Global alternative assets remain resilient in 2023 amid economic uncertainty — Preqin Global Reports 2024

LONDON, Dec. 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today Preqin, the global leader in alternative assets data, tools, and insights, published its Alternatives in 2024 report, part of the Preqin Global Reports 2024. The report provides analysis on trends on key factors and trends driving the alternative assets industry.

While 2023 is a year so far characterized by market headwinds and a challenging fundraising environment for investors and fund managers alike, Preqin analysts remain optimistic about the outlook for global alternative assets. For instance, private debt fundraising fared relatively well in comparison to other private capital asset classes, while secondaries deal flow should start to pick up going into 2024 as the market comes back into balance.

Cameron Joyce, Head of Private Equity, Research Insights at Preqin, says, "Amid the formidable headwinds marked by swiftly tightening monetary policy and economic uncertainty, alternative assets have remained comparatively resilient. The industry continues to evolve rapidly, and promising opportunities are presenting themselves in areas such as private debt and secondaries. We continue to forecast solid growth for the industry despite softening expectations around fundraising and performance."

Key highlights from each asset class:

Private equity faces a stern test:

The private equity market has been hampered by rising interest rates "" which have weighed on deal activity "" and a constrained exit environment. Dealmakers are hoping for an increase in activity during 2024 and long–term investor appetite remains strong.

Venture capital investor sentiment on performance improves:

Venture capital returns have been challenged by factors such as the poor exit environment, elevated asset valuations, and climbing interest rates. Noting this, our latest investor survey shows that investors' outlook is shifting, and they are comparatively more positive on the performance of the asset class over the next 12 months.

Private debt fundraising holds up:

Private debt's floating–rate structure and seniority in the capital stack are especially attractive for investors seeking more defensive assets in challenging conditions, with strategies such as mezzanine debt growing in popularity.

Hedge funds' AUM rises despite net outflows:

Hedge funds' AUM growth has been driven primarily by asset returns and not inflows and outflows. In fact, hedge fund returns during months of market volatility proved that they can be effective in providing investors with downside protection. Niche strategies such as cryptocurrencies and insurance–linked securities (ILS) gained prominence due to their low public market correlation.

Real estate under pressure:

Rising interest rates have weighed on investment sentiment, resulting in weaker fundraising and deal activity. As investors flock toward larger funds in search of a sense of security, fundraising has been even more challenging for first–time and smaller funds.

Infrastructure may be turning a corner:

Fundraising fell sharply in 2023, a significant reversal after fund managers amassed record sums in 2022. But third–quarter deal activity proved robust and tailwinds from energy transition will continue to underpin the long–term growth of unlisted infrastructure.

For more information, contact Mimi Celeste Taylor at mimiceleste.taylor@preqin.com.

Notes to the editors

Alternatives in 2024 is a freely available version to accompany the Preqin Global Reports 2024. This complimentary report explores the impact of macroeconomic headwinds and market volatility on alternative assets this year and beyond.

If you are a full–time member of the press and would like to receive a full copy of any of the following reports, please get in touch: Private equity, venture capital, private debt, hedge funds, real estate and infrastructure. For non–press, the 2024 Preqin Global Reports are available for Preqin Insights+ subscribers.

About Preqin

Preqin, the Home of Alternatives, empowers financial professionals who invest in or allocate to alternatives with essential data and insight to make confident decisions. It supports them throughout the entire investment lifecycle with critical information and leading analytics solutions. The company has pioneered rigorous methods of collecting private data for over 20 years, enabling more than 200,000 professionals globally to streamline how they raise capital, source deals and investments, understand performance, and stay informed. For more information visit www.preqin.com.


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 1000903920)

Dans un contexte de polarisation des tendances mondiales, les écoles de commerce américaines connaissent une recrudescence de la demande intérieure

RESTON, État de Virginie, 27 oct. 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Le nombre total de candidatures des programmes d'coles de commerce en 2023 a baiss d'environ cinq pour cent dans le monde entier. Toutefois, selon l'enqute annuelle publie aujourd'hui par le Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), davantage de programmes par rapport l'anne dernire ont fait tat d'une augmentation de leurs candidatures, ce qui indique que le recul des candidatures n'a pas affect tous les programmes de manire homogne, Le GMAC, une association mondiale reprsentant les plus grandes coles de commerce, a publi les rsultats de l'enqute 2023 afin de fournir des donnes et des rflexions qui permettront de mieux comprendre les tendances actuelles des candidatures aux programmes d'enseignement suprieur en gestion (GME).

La baisse des candidatures concerne principalement les programmes plus slectifs, ce qui a entran une diminution du nombre total de candidatures au niveau mondial, tandis que les programmes moins slectifs ont enregistr une augmentation du nombre de candidatures. De nombreux candidats sont toujours intresss par les programmes traditionnels et comptitifs temps plein. Toutefois, les options en ligne, hybrides ou les cours du soir sont beaucoup plus susceptibles de connatre une augmentation du nombre de candidatures. Il est intressant de noter que les candidats qui choisissent les programmes les mieux classs ne recherchent pas ncessairement la mme flexibilit que les autres, mais de nombreux candidats sont davantage prts sacrifier le prestige d'un programme pour gagner en flexibilit.

Alors que les tendances post–pandmie dans le monde du travail et les prfrences en matire d'offres acadmiques continuent d'voluer, la communaut des coles de commerce dans son ensemble s'adapte rapidement , a dclar Joy Jones, PDG du GMAC. Qu'il s'agisse des programmes octroyant une licence, des nouveaux certificats, en passant par les concentrations, la formation des cadres et les micro–crdits, il existe une multitude d'options susceptibles d'intresser un grand nombre de candidats, quelle que soit leur situation professionnelle ou personnelle. Cela tmoigne de la faon dont les coles de commerce relvent le dfi consistant rpondre aux besoins des candidats aux coles de commerce d'aujourd'hui, qui bnficieront sans nul doute d'une formation suprieure dans le domaine des affaires.

Autres rsultats importants :

Les tendances amricaines et rgionales refltent l'volution des candidatures nationales et internationales.

Bien que la flexibilit des mthodes d'enseignement ait jou un rle important comme moteur des tendances mondiales en matire de candidatures, aux tats–Unis, la configuration internationale et nationale du volume des programmes s'est avre tre le principal vecteur de la croissance observe dans les programmes GME. Aprs plusieurs annes difficiles pour le secteur national, en particulier aprs la stabilisation des candidatures la suite de la pandmie, les programmes amricains ont enregistr une croissance des candidatures nationales au lieu d'une baisse en 2023. En effet, outre l'augmentation observe en 2020 en raison de la pandmie, le nombre de programmes amricains faisant tat d'une augmentation du nombre de dossiers de candidature a atteint son plus haut niveau depuis dix ans pour ce qui est des candidatures nationales.

Bien que plus de la moiti des programmes amricains aient connu une croissance malgr une lgre baisse du nombre total de candidatures, les programmes d'Europe, d'Asie et des les du Pacifique n'ont pas eu la mme chance. La plupart des programmes europens ont t confronts une baisse des candidatures au cours des trois dernires annes, ce qui s'est traduit par une chute importante (13 %) du nombre total de candidatures internationales en 2023. Les programmes d'Asie et des les du Pacifique ont galement connu deux annes conscutives de baisse relative du nombre de candidatures, avec toutefois une baisse marque (8 %) du nombre total de candidatures nationales en 2023.

Les candidatures chez les femmes continuent de stagner, quels que soient le type de cursus et la rgion.

Au cours des cinq dernires annes, la part des candidatures fminines aux tats–Unis, en Europe, en Asie, dans les les du Pacifique, au Canada et en Amrique latine a fluctu autour de deux cinquimes. Mme si l'enqute du GMAC sur les futurs tudiants indique que les femmes ont tendance tre plus intresses par les programmes flexibles, en ligne et hybrides, la part des femmes qui postulent des programmes en ligne, hybrides, le week–end et le soir reprsente toujours environ deux cinquimes. La proportion de femmes candidates au MBA pour cadres reste une lueur d'espoir. Bien qu'il s'agisse d'un pourcentage relativement faible de 32 %, la plupart de ces programmes ont affich une augmentation du nombre de candidatures fminines en 2023.

C'est encourageant de voir que davantage de femmes occupant des postes de cadres se tournent vers une formation commerciale pousse qui peut les aider renforcer leur rle de leaders sur le lieu de travail , a dclar Ana Mara Zermeo Padilla, directrice de l'exprience acadmique et des oprations de l'cole de commerce EGADE Tecnolgico de Monterrey et membre du conseil d'administration du GMAC. Il reste encore beaucoup faire pour inciter les femmes, en particulier celles qui sont au dbut de leur carrire, tirer parti de ce que peuvent offrir les diplmes d'tudes suprieures en gestion, notamment ceux qui comportent des modules en ligne et flexibles.

Les candidatures des populations amricaines sous–reprsentes ont atteint un niveau record aprs la pandmie et dpassent les niveaux d'avant la pandmie.

Depuis 2014, la plupart des programmes GME amricains ont connu une stabilit ou une croissance des candidatures des populations amricaines sous–reprsentes. l'instar des tendances gnrales observes aux tats–Unis et dans le monde, les candidatures de ces candidats ont augment paralllement la pandmie jusqu'en 2021 et 2022, priode laquelle la majorit des programmes ont enregistr une baisse des candidatures alors que les augmentations lies la pandmie s'taient stabilises. Les rsultats de l'enqute de cette anne montrent toutefois que 47 % des programmes amricains ont connu une augmentation du nombre de candidatures des populations amricaines sous–reprsentes, ce qui correspond un rebond de 18 points par rapport au niveau le plus bas des dix dernires annes, atteint en 2022, et un niveau encore plus lev par rapport aux annes prcdant la pandmie.

Suite l'arrt de la Cour suprme des tats–Unis sur les admissions fondes sur la race, les coles de commerce revoient leurs efforts en matire de recrutement et leurs stratgies d'admission afin de continuer intgrer un corps tudiant qui reflte la diversit du pays et de leur bassin de candidats , a dclar Sabrina White, vice–prsidente de l'engagement des coles et du secteur d'activit chez GMAC. Alors que la communaut des coles de commerce se prpare des changements imminents dans la manire dont les programmes amricains valuent l'exprience des candidats issus de minorits raciales et ethniques, nous esprons que le partage des donnes recueillies par les coles au cours de la dernire dcennie servira de base l'valuation de l'efficacit, ou de l'inefficacit, des efforts dploys l'heure actuelle.

propos de l'enqute

L'enqute du GMAC sur les tendances relatives aux candidatures est l'enqute la plus importante et la plus largement cite de ce type. En effet, elle est utilise par la communaut de l'enseignement suprieur en gestion depuis plus de vingt–cinq ans. L'enqute de 2023 a recueilli des donnes sur les dossiers de candidature reus par les programmes de GME pour l'anne universitaire 2023–2024. Entre juin et aot, 893 programmes de 247 coles de commerce dans le monde ont rpondu l'enqute. Les programmes participants couvrent 32 pays, dont 37 tats amricains et le district de Columbia, et refltent la diversit croissante de l'offre mondiale en matire de programmes GME. L'chantillon total comprend 413 programmes de MBA, 456 programmes de master de commerce, cinq programmes de troisime cycle (PGP) et 19 programmes de doctorat. Pour plus d'informations sur les programmes participants de cette anne, voir la section du rapport consacre au profil des participants.

propos du GMAC

Le GMAC (Graduate Management Admission Council) est une association qui regroupe les principales coles de commerce du monde entier. Le GMAC effectue des recherches de premier plan, organise des confrences sectorielles, fournit des outils de recrutement et des valuations pour le secteur des tudes suprieures en gestion, ainsi que des ressources, des vnements et des services qui aident accompagner les candidats tout au long de leur parcours dans l'enseignement suprieur. Dtenu et gr par le GMAC, l'examen Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) est l'valuation la plus couramment utilise dans les coles de commerce.

Chaque anne, plus de 12 millions de futurs tudiants consultent les sites Internet du GMAC, dont mba.com, pour se renseigner sur les programmes de MBA et de master de commerce, entrer en contact avec des coles du monde entier, se prparer et s'inscrire aux examens et obtenir des conseils sur les modalits de candidature aux programmes de MBA et de master de commerce. BusinessBecause et GMAC Tours sont des filiales de GMAC, une organisation mondiale dont les bureaux se trouvent en Chine, en Inde, au Royaume–Uni et aux tats–Unis.

Pour en savoir plus sur notre travail, veuillez consulter www.gmac.com

Contact mdia :

Teresa Hsu
Responsable en chef, relation mdia
Tlphone portable : 202–390–4180
thsu@gmac.com


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 8967094)

Amidst Polarizing Global Trends, U.S. B Schools Experience Domestic Demand Rebound

RESTON, Va., Oct. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Across the globe, total applications to graduate business school programs in 2023 dipped by approximately five percent. However, more programs than last year reported growth in their applications""indicating that the drop in applications was not felt evenly, according to an annual survey released today by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC). GMAC, a global association representing leading business schools, published findings from the 2023 survey results to provide data and insights to better understand current trends in applications to graduate management education (GME) programs.

Specifically, the decline in applications have centered around those to more selective programs, driving a dip in total global applications while their somewhat selective counterparts reported growth in their applications. Many candidates are still interested in more traditional, competitive full–time programs, but online, hybrid, or evening options were much more likely to report application growth. Interestingly, applicants seeking out top–ranked programs may not necessarily be looking for the same flexibility as the others, but many candidates are more willing to sacrifice prestige for flexibility.

"As post–pandemic attitudes toward work continue shifting and preferences for educational offerings continue evolving, the business school community as a whole is quickly adapting," said Joy Jones, CEO of GMAC. "From degreed programs to new certificates, concentrations, executive education, and micro–credentials, there is a wealth of options appealing to a wide spectrum of candidates in different stages of career and life. It serves as a testament to how business schools rise to the challenge to meet the needs of today's business school aspirants who will undoubtedly benefit from graduate business education."

Other Key Findings:

U.S. and regional trends reflect shifts in international and domestic applications.

While flexibility in delivery methods played an important role in driving the global application trends, in the United States, the international and domestic compositions of program volume turned out to be the key drivers behind the growth seen among their GME programs. After several challenging years with the domestic pipeline""especially after applications leveled off following the pandemic""more U.S. programs reported growth in domestic applications than declines in 2023. In fact, besides the increase seen in 2020 related to the pandemic, the number of U.S. programs reporting application growth reached a decade–long high in domestic applications.

While more than half of the programs in the U.S. experienced growth despite a small dip in overall applications, their counterparts in Europe, Asia, and the Pacific Islands were not as fortunate. Most European programs have faced declining applications over the past three years, with a significant drop (13 percent) in total international applications in 2023. Similarly, programs in Asia and the Pacific Islands have experienced two years of relative application declines, but with a pronounced drop (8 percent) in total domestic applications in 2023.

Applications among women continue to stagnate across degree types and regions.

Over the past five years, the share of female applicants in the U.S., Europe, Asia, the Pacific Islands, Canada and Latin America has hovered around two–fifths. Even though GMAC's Prospective Students Survey indicates that women tend to be more interested in flexible, online, and hybrid programs, the share of women applying to online, hybrid, weekend, and evening programs is still roughly two–fifths. One silver lining lies in the share of women applicants in the executive MBA. While it is comparatively smallest at 32 percent, most of these programs saw growth in their applications from female candidates in 2023.

"It is encouraging to see more women in executive positions pursue advanced business education that could help strengthen them as leaders in the workplace," said Ana Mara Zermeo Padilla, director of academic experience and operations of EGADE Business School at Tecnolgico de Monterrey and a GMAC Board member. "There is still much work to be done to appeal to women, especially those earlier in their careers, to take advantage of what graduate business degrees, particularly those with online and flexible modules, could offer."

Applications from underrepresented U.S. populations hit post–pandemic peak and top pre–pandemic levels.

Since 2014, most U.S. GME programs reported either stability or growth in their applications from underrepresented U.S. populations. Similar to broader U.S. and global trends, applications from these candidates surged alongside the pandemic until 2021 and 2022 when a majority of programs reported declines in applications as the pandemic–related increases leveled off. This year's survey result, however, shows that 47 percent of U.S. programs reported growth in applications from underrepresented U.S. populations, rebounding by a whopping 18 percentage point from a 10–year low in 2022 and even higher than the pre–pandemic years.

"In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on race–conscious admissions, business schools are reexamining their recruitment efforts and admissions strategies to continue enrolling a student body that reflects the diversity of the country and their pool of applicants," said Sabrina White, vice president of school and industry engagement at GMAC. "As the graduate business school community prepares for impending shifts in how U.S. programs evaluate the experiences of applicants from underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds, we hope sharing the data reported by schools over the past decade can help serve as a foundation for how current efforts have "" or have not "" been effective."

About the Survey

GMAC's Applications Trends Survey is the largest and most widely cited survey of its kind, serving the graduate management education community for the past quarter of a century. The 2023 survey collected data on applications received by GME programs for the 2023–2024 academic year. Between June and August, 893 programs at 247 business schools worldwide provided responses. Participating programs are located in 32 countries, including 37 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, and reflect the growing diversity of global GME offerings. The total sample includes 413 MBA programs, 456 business master's programs, five postgraduate programs (PGP), and 19 doctoral programs. More details about this year's participating programs can be found in the participant profile section of the report.

About GMAC

The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) is a mission–driven association of leading graduate business schools worldwide. GMAC provides world–class research, industry conferences, recruiting tools, and assessments for the graduate management education industry as well as resources, events, and services that help guide candidates through their higher education journey. Owned and administered by GMAC, the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) exam is the most widely used graduate business school assessment.

More than 12 million prospective students a year trust GMAC's websites, including mba.com, to learn about MBA and business master's programs, connect with schools around the world, prepare and register for exams and get advice on successfully applying to MBA and business master's programs. BusinessBecause and GMAC Tours are subsidiaries of GMAC, a global organization with offices in China, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

To learn more about our work, please visit www.gmac.com

Media Contact:

Teresa Hsu
Sr. Manager, Media Relations
Mobile: 202–390–4180
thsu@gmac.com


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 8966836)

Inmitten polarisierender globaler Trends erleben US-Business Schools Erholung der Inlandsnachfrage

RESTON, Virginia, Oct. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Weltweit ist die Zahl der Bewerbungen um einen Studienplatz an einer Business School im Jahr 2023 um etwa fnf Prozent gesunken. Allerdings meldeten mehr Studiengnge als im letzten Jahr einen Anstieg der Bewerbungen, was darauf hindeutet, dass sich der Rckgang der Bewerbungen nicht gleichmig auswirkt, wie aus einer jhrlichen Umfrage hervorgeht, die heute vom Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) verffentlicht wurde. GMAC, ein globaler Verband, der fhrende Business Schools vertritt, hat die Ergebnisse der Umfrage 2023 verffentlicht, um Daten und Einblicke fr ein besseres Verstndnis der aktuellen Trends bei Bewerbungen fr Graduate Management Education (GME)–Studiengnge zu liefern.

Der Rckgang der Bewerbungen konzentrierte sich vor allem auf die Bewerbungen fr selektivere Studiengnge und fhrte zu einem Rckgang der Bewerbungen insgesamt, whrend die Bewerbungen fr weniger selektive Studiengnge zunahmen. Viele Bewerberinnen und Bewerber sind nach wie vor an traditionellen, wettbewerbsorientierten Vollzeitstudiengngen interessiert, aber Online–, Hybrid– und Abendstudiengnge verzeichneten sehr viel hufiger eine Zunahme der Bewerbungen. Interessanterweise suchen Bewerberinnen und Bewerber, die sich fr die besten Studiengnge entscheiden, nicht unbedingt die gleiche Flexibilitt wie die anderen, aber viele Kandidaten sind eher bereit, Prestige fr Flexibilitt zu opfern.

"Im Zuge der anhaltenden Vernderungen in der Einstellung zur Arbeit nach der Pandemie und der sich wandelnden Bildungsprferenzen passt sich die Business School–Gemeinschaft als Ganzes schnell an", so Joy Jones, CEO von GMAC. "Von Studiengngen mit Abschluss bis hin zu neuen Zertifikaten, Studienschwerpunkten, Weiterbildungsangeboten fr Fhrungskrfte und Mikrodiplomen gibt es eine Vielzahl von Optionen, die ein breites Spektrum von Kandidatinnen und Kandidaten in unterschiedlichen Karriere– und Lebensphasen ansprechen. Es ist ein Beweis dafr, wie die Business Schools die Herausforderung annehmen, um den Bedrfnissen der heutigen Studienanwrterinnen und –anwrtern gerecht zu werden, die zweifellos von einer akademischen Wirtschaftsausbildung profitieren werden."

Weitere wichtige Ergebnisse:

Die Trends in den USA und in den Regionen spiegeln Verschiebungen bei den internationalen und nationalen Bewerbungen wider.

Whrend die Flexibilitt der Ausbildungsmethoden eine wichtige Rolle bei der Entwicklung der weltweiten Bewerbungstrends spielte, erwiesen sich in den Vereinigten Staaten die internationale und nationale Zusammensetzung des Studiengangvolumens als die wichtigsten Faktoren fr das Wachstum der GME–Studiengnge. Nach mehreren schwierigen Jahren fr die inlndische Pipeline "" insbesondere nach dem Rckgang der Bewerbungen nach der Pandemie "" verzeichneten 2023 mehr US–Studiengnge einen Anstieg der inlndischen Bewerbungen als einen Rckgang. Neben dem Anstieg im Jahr 2020 im Zusammenhang mit der Pandemie erreichte die Zahl der US–Studiengnge, die einen Anstieg der Bewerbungen meldeten, den hchsten Stand seit zehn Jahren.

Whrend mehr als die Hlfte der Studiengnge in den USA trotz eines leichten Rckgangs der Gesamtzahl der Bewerbungen ein Wachstum verzeichneten, hatten die Studiengnge in Europa, Asien und auf den Pazifischen Inseln weniger Glck. Die meisten europischen Studiengnge hatten in den letzten drei Jahren mit einem Rckgang der Bewerbungen zu kmpfen, wobei die Gesamtzahl der internationalen Bewerbungen im Jahr 2023 deutlich (13 Prozent) abnahm. Studiengnge in Asien und auf den Pazifischen Inseln verzeichneten in den letzten zwei Jahren ebenfalls einen relativen Rckgang der Bewerbungen, allerdings mit einem deutlichen Rckgang (8 Prozent) der gesamten inlndischen Bewerbungen im Jahr 2023.

Die Zahl der Bewerbungen von Frauen stagniert weiterhin in allen Studiengngen und Regionen.

In den letzten fnf Jahren lag der Anteil der Bewerberinnen in den USA, Europa, Asien, den Pazifischen Inseln, Kanada und Lateinamerika bei etwa zwei Fnfteln. Auch wenn die GMAC–Umfrage unter Studieninteressierten zeigt, dass Frauen eher an flexiblen, Online– und Hybrid–Studiengngen interessiert sind, liegt der Anteil der Frauen, die sich fr Online–, Hybrid–, Wochenend– und Abendstudiengnge bewerben, immer noch bei etwa zwei Fnfteln. Ein Lichtblick ist der Frauenanteil bei den Bewerbungen fr den Executive MBA–Studiengang. Obwohl der Anteil mit 32 Prozent vergleichsweise gering ist, verzeichneten die meisten dieser Studiengnge im Jahr 2023 einen Anstieg der Bewerbungen von Frauen.

"Es ist ermutigend zu sehen, dass mehr Frauen in Fhrungspositionen eine fortgeschrittene betriebswirtschaftliche Ausbildung absolvieren, die sie als Fhrungskrfte am Arbeitsplatz strken kann", so Ana Mara Zermeo Padilla, Direktorin fr akademische Erfahrung und Betrieb der EGADE Business School am Tecnolgico de Monterrey und Mitglied des GMAC–Vorstands. "Es muss noch viel getan werden, um Frauen, vor allem diejenigen, die am Anfang ihrer beruflichen Laufbahn stehen, dafr zu gewinnen, die Vorteile eines Hochschulabschlusses in Wirtschaftswissenschaften zu nutzen, insbesondere solcher Abschlsse, die online und mit flexiblen Modulen angeboten werden."

Bewerbungen aus unterreprsentierten Bevlkerungsgruppen in den USA erreichten nach der Pandemie einen Hchststand und bertrafen das Niveau vor der Pandemie.

Seit 2014 meldeten die meisten GME–Studiengnge in den USA entweder eine gleichbleibende oder steigende Zahl von Bewerbungen aus unterreprsentierten Bevlkerungsgruppen in den USA. hnlich wie die allgemeinen Trends in den USA und weltweit stiegen die Bewerbungen dieser Kandidatinnen und Kandidaten parallel zur Pandemie an, bis 2021 und 2022 die Mehrheit der Studiengnge einen Rckgang der Bewerbungen meldete, da sich der pandemiebedingte Anstieg abschwchte. Die diesjhrige Umfrage zeigt jedoch, dass 47 Prozent der Studiengnge in den USA einen Anstieg der Bewerbungen aus unterreprsentierten Bevlkerungsgruppen meldeten, was nach einem 10–Jahres–Tief im Jahr 2022 einem Zuwachs von 18 Prozentpunkten entspricht und sogar hher ist als in den Jahren vor der Pandemie.

"Nach dem Urteil des Obersten Gerichtshofs der USA zur ethnisch sensiblen Zulassung berprfen die Business Schools ihre Rekrutierungsbemhungen und Zulassungsstrategien, um weiterhin eine Studentenschaft zu rekrutieren, die die Vielfalt des Landes und ihres Bewerberpools widerspiegelt", so Sabrina White, Vice President of School and Industry Engagement bei GMAC. "Whrend sich die Business School–Gemeinschaft auf die bevorstehenden Vernderungen in der Art und Weise vorbereitet, wie US–Studiengnge die Erfahrungen von Bewerbern mit unterreprsentiertem ethnischem Hintergrund bewerten, hoffen wir, dass der Austausch von Daten, die von den Schulen in den letzten zehn Jahren gemeldet wurden, als Grundlage dafr dienen kann, wie effektiv die derzeitigen Bemhungen waren "" oder nicht waren."

ber die Umfrage

Die Umfrage zu Bewerbungstrends des GMAC ist die grte und meistzitierte Umfrage ihrer Art, die seit einem Vierteljahrhundert die Gemeinschaft der Hochschulabsolventen im Managementbereich bedient. Im Rahmen der Erhebung 2023 wurden Daten zu den Bewerbungen fr GME–Studiengnge fr das akademische Jahr 2023–2024 erfasst. Zwischen Juni und August haben 893 Studiengnge an 247 Business Schools weltweit Antworten abgegeben. Die teilnehmenden Studiengnge befinden sich in 32 Lndern, einschlielich 37 US–Bundesstaaten und dem District of Columbia, und spiegeln die wachsende Vielfalt des globalen GME–Angebots wider. Die Gesamtstichprobe umfasst 413 MBA–Programme, 456 Business–Master–Programme, fnf Postgraduierten–Programme (PGP) und 19 Doktorandenprogramme. Weitere Einzelheiten zu den diesjhrigen teilnehmenden Studiengngen finden Sie im Abschnitt Teilnehmerprofil des Berichts.

ber den GMAC

Der Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) ist ein zielorientierter Verband fhrender Business Schools mit postgradualen Studiengngen auf der ganzen Welt. Der GMAC bietet erstklassige Forschung, Branchenkonferenzen, Rekrutierungstools und Bewertungen fr Akteure im Bereich des weiterfhrenden Managementausbildung sowie Ressourcen, Veranstaltungen und Dienstleistungen, die Kandidatinnen und Kandidaten auf ihrem Weg durch die Hochschulbildung untersttzen. Der Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), der vom GMAC entwickelt und durchgefhrt wird, ist die am weitesten verbreitete Prfung an Business Schools.

Mehr als 12 Millionen Studieninteressierte nutzen jedes Jahr die Websites des GMAC, darunter mba.com, um sich ber MBA– und Wirtschafts–Masterprogramme zu informieren, Kontakte zu Hochschulen auf der ganzen Welt zu knpfen, sich auf Prfungen vorzubereiten und anzumelden und Ratschlge fr eine erfolgreiche Bewerbung fr MBA– und Wirtschafts–Masterprogramme zu erhalten. BusinessBecause und GMAC Tours sind Tochtergesellschaften von GMAC, einer globalen Organisation mit Niederlassungen in China, Indien, dem Vereinigten Knigreich und den Vereinigten Staaten.

Um mehr ber unsere Ttigkeit zu erfahren, besuchen Sie bitte www.gmac.com.

Medienkontakt:

Teresa Hsu
Sr. Manager, Media Relations
Mobil: 202–390–4180
thsu@gmac.com


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 8967094)

Resonance Consultancy Reveals the 2024 World’s Best Cities

NEW YORK, Oct. 03, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Resonance is a leading advisor in tourism, real estate and economic development, and its World's Best Cities rankings quantify and benchmark the relative quality of place, reputation and competitive identity for the planet's urban centers.

The Best Cities data is lauded as the world's most thorough annual city ranking, based on original methodology that analyzes key statistics, user–generated reviews, social media and online activity.

The ninth annual World's Best Cities ranking is an important, timely analysis of the urban centers that are leading the planet in post–pandemic economic recovery and a resilient future.

Access the 2024 World's Best Cities Report and all 100 city profiles at WorldsBestCities.com.

Learn more about how Resonance Consultancy can help your city and community at ResonanceCo.com.

"The 2024 World's Best Cities rankings benchmark the overall performance of more than 270 principal cities in metropolitan areas with populations of more than one million, based on a wide variety of measures, in order to identify the Top 100 places to live, visit and invest on the planet," says Resonance President & CEO Chris Fair.

The overall Best Cities rankings are determined by analyzing the performance of each city for a wide range of factors that have historically shown positive correlations with attracting employment, investment and/or visitors to cities. Resonance groups these 24 metrics into a ranking of each city's Livability, Lovability and Prosperity.

Based on each city's performance across our methodology, these are the World's Top 10 Best Cities for 2024:

1. London, United Kingdom
2. Paris, France
3. New York, United States
4. Tokyo, Japan
5. Singapore
6. Dubai, United Arab Emirates
7. San Francisco, United States
8. Barcelona, Spain
9. Amsterdam, Netherlands
10. Seoul, South Korea

The full ranking and extensive profiles of all 100 World's Best Cities are available at WorldsBestCities.com.

About Resonance Consultancy

Resonance creates transformative strategies, brands and campaigns that empower destinations, cities and communities to realize their full potential. As leading advisors in real estate, tourism and economic development, Resonance combines expertise in research, strategy, branding and communications to make destinations, cities and developments more valuable and more vibrant. ResonanceCo.com

About World's Best Cities

Best Cities is the home of Resonance's exclusive ranking of the world's top urban destinations. The data is used by leading news outlets, trusted by city leaders, and is widely considered to be the world's most comprehensive annual city ranking. Bloomberg calls it, "The most comprehensive study of its kind; it identifies cities that are most desirable for locals, visitors, and businesspeople alike, rather than simply looking at livability or tourism appeal." WorldsBestCities.com | #BestCities

Attachments


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 8942713)

New Study: Failing Global Debt System Costs Lives

New York, June 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — New research supported by the Open Society Foundations shows that increasing delays in resolving sovereign debt crises in some of the world's poorest countries are significantly adding to the human cost of defaults""cutting economic growth, reducing life–expectancy, and worsening child mortality rates.

The analysis, The Human Costs of the Failing Global Debt System, builds on research published last year that showed how going into default leads to economic and human damage that worsens over subsequent years.

Sovereign debt defaults occur when countries fail to pay their debts on time. This can be interest or principal payments to domestic or international creditors. This typically forces a renegotiation of lending terms. The research looked at data from 131 sovereign debt defaults around the world since 1900.

The new paper's authors, economists Clemens Graf von Luckner and Juan P. Farah–Yacoub, conclude that, in addition, the longer it takes a country to reach a new agreement with its creditors, the greater the increase in human costs:

  • When a country's debt crisis is resolved in less than three years, infant mortality ten years after a default is declared as 2.2 percentage points higher than would have been expected. But when the default continues for more than three years, the difference rises to a staggering 11.4 percentage points higher.
  • For the countries studied, on average, life expectancy ten years after default drops by more than one year relative to where it would have been without the default.
  • In addition, the shortfall in the rate of increase in real economic output per capita (against what it could have been without default), jumps by 2.5 percentage points in the first year of default, against what it would have been had there been no default. It then continues to grow by 1.5 percentage point on average each year thereafter. Over a decade the gap grows to roughly 14.5 percentage points.

The findings underline the grave damage being caused by the failure of the existing global financial system to deliver prompt resolution to countries in default due in part to the involvement of an increasingly complex mix of creditors""including international financial institutions such as development banks, commercial banks, sovereign lenders including China, and private commercial creditors.

The report also highlights the case of Zambia, which defaulted on its external debt in November 2020 under the economic strains of the Covid pandemic. It has yet to secure a comprehensive debt agreement among all of its public and private creditors and the International Monetary Fund, with its total debt now estimated at over $18 billion.

The authors of this new report calculated that, based on a calculation using Zambia's birth rates in 2016, the country's current debt default would result in an additional 3,079 annual deaths of infants before their first birthdays by the year 2030, if the default is prolonged further.

Mark Malloch–Brown, president of the Open Society Foundations, said: "The findings here starkly illustrate how a dysfunctional global financial system is causing tragic but entirely avoidable human suffering. The leaders meeting in Paris need to commit to the urgent reforms the world needs to face both deepening poverty and the worsening climate crisis."

The Open Society Foundations, together with a broad range of civil society groups, are pushing for the leaders gathered at the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris to commit to policies that will significantly reform the international debt restructuring process to allow for a just and sustainable resolution to a country's default delivered in a timely manner. These steps include:

  1. States establishing a clear process with firm timetables for getting agreement to "cure" defaults""no more three years in limbo like Zambia.
  2. The IMF must more aggressively use its authority to "lend into arrears"""which means they can launch their funding support program to indebted countries even if some creditors refuse to accept new debt relief terms. These hold out creditors loans would not get paid, but everyone else participating does.
  3. Private creditors (including sovereign bond holders) should not be allowed to refuse to accept debt settlements that creditor countries agree to, and then expect to be paid with the benefits of that relief, or to use the courts to get full repayment. In the United States, the New York State legislature has before it legislation that would end this practice.
  4. The International Financial Institutions need significantly more funding from the Global North to give them the resources needed to properly fund recovery from defaults and allow the economic growth needed to avoid defaults in the future.


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 8862959)

Denmark takes first place in second annual World Citizenship Report, global ‘powerhouses’ lose their lustre among the mass affluent

London, United Kingdom, April 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Denmark, Switzerland and Finland took the top three spots in the 2023 World Citizenship Report, which launched today. The World Citizenship Report ranks 188 countries across five key motivators defining citizenship for the global citizen.

Published by CS Global Partners, the world's leading government and investment migration advisory firm, the World Citizenship Report showcases the World Citizenship Index (WCI), an innovative tool that takes a holistic approach to rank the world's citizenships across multiple dimensions including the motivators of Safety and Security, Quality of Life, Economic Opportunity, Global Mobility and Financial Freedom.

The World Citizenship Index is the product of a research–driven approach that goes beyond ordinary concepts of passport strength by placing greater emphasis on the diverse attitudes regarding key facets of citizenship. Unlike other rating tools, the World Citizenship Index ranking is designed to reflect a citizenship's value through the lens of high–net–worth–individuals (HNWIs) and the newest generation of global citizens: the mass affluent population.

"This year, we looked beyond HNWIs and extended our survey to the new mass affluent, a globally mobile generation who is providing fresh impetus for a renewed drive towards global citizenship. As the world around continues to change at an exponential rate, bringing with it new crises and opportunities "" individuals across the globe are increasingly calling their own citizenships into question in terms of the safety, freedoms, and the prosperity they provide," said Micha Emmett, CEO of CS Global Partners.

"This Report stands apart from other reports in the industry because it examines which countries offer the most benefits for global citizens, particularly in a post–COVID world where those that have the means are consistently searching for greater opportunities.”

This year, Denmark kicked Switzerland out of the top spot and scored the highest points. Switzerland ranked in second place and Finland retained the third spot for a second year in a row.

Notably, global superpowers such as the United States and China did not rank in the top ten, symbolising a significant shift in what these economic giants can tangibly offer the global elite. HNWIs and mass affluent citizens are searching for a better quality of life, security and financial freedoms, all aspects which have been on shaky ground since the pandemic.

The surveyed cohort chose "Quality of Life' as the most important feature of citizenship, which ranked first across the World Citizenship Index's five pillars, eclipsing both Physical Safety and Financial Freedom.

The Report found that a competitive economy, public services, and environmental sustainability are the three areas mass affluent individuals feel most let down by their governments."

We are unfortunately living through a period where the standard of living is falling at the fastest rate in over a generation. At the end of 2022, the UK Office for Budget Responsibility reported that UK households are set to suffer a 7.1 per cent fall in living standards over the next two years, the largest decline in six decades. Furthermore, according to the latest United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report published in the same period, living conditions in 90 per cent of the world's countries deteriorated in 2021 "" something that hasn't been seen since the height of the previous global recession caused by the financial crisis in 2007. Moreover, the UNDP report marked the first consecutive year of decline in the 32–year history of the Human Development Index (HDI) "" these trends are reflected in the current World Citizenship Index scores. For example, the United States dropped to 29th position for the Quality–of–Life motivator from 20th position previously, which shows how living standards are coming under pressure even in the world's economic powerhouses.

“The World Citizenship Report aims to capture what truly concerns and affects a global citizen,” added Emmet. “When there are options to gain a second or third citizenship, the first question in a HNWIs mind is 'where is the next place to be associated with?'”

“High–net–worth individuals and the mass affluent must consider a myriad of factors when deciding something as monumental as where to obtain second citizenship and build a second home. While passport strength is, of course, an important component, it is also one that is subject to the greatest change as evidenced by pandemic related travel restrictions,” she added.

As many parts of the globe recover from COVID–19 and find means to bolster their economies, a new chain of threats has emerged. The conflict in the Ukraine has not only made many nations in the northern hemisphere realise just how fragile the concept of safety and freedom is but has severely impacted energy and food security across the world.

With so much change happening so rapidly around us, it can be challenging to keep up with how all these disparate factors coming to bear on the prevailing attitudes toward global citizenship. And this is where the value of the World Citizenship Report comes into the picture. The Report continues to build on its reputation as an ambitious product reflecting the evolving nature of these attitudes toward citizenship, and one that is in tune with the defining issues of our time with respect to global citizens, including health and wellbeing, environmental sustainability, and shifting investment priorities.

The World Citizenship Index's unique methodology relies on the experience gained through CS Global Partners unparalleled work in the citizenship solutions industry, as well as comprehensive research to evaluate 188 jurisdictions across the five motivators of citizenship out of a maximum attainable score of 100 points.

The Report's multidimensional approach ensured that the attitudes under investigation were captured as accurately and meaningfully as possible. Consequently, rather than relying exclusively on value judgments to construct and weight the World Citizenship Index, CS Global Partners also leveraged its unparalleled network of industry experts and access to global citizens to isolate the major motivations for attaining a second citizenship. These factors were then further explored and validated by surveying the global mass affluent population on the value of second citizenship.


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 8812232)

Report on the Sustainability Governance Practices of the 30 Largest Global Banks Comes Up With Interesting Findings

LONDON, Jan. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Morrow Sodali and Nestor Advisors – A Morrow Sodali Company, are pleased to announce the publication of "Governance of sustainability in the largest global banks: A study of the top 30 European and North American banks".

This Report examines the sustainability governance practices of the 30 largest European and North American banks. In preparing the Report, we reviewed various publicly available documentation and also interviewed representatives from fifteen leading banks, including nine board chairs, other board members and senior executives. Interviewees shed light on different practices, and why banks chose to pursue them. The resulting Report compares the banks across several data points and analyzes these findings against a double index of sustainability and financial performance.

Stilpon Nestor, the Report's leading author stated, "Sustainability is one of the big issues facing banks and their leadership. Shareholders and various stakeholders, including regulators, expect banks to be proactive in sustainability. On the strategy side, the "greening of the book" is the big challenge, especially in markets with big "brown" sectors. On the risk side, some regulators expect banks to integrate sustainability risk within the core risk management framework and its key categories. They also expect a clear sustainability perspective in the risk appetite framework. In order to deliver in these areas, global banks have reshaped existing governance and organizational arrangements and have developed some new ones. Our Report examines these arrangements and comes up with interesting, sometimes counterintuitive, findings."

Among these findings, the issue of board skills in relation to sustainability was highlighted. All of the banks we interviewed do not see having sustainability experts on the board as a priority. Their priority is to make their existing board members more cognizant in the sustainability area. In that sense, they emphasize the development of director skills.

How does a board structure itself to address sustainability? In many cases, this is done by setting up a new committee. However, structure often reflects the level of maturity of the issues in a bank. One interesting finding of the Report is that banks further advanced in the "maturity spectrum" have done away with special committees and discuss sustainability as part of the general strategy and risk appetite.

Another key finding relates to the role of management in ensuring all business functions strengthen their capabilities to understand sustainability. This is an issue that touches upon all business areas of a bank, whether it is a corporate, retail or private bank, as well as risk, finance and internal audit functions. That is why most global banks have created senior management committees to oversee this transversal work. The seniority of the members of this committee is key. In 50% of the banks, the CEOs themselves are heading this senior coordinating committee.

Most banks have also included sustainability parameters in their executive remuneration approach. The Report finds that in the best performing ones, sustainability considerations have a relatively significant "weight" among other factors in determining variable compensation.

We hope you find this study insightful, and that the findings will be helpful from the perspective of all stakeholders. Click here to request the Report in full.

ABOUT MORROW SODALI

Morrow Sodali is a leading provider of strategic advice and shareholder services to corporate clients around the world. The firm provides corporate boards and executives with strategic advice and services relating to corporate governance, ESG, shareholder and bondholder communication and engagement, capital markets intelligence, proxy solicitation, shareholder activism and mergers and acquisitions.

From headquarters in New York and London, and offices and partners in major capital markets, Morrow Sodali serves over 1,000 corporate clients in 80+ countries, including many of the world's largest multinational corporations. In addition to listed and private companies, its clients include financial institutions, mutual funds, ETFs, stock exchanges and membership associations.

For more information, please visit morrowsodali.com.

ABOUT NESTOR ADVISORS

Nestor Advisors is the specialized board and governance advisory subsidiary of Morrow Sodali. We are a global advisory firm specializing in corporate governance, sustainability and organizational design, and work with the boards and senior management of financial institutions, companies and not–for–profit organizations to improve decision making, organizational structures, controls and incentives.

Fully integrated with Morrow Sodali, the two companies provide the firm's global client base with a comprehensive suite of advisory services relating to corporate governance, ESG, sustainability and stakeholder engagement.

Our services span a broad spectrum including holistic assessments yielding a significant redesign of a company's governance system, board evaluations, group governance, board training, risk management, and the development of specific policies and controls. Whatever the scope, our services are always closely tailored to our clients' needs.

For more information, please visit nestoradvisors.com.

CONTACTS

Elena Cargnello
Corporate Director, Marketing
e.cargnello@morrowsodali.com
+44 (0)20 4513 6913


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 8732968)

FXCM June Single Share & Stock Baskets Report

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Aug. 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FXCM Group, LLC ("FXCM Group' or "FXCM'), the leading international provider of online foreign exchange trading, CFD trading, cryptocurrencies and related services, is today releasing its data of most popular instruments for the month of June in its Single Share CFD and proprietary Stock Basket product lines.

FXCM offers fractional single share CFD trading with no commission fees** on leading companies from the US, UK, France, Germany and Hong Kong, whilst FXCM's stock basket products combine the shares of multiple companies from one sector into a single tradeable instrument. The company currently boasts a portfolio of 14 stock baskets. The list of companies and weightings is available on FXCM's stock basket website: https://www.fxcm.com/za/stock–baskets/

NVIDIA's climb towards $1000 a share saw it knock Apple down from the second most heavily traded share in June, as Amazon also retook its spot among the monthly leaders. Waning post–IPO interest in Coinbase saw it tumble out of the top 10 together with Google, which finds itself out of the top 10 for the very first time in over 12 months.

On the stock baskets side, there was not much change among the leaders, as China Tech, China Ecommerce and FAANG continued to hold the top three spots.

The Hong Kong based ATMX basket made its first appearance in the top 10 since being launched in May at the expense of the Work From Home basket, which saw the biggest decline as companies worldwide slowly try to return to pre–pandemic workspaces.

Volume
Rank
Monthly Rank
Change
Company Symbol
1 Tesla Inc TSLA.us
2 '4 NVIDIA Corporation NVDA.us
3 "1 Apple Inc AAPL.us
4 '3 Amazon.com, Inc AMZN.us
5 New to Top 30 BP plc BP.uk
6 "2 Boeing Co BA.us
7 '18 Zoom Video Communications Inc ZM.us
8 Baidu Inc ADR Class A BIDU.us
9 New to Top 30 Palantir Technologies Inc PLTR.us
10 New to Top 30 Airbnb Inc ABNB.us

Volume
Rank
Monthly Rank
Change
Sector Symbol
1 Chinese Tech CHN.TECH
2 Chinese E–Commerce CHN.ECOMM
3 Big US Tech FAANG
4 '1 Airlines AIRLINES
5 "1 Cannabis CANNABIS
6 '3 Esports & Gaming ESPORTS
7 '3 Biotechnology BIOTECH
8 "1 US Banks US.BANKS
9 '4 Big China Tech ATMX
10 "2 Casinos CASINOS

Past performance and popularity are not indicators of future results.

Rank is derived from FXCM Client Volume.

**When executing customers' trades, FXCM can be compensated in several ways, which include, but are not limited to: spreads, charging fixed lot–based commissions at the open and close of a trade, adding a markup to the spreads it receives from its liquidity providers for certain account types, and adding a markup to rollover, etc.

About FXCM:
FXCM is a leading provider of online foreign exchange (FX) trading, CFD trading, and related services. Founded in 1999, the company's mission is to provide global traders with access to the world's largest and most liquid market by offering innovative trading tools, hiring excellent trading educators, meeting strict financial standards and striving for the best online trading experience in the market. Clients have the advantage of mobile trading, one–click order execution and trading from real–time charts. In addition, FXCM offers educational courses on FX trading and provides trading tools, proprietary data and premium resources. FXCM Pro provides retail brokers, small hedge funds and emerging market banks access to wholesale execution and liquidity, while providing high and medium frequency funds access to prime brokerage services via FXCM Prime. FXCM is a Leucadia Company.

Forex Capital Markets Limited: FCA registration number 217689 (www.fxcm.com/uk)

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage.

70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

FXCM EU LTD: CySEC license number 392/20 (www.fxcm.com/eu)

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage.

Between 74–89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.

You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

FXCM Australia Pty. Limited: AFSL 309763.You can sustain a total loss of your deposited funds. The products may not be suitable for all investors. Please ensure that you fully understand the risks involved. If you decide to trade products offered by FXCM AU, you must read and understand the Financial Services Guide, Product Disclosure Statement, and Terms of Business on www.fxcm.com/au.

FXCM South Africa (PTY) Ltd: FSP No 46534 (www.fxcm.com/za). Our service includes products that are traded on margin and carry a risk of losses in excess of your deposited funds. The products may not be suitable for all investors. Please ensure that you fully understand the risks involved.

FXCM Markets Limited: Losses can exceed deposited funds. (www.fxcm.com/markets).

Media contact:
Chatsworth Communications
+44 (0) 20 7440 9780
fxcm@chatsworthcommunications.com


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 8288472)