customs agreement with the United States after a Supreme Court ruling declared the IEEPA‑based tariffs illegal. The original pact imposed a flat 19% tariff on most Malaysian exports, a rate now effectively cut in...
Dollar Mixed, Equities Down, Bond Yields Higher, and Mood Remains Fearful
The U.S. dollar posted mixed moves, gaining against the yen and won while slipping versus the euro, sterling and Canadian dollar. U.S. Treasury yields rose five basis points, outpacing modest increases in Japan, Spain, Switzerland and Germany, while all four...
Founder Fridays No. 186
Founder Fridays #186 delivers a mix of tactical advice for scaling startups, from AI‑driven creative tools to sales discovery, communication efficiency, co‑founder selection, fundraising, and legal billing. It highlights Flora’s bet that taste, not raw model performance, is the real...
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How To Change Yourself To Change Your Company
"Reinventing the Leader" by Walmart executive Gui Loureiro and coach Carlos Marin argues that personal transformation is a prerequisite for corporate change. The book chronicles how Loureiro’s data‑driven, customer‑centric overhaul of Walmex—Walmart’s largest Latin‑American division—revitalized growth and culture. It offers...
Weekly Roundup: March 13-19, 2026
The Harvard Law School Forum’s March 13‑19 roundup highlights a wave of governance developments, from SEC Chair Paul Atkins’ push for modernized disclosure rules to Delaware Supreme Court rulings affirming SB21 safe‑harbor provisions and ADR guidance for earnout disputes. Articles...
Broadband Shorts March 2026
Broadband providers are reshaping the market through a series of high‑value acquisitions and strategic partnerships. Verizon closed its $20 billion purchase of Frontier, adding 2.2 million fiber subscribers, while AT&T acquired over one million Lumen customers and secured Starry’s millimeter‑wave technology. The...
Steady Today, Uncertain Tomorrow: Iran War Tests US Resilience
The Iran war has so far left the US economy largely intact, with the Atlanta Fed nowcasting a 2.1% annualized Q1 GDP rise and the Dallas Fed’s Weekly Economic Index at 2.6%, suggesting stable activity through mid‑March. While global oil...
The Law of Basis Divergence: The Mechanics of Large-Cap Deleveraging
Large‑cap institutions are quietly deleveraging by selling core positions while spot indices rise, creating a "basis divergence" where spot and futures move in opposite directions. The March 20, 2026 KOSPI case showed spot gains (+0.31 %) alongside futures losses (‑0.07 %) as foreign investors...
Podcast: Building the Defense Backbone: Precision Aerospace & Defense and FACT II (FACT)
Precision Aerospace & Defense Group and FACT II Acquisition Corp announced a $310 million business combination, turning the defense‑supplier roll‑up into a publicly traded entity via a SPAC. The deal, disclosed in December, positions Precision to build an EBITDA‑positive network of critical...
Failure to Confront Poor Performance for Fear of Demotivating a Critical Team Member
Leaders often avoid confronting indispensable team members for fear of demotivating them, creating a double standard where poor behavior goes unchecked. This avoidance erodes credibility, fuels resentment among other staff, and raises turnover risk. Research shows that small, frequent feedback...
The United States Isn’t That Bad, Is It? United Airlines Tells Every Flight Attendant They Are Moving to London
United Airlines mistakenly emailed its entire flight‑attendant workforce of about 30,000, announcing a transfer to its London Heathrow base. The error was corrected within 30 minutes, relieving most crew members who were not slated for the rare overseas move. United...
STC Bahrain Grants Employees 10-Day Extended Eid Holiday
STC Bahrain announced a ten‑day extended holiday for all staff in celebration of Eid Al‑Fitr, beginning on the first day of the festival and running through 28 March. The company framed the move as a token of appreciation for employee contributions and...
SEC Targets Auditing ‘Bad Actors’ With New Enforcement Team
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced a new enforcement unit, dubbed the “SOX Group,” to pursue misconduct among auditors. The move follows a recent budget reduction for the independent board that traditionally monitors audit quality. A federal job posting...
Values: Where Good Intentions Go to Die
Leaders often draft corporate values but fail to embed them in daily behavior. The article urges quarterly alignment meetings and a rotating Chief Values Officer to monitor and enforce values through concrete actions. It stresses that promotions, performance reviews, and...
Conditions for US-Russia Rapprochement Fall Into Place
Seven months after the historic Alaska summit, the United States issued a 30‑day waiver permitting limited sales of sanctioned Russian crude, a move aimed at offsetting oil shortages caused by Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The waiver signals...
A Guide to Building and Scaling a Restaurant Franchise
Restaurant franchising remains the dominant growth model in U.S. food service, with brands like Chick‑fil‑A, McDonald’s and Wingstop leveraging uniform menus and strong brand equity to outpace independent operators. Studies show franchise units generate higher revenue and enjoy superior success...
GUEST ESSAY: Executives Trust AI Security Even as Security Teams Confront Blind Spots, New Risks
Recent Manifest Cyber research reveals a stark confidence gap: 80% of executives believe their AI systems are well‑secured, while just 40% of application security practitioners share that view. The study also found that 63% of organizations have uncovered “shadow AI”—unaudited...
Two Nonsolicitation Mistakes That Can Cost Employers an Injunction
Pennsylvania Superior Court upheld a trial court’s denial of a preliminary injunction against former wealth advisors, citing two common drafting errors in nonsolicitation agreements. The court found the mid‑employment covenants lacked new consideration and the client restriction was overly broad,...
What Drove the Huge 2021 Boom?
The 2021 M&A market exploded, posting a 2.5‑times jump in deal volume. Analysts attribute the surge to a perfect storm: massive fiscal stimulus, historically low interest rates, depressed valuations, a frozen deal backlog, record‑high private‑equity dry powder, and strategic buyer...
Guest Post: Rita’s Italian Ice and Seasonality
Rita’s Italian Ice, the nation’s largest Italian‑ice franchise, operates roughly 600 locations in 30 states, traditionally opening in March and closing in September. This seasonal model forces franchisees to shoulder year‑round fixed costs while generating revenue for only about seven months....
Atrium Strengthens Property Business Group with Key Appointments
Atrium, a Lloyd’s‑based specialty insurer, announced senior appointments to boost its Property Business Group. Natalie Dubois and Thomas Hobbs were promoted to joint Head of US & Canada Property Binders, while Emily Lambert joined as an underwriter on the Property...
Lean Quote: Lean Leadership: It’s About Caring — Not Commanding
The article argues that effective Lean leadership hinges on caring for people rather than issuing commands. Citing Simon Sinek, it frames leadership as a responsibility to remove obstacles, foster psychological safety, and empower front‑line workers. It contrasts traditional command‑and‑control with...
Salesforce Administrator Salary in 2026 (India, US, Experience Wise Guide)
Salesforce Administrator compensation in 2026 varies widely by geography and experience, with Indian salaries ranging from ₹4 LPA to ₹20 LPA and U.S. pay spanning $70,000 to $130,000 annually. Experience level, certifications, and specialized skills such as Flow automation and Apex basics...
Aon Appoints Fabio Martinez as Head of Health & Talent, Brazil
Aon has appointed Fabio Martinez as Head of Health & Talent for Brazil. Martinez brings over 25 years of insurance and health sector experience, including a decade at Aon where he served as Client Management Director and Chief Broking Officer....
BISTRO: A “ChatGPT” For Time Series
Researchers Batuhan Koyuncu, Byeungchun Kwon, Marco Jacopo Lombardi, Fernando Perez‑Cruz and Hyun Song Shin unveiled BISTRO, a transformer‑based model designed to forecast macroeconomic time series. Trained on the Bank for International Settlements' extensive macro data, BISTRO acts like a ChatGPT...
Your Elected Leaders: Shaila Sharmin, Policy SIG Co-Chair
Shaila Sharmin, a cybersecurity architect at Prime Bank PLC, has been re‑elected as Co‑Chair of APNIC’s Policy Special Interest Group for APNIC 60, following prior terms at APNIC 52 and 56. Her career spans ISP, WiMAX and banking sectors, giving her a practical...
The Marketing Strategy Behind a Viral Product
The post breaks down how viral products are engineered, not accidental, by aligning product design, distribution tactics, and retention systems. It highlights that visually distinctive, simple, emotionally resonant products naturally fit social media content. Strategic exposure through creator collaborations and...
Sale of Business Non-Competes: The Forfeiture for Competition Alternative
Mayer Brown’s March 2026 memo urges acquirers to replace traditional non‑compete covenants with forfeiture‑for‑competition (FFC) clauses after Delaware courts increasingly invalidate non‑competes on reasonableness grounds. An FFC ties a supplemental cash benefit to the seller’s agreement not to compete, and because...
Personalization, Profit & the CFO: Scaling Martech Engines with Eloise Gillespie
In a recent episode of Making Sense of Martech, Optus’s Associate Director of Personalization and Martech, Eloise Gillespie, explains how AI‑driven personalization can scale only when the underlying infrastructure aligns with real‑world business constraints. She details the shift from treating...