🍋 Mormon Hedge Fund

Together With

Good Morning! Looks like McKinsey is finally taking a page out of its own consulting playbook, announcing plans to cut 2,000 jobs internally.

January saw yet another month of dismal sales, with a 12th straight month of declines for existing homes. Big office landlords are starting to give up as remote work becomes the new normal. Meanwhile, smaller businesses are offering perks such as 4-day workweeks to compete with larger counterparts.

Starbucks is releasing new olive oil-infused coffee, with plans to expand into the United States this summer.

Financebuzz’s team of credit card experts has put together a comprehensive list of the top cards that offer extended periods of 0% interest rates. Check out the list here.

If you are interested in getting in front of a smart, young audience of business leaders, bankers, investment professionals, policy influencers of over 500,000 people, then fill out this form, we’ll be in touch.

1. Story of the Day: Mormon Hedge Fund

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (better known as the Mormon Church) just got a $5 million slap on the wrist from the SEC for playing a game of financial hide-and-seek with their investments. Their investment arm, Ensign Peak Advisors, kept their $32 billion equity portfolio (as of 2018) on the down-low for 22 years.

The Church allegedly played a shell game with its investments, hiding them behind multiple companies and failing to properly disclose them to the public. 13 shell companies were used and named in different senior Church members' names in an effort to avoid all of the investments being listed in one place.

The truth behind the Church's extensive investment portfolio only came to light in 2018 when the Truth and Transparency Foundation, formerly known as MormonLeaks, revealed that the Church's assets had reached tens of billions of dollars and none of it was being directed towards charitable causes.

The Church’s portfolio is estimated to stand at ~$130 billion today and consists of an array of investments in stocks, bonds, real estate and agriculture.

2. Markets Rundown

Stocks tumbled to their biggest drop since December as rates climb.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) HSBC ($HSBC) +5% after the bank announced Q4 earnings.

• (–) Home Depot ($HD) -7% because the company is bracing for a consumer slowdown, will boost pay for hourly workers.

• (–) Generac ($GNRC) -9% after the generator maker faced a pair of downgrades.

Private Dealmaking

• Hemab Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech company, raised $135 million

• NanoGraf, a battery development company, raised $65 million

• Cerevance, a biotech company focused on central nervous system diseases, raised $51 million

• Moov, an embedded payments processing startup, raised $45 million

• RapidDeploy, a mapping and analytics software provider, raised $34 million

• Chaos Labs, a crypto security startup, raised $20 million

A Message from Financebuzz

Are you feeling weighed down by your credit card debt and the high monthly payments that come with it? Don't let the pressure keep building up. A new 0% intro APR credit card can help ease the pressure while you pay down your balances.

Financebuzz’s team of credit card experts has put together a comprehensive list of the top cards that offer extended periods of 0% intro APR on balance transfers and purchases. With these special rates, you can get some much-needed relief and pay down your balances without worrying about accruing additional interest.

Check out the list of these cards charging 0% interest till nearly 2025 here.

3. Top Reads

• Venture fundraising hits a nine-year low (Fox)

• 3 reasons the current stock market rally could stall (YF)

• Spring break gets pricey as travelers return to old booking habits (CNBC)

• The NFT market is down, but it’s not dead (Axios)

• Why your 401(k) might not have ETFs (Fox)

• Bond yields keep on rising (Axios)

• How Wall Street bought single-family homes and rented them out (CNBC)

• Some everyday investors still bet crypto can make them rich (WSJ)

• The biggest reasons why people won’t switch banks (YF)

4. Book of the Day: Mixed Signals

Read a Book in a Day - Don't think it's possible? With Shortform it is. Their super-detailed book guides give you the world's best ideas without all the fluff. And they don't cut corners, either. Shortform's guides to popular nonfiction books and articles include comprehensive coverage, analysis, and even interactive exercises. With a library of 1000+ books in categories like finance, careers, and personal development, you'll have the tools to excel in 2023. Start learning faster with a free trial and $42 off the annual subscription - that's almost 3 months free!

Incentives send powerful signals that aim to influence behavior. But often there is a conflict between what we say and what we do in response to these incentives. The result: mixed signals.

Consider the CEO who urges teamwork but designs incentives for individual success, who invites innovation but punishes failure, who emphasizes quality but pays for quantity.

Employing real-world scenarios just like this to illustrate this everyday phenomenon, behavioral economist Uri Gneezy explains why incentives often fail and demonstrates how the right incentives can change behavior by aligning with signals for better results.

Drawing on behavioral economics, game theory, psychology, and fieldwork, Gneezy outlines how to be incentive smart, designing rewards that are simple and effective.

“Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.”

5. Short Squeez Picks

• Daloopa is giving Short Squeez readers access to ten financial models (any public company) if you sign up for a free account on their website

• 6 things the most productive people do every day

• The crucial link between motivation and self-awareness

• How to make time work for you

• 7 new AI websites to save you time

• Effective leadership during downturns

6. Daily Visual: Interest in Pickleball Explodes

Change in consumer interest in select hobbies from 2019 to 2022

_{Source: Axios}

7. Daily Acumen

Success is not contingent upon having a title.

Unfortunately, many individuals become preoccupied with their ego and status, leading to a misguided focus.

People often resort to competition when it is not necessary.

However, it is possible to progress quickly by making friends and learning efficiently.

By becoming an asset to others, you can go farther and faster.

Making everyone want you on their team is key.

Being kind is more important than being intelligent.

Even intelligent people can make unwise decisions if they do not prioritize people.

Therefore, it is essential to understand the needs of colleagues, clients, and partners.

Instead of trying to impress them with your intelligence, communicate in their language and focus on saving them time.

8. Memes of the Day

 Advertise With Us / Merch Store / Private Equity Course

Want more Short Squeez?

Become an Insider. You'll get access to:

1. Industry deep-dives & compelling investment ideas

2. Wall Street Insider interviews breaking down their investment portfolio, strategy & investment picks

3. Knowledge Drop - an exclusive alpha-generating newsletter covering the best weekly research & content (podcasts, articles, blogs)

4. Vault – a collection of investing & recruiting guides, modeling courses, salary / comp data, institutional research (40+ resources added / month)

See you on the Inside.

*****