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Miami’s Gold Rush: Finance Firms and Crypto Move In, Bringing Strains

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Miami’s Gold Rush: Finance Firms and Crypto Move In, Bringing Strains

From his new workplace in Miami Seaside, real-estate investor

Barry Sternlicht

is just steps from the ocean. His waterfront mansion is only a brief drive away. Chilly winters and state earnings taxes are a factor of the previous now that he has relocated right here from Connecticut.

Mr. Sternlicht, identified for launching the trendsetting W Lodge model, moved his Starwood Capital Group to the town in 2018. He’s a part of a booming migration of economic companies, expertise corporations and enterprise capitalists that has gained momentum within the years since then, as extra companies abandon the Northeast, Midwest and West Coast for the every day pleasures of South Florida life and its friendlier enterprise local weather.

Led by Mayor

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Francis X. Suarez,

Miami is making an attempt one thing so formidable it has not often succeeded wherever earlier than—reworking a metropolis recognized with glitzy seashores and nightlife right into a world-class enterprise and monetary middle.

To date it appears to be working.

Ken Griffin,

who already lives primarily in Florida, stated in June that he’s shifting his big hedge fund Citadel from its Chicago headquarters to Miami. Financiers

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Carl Icahn

and Orlando Bravo are among the many billionaires who relocated to the realm through the pandemic. The cryptocurrency change platform Blockchain.com moved its headquarters to Miami final 12 months. The Miami Warmth now play within the FTX Enviornment, named for the crypto change that paid $135 million for the rights.

Barry Sternlicht escaped chilly winters and state earnings taxes.



Picture:

Starwood Capital Group

However Miami is experiencing loads of rising pains alongside the best way. Rich tech and finance professionals are crowding out many lifelong residents. Residence rents are rising sooner within the Miami space than wherever else within the nation, by 58% over the previous two years via March, in line with Realtor.com. In some fascinating neighborhoods, landlords are doubling the lease after a lease expires as a result of they know transplants from the Northeast and West Coast are prepared to pay that rather more.

Starwood’s new headquarters have been speculated to be accomplished final 12 months, however a supply-chain crunch and allowing delays imply Mr. Sternlicht remains to be ready. Mr. Sternlicht would really like all his high executives to reside in Miami Seaside, however quite a lot of them have school-age youngsters and say they gained’t transfer as a result of the realm’s non-public colleges have lengthy ready lists.

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State-to-state internet earnings migration from 2019 to 2020

For the highest 5 highest-gaining states:

For the underside 5 states:

And the way a lot of the highest-gaining states’

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migrated earnings got here from N.Y. and Calif.:

For the highest 5 highest-gaining states:

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For the underside 5 states:

And the way a lot of the highest-gaining states’

migrated earnings got here from N.Y. and Calif.:

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For the highest 5 highest-gaining states:

For the underside 5 states:

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And the way a lot of the highest-gaining states’

migrated earnings got here from N.Y. and Calif.:

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Now he worries that Miami may be overextending itself simply as storm clouds collect over the nationwide economic system. When he appears at Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood—lengthy a mixture of warehouses and artwork galleries that’s now exploding with new workplace and residential buildings—the Starwood chief govt sees a thicket of cranes. As head of one of many world’s largest property house owners, he worries it’s harking back to different sizzling areas that ramped up earlier than experiencing busts.

“Everybody and their cousins want to construct a constructing right here,” he stated. “I’m getting nervous.”

Monetary corporations which have opened places of work within the metropolis over the previous 18 months signify round $2 trillion in belongings beneath administration, in line with the Metropolis of Miami. Hedge fund Elliott Administration Corp. moved its headquarters to West Palm Seaside, and loads of others are establishing or increasing their footholds within the space, together with Point72 Asset Administration, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors and Millennium Administration.

The Starwood Capital Group headquarters in Miami Seaside.

New York real-estate builders have additionally flocked to the magic metropolis to accommodate all of the newcomers, scooping up land in what some have known as a frenzy.

Steve Witkoff moved his operations right here, Miki Naftali purchased prime area in downtown Miami and Harry Macklowe is growing residence buildings close to a mass-transit entry level. Billionaire developer Stephen Ross just lately introduced plans to redevelop the historic Deauville Seaside Resort in Miami Seaside and is becoming a member of with

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Swire Properties Ltd.

on what they are saying would be the tallest workplace tower on Brickell Ave., Miami’s premier enterprise hall.

And now a number of massive legislation companies together with Winston & Strawn, King & Spalding and Sidley Austin have adopted the cash to Miami as nicely. All are searching for workplace area, and stock is tight.

On the tech facet, the Miami space is now residence to 10 “unicorns,” or startups valued at $1 billion or extra, together with the addition this 12 months of Yuga Labs, which owns the Bored Ape Yacht Membership and CryptoPunks NFT collections. It raised $450 million in seed funding again in March earlier than the crypto market turned. Enterprise-capital funding within the metropolis greater than doubled in 2021, to greater than $4.6 billion, in line with information agency CB Insights. Within the first quarter of this 12 months, Miami-area VC offers topped $1 billion.

Drawn to the motion, Andreessen Horowitz, a Bay Space-based venture-capital agency, is shifting its crypto workplace, a16z Crypto, to Mr. Sternlicht’s constructing, in line with individuals accustomed to the matter.

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Miami’s 44-year-old Republican mayor will get a lot credit score for the town’s latest success in attracting new companies. Mr. Suarez, a lawyer who served as a metropolis commissioner for eight years, moved to Metropolis Corridor in 2017, pledging “to make Miami a metropolis the place everybody can have a possibility to succeed by gaining access to the roles of tomorrow.”

Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez, left, poses in entrance of the Miami Bull on the Miami Seaside Conference Middle, unveiled to kick off the Bitcoin 2022 convention.



Picture:

Wilfredo Lee/Related Press

The U.S. Congress gave his efforts a lift that 12 months when the brand new federal tax legislation capped state and native tax deductions in locations like New York, New Jersey and California. With out that deduction, these states turned much more costly to reside and do enterprise in than Florida, which has no state earnings tax.

When Covid-19 erupted in 2020, New York Metropolis was an early epicenter. Droves of Wall Avenue executives decamped to South Florida, the place restrictions have been much less extreme and the temperate local weather meant individuals might meet exterior year-round. Miami additionally eased pandemic-related restrictions far sooner. Whereas New York Metropolis shuttered eating places for greater than 10 months, Miami reopened after two.

Mr. Suarez made nationwide headlines in December 2020, when somebody within the tech group recommended on Twitter that Silicon Valley ought to relocate to Miami. “How can I assist?” the mayor responded in a tweet that went viral and has come to epitomize a metropolis that pledged to do what it took to draw companies.

Annual earnings tiers for the roughly 850,000 individuals who migrated to Florida and New York in 2019 and 2020

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Miami-Dade County skilled a larger inflow of recent companies through the pandemic than ever earlier than. A report from the U.S. Census Bureau cited 106,810 new enterprise functions in Miami-Dade throughout 2020. That was up greater than 24% from 2019, which was the document on the time. A brand new excessive of 135,710 enterprise functions have been made final 12 months, the bureau stated.

“New York was once the monetary middle of the world, it’s not for my part,” Mr. Suarez stated throughout an interview at Miami Metropolis Corridor, the odor of Cuban espresso within the air. “You not must be bodily current in New York to do offers.”

Whereas New York noticed an exodus of residents who reported $21 billion in whole earnings on their 2019 federal returns, in line with the IRS, Florida noticed an inflow of residents who reported $41 billion in earnings, probably the most any state obtained.

A view of the Paramount Miami Worldcenter rental tower from one of many property’s swimming pools.

Longtime Miami businessmen say they discover the distinction.

“We’ve been working at this for a really very long time,” stated Nitin Motwani, the lead developer of Miami World Middle, a multibillion-dollar mission with 27 acres of retail, residential, workplace and lodge amenities.

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It took Mr. Motwani and his companions 5 years to boost the primary $1.5 billion for the mission, he stated, and fewer than 12 months to boost the following billion.

Whereas some Miamians are swimming within the spoils introduced by newcomers, others are getting worn out. Valerie Lopez moved together with her household from Colombia to Miami within the Eighties. In 2017, she co-founded Angle, a images market that connects individuals and companies with skilled photographers.

She did her firm’s fundraising in California. When enterprise capitalists requested why she was staying in Miami, her response was at all times: “As a result of it’s inexpensive and I find it irresistible.”

That’s modified dramatically over the previous two years. She and her husband have been paying $3,700 for a three-bedroom residence going through the bay in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood. In December their landlord wished to boost their lease to $5,000, after which somebody from New York provided $7,000. In March, the couple moved to a smaller residence within the Wynwood neighborhood.

James Curnin is a developer who moved to Miami in 2019 and is now constructing a multifamily property in Bay Harbor close to Miami Seaside. He loves the climate, the seaside, and says he’s by no means leaving.

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Miami resident Valerie Lopez moved to a smaller residence after newcomers drove up rents.

Nonetheless, he has observed that enterprise doesn’t proceed as easily because it as soon as did.

Proper earlier than the pandemic, when he moved to Miami, he stated it took not more than 4 months from when he submitted improvement plans to when he bought metropolis approval. Now, with the variety of initiatives swamping Miami Seaside’s employees and assets, that very same course of takes almost a 12 months, Mr. Curnin stated.

Miami has largely been in a position to keep away from hot-button political points when interesting to companies, however that’s turning into extra difficult. Mr. Suarez has warned {that a} legislation championed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis banning the dialogue of gender identification in early college grades might feed into tradition wars that harm Miami’s capability to draw new companies and residents.

The Supreme Court docket ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade presents one other potential problem, enterprise executives say. The Florida governor signed a legislation in April that banned abortions after 15 weeks. A circuit court docket choose on June 30 struck it down, however the state filed an enchantment.

Janine Yorio, chief govt of the New York Metropolis startup Everyrealm, stated she and her greater than 60 staff final 12 months mentioned relocating to Miami. The agency, which develops actual property within the Metaverse, an immersive three-dimensional community of digital worlds, is an efficient match for Miami’s ambitions. Her staff additionally cherished the climate and visiting the town.

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She finally determined to maintain the headquarters in New York, the place a core of staff reside close by. Now, the abortion subject provides her another excuse to not transfer there, she stated.

A waiter arms out menus on the Miami satellite tv for pc of the favored New York eatery Carbone.

“It’s clearly a setback for ladies,” Ms. Yorio stated, including that the court docket ruling might grow to be a recruitment dilemma for corporations based mostly in Miami.

And whereas the mayor likes to boast that Miami “went all in crypto,” it’s removed from clear whether or not this shall be a successful wager. Mr. Suarez introduced late final 12 months that he would settle for his wage in bitcoin and he aggressively pursued the sponsors of the bitcoin convention, persuading them to carry the marquee trade occasion in Miami as a substitute of Los Angeles, the place it was initially deliberate.

Nonetheless, bitcoin’s latest loss in worth has some fearful that the crypto affiliation is a dangerous one.

The MiamiCoin, the city-branded cryptocurrency created by a corporation known as CityCoins, has misplaced 98% of its worth from its peak in September. Whereas Miami was in a position to money out $5 million from it, traders have been left holding the bag.

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Mr. Suarez stated MiamiCoin could not succeed, however his No. 1 objective continues to be bringing what he calls a “confluence of capital” into the town.

A method Miami hopes to draw that capital is by internet hosting splashy occasions, many with a global enchantment, constructing on its Artwork Basel franchise. The town just lately authorized a plan to construct a soccer stadium for the native Inter Miami CF group and Miami shall be one of many 11 U.S. host cities for the 2026 World Cup.

In Could, Miami Seaside hosted the primary annual Aspen Concepts: Local weather convention in Miami Seaside, attracting chief sustainability officers from corporations equivalent to Google,

Normal Motors Co.

and

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BlackRock Inc.

“We’re a reasonably good canvas to speak about local weather change,” stated Miami Seaside Mayor

Dan Gelber.

Some areas of the Metropolis of Miami Seaside expertise common flooding throughout heavy rainfall and excessive tides. As an alternative of avoiding the subject, the town has embraced the climate-change dialog, and is engaged on elevating its roads to assist fight the issue.

ZZ’s is one in every of a couple of dozen new non-public golf equipment which have opened in Miami to cater to the brand new elite.

Later that month Miami hosted a Method One Grand Prix, attracting a world viewers. Quite a few Wall Avenue financiers flew down for the race, and resorts reported a rise in 25% income per obtainable room for that week in contrast with prepandemic years.

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South Florida’s meals scene can also be booming, aided partly by New Yorkers who’ve made Miami their new residence. Jeff Zalaznick, a co-owner of Main Meals Group, fled to Miami to journey out the pandemic. Prior to now two years he and his companions have opened up 5 eating places within the metropolis, together with a satellite tv for pc of their well-liked New York eatery Carbone.

“I got here for per week and I by no means left,” stated Mr. Zalaznick, who had lived in New York his total life.

He and his companions additionally opened a non-public membership known as ZZ’s that they’re now planning to launch in New York. It’s one in every of a couple of dozen new non-public golf equipment which have opened in Miami to cater to this new elite. The companions are additionally codeveloping a luxurious condo-hotel in Miami’s monetary middle known as “Main” that they are saying would be the tallest tower within the metropolis.

The town’s culinary fame obtained a lift in June, when Miami eating places have been awarded 11 Michelin stars for the primary time, becoming a member of cities equivalent to Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Share your ideas

Do you assume Miami can reach pivoting its economic system? Why or why not? Be a part of the dialog under.

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“We’re white sizzling,” stated Rolando Aedo, chief working officer of the Larger Miami Conference & Guests Bureau, who helped provoke the trouble to get Michelin all the way down to Florida.

But even the town’s expanded leisure choices are experiencing their very own rising pains. On the Method One race, company complained of the searing warmth on the stadium, which supplied little shade. A few of the stair lifts that have been used to get disabled company up and throughout the pedestrian bridges situated all through the venue misplaced energy, requiring employees to hold these company so they might attain their seats.

“Wonderful issues are occurring within the metropolis,” stated Ms. Lopez, the startup founder. “It’s a brand new period, which is nice. It brings plenty of advantages but in addition plenty of points.”

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Write to Deborah Acosta at deborah.acosta@wsj.com

Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Firm, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

Finance

‘Females In Finance’ Collective Marks 1 Year And 1000 Members At NYSE

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‘Females In Finance’ Collective Marks 1 Year And 1000 Members At NYSE

Muriel Siebert, known as the ‘First Woman of Finance,’ was the first woman ever to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange in 1967. She was a passionate advocate for gender equality and remembered as a woman who refused to take no for an answer. Known to have famously threatened the NYSE Chairman with the installation of a portable toilet on the trading floor if a women’s restroom was not granted, and her public appearances with her Chihuahua ‘Monster Girl,’ named in tribute to how neither one was intimidated by ‘the big dogs,’ she had an unyielding confidence and determination that cultivated a rare respectability for women of her era. So rare, she remained the only woman in a ratio of 1365:1 at the NYSE for over a decade.

FIF Collective

Fast forward 57 years later, and it seemed like the perfect fit for the ‘Female in Finance Collective (FIF), led by group CEO Meghan McKenna, to gather in the Muriel Siebel room at the NYSE on June 20th to celebrate its one-year birthday and surpassing its 1000 member milestone. The Collective, is described as ‘an invite-only, highly selective group of Founders, CEOs, CFOs, VPs of Finance, VC Partners, and leaders, with a mission to advance the profiles of women through board seats, job opportunities, networking, learning, and great parties around the world.’

McKenna, like Siebert, is described by many as a woman to whom it is impossible to say no. She is known for her brash humor, charming confidence, low tolerance for inequality, and unwavering belief that change is possible. She equates these attributes to her college basketball career and her humble upbringing in the Bronx as the daughter of a New York Police Officer. “I’ve always stayed true to what I know is right and stood up for others around me,” she says, “that hasn’t always been an easy path to take. I have worked in teams where I was told I was ‘tough to manage,’ just for being honest. But I stay true to my values. We owe that to ourselves and other women.”

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McKenna, who founded FIF shortly before starting a new role as a Managing Director at Stifel Bank, says that although the idea had floated in her head for many years, it was the pause between roles that gave her the headspace to make it happen. Yet she was not ready to exit a career she loves and was looking for a home to combine her experience, talent, and FIF, which she found at Stifel. “This is an industry that can be more performative than meaningful when it comes to gender equity, but Stifel has walked the walk when it comes to supporting women,” she says. “My network is my net worth and the team at Stifel really understand and support that. They see the broad industry value FIF creates for everyone.”

She says FIF was born after two decades of seeing countless gaps and lost opportunities for women and bottom-line impacts on business. “Women are not progressing at a rate that makes sense for their capabilities and industry needs,” she says. The effect of this is backed by data, such as the 2022 World Economic Forum’s ‘Global Gender Gap Report,’ which revealed females in finance remain one of the most untapped business resources. The share of women in global C-suite roles in the financial services industry worldwide reached 18.4 percent in 2023, and predictions from a recent Statista Study estimate a growth to 21.8 percent by 2031.

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For McKenna and the team at FIF, the idea of waiting another near-decade for a mere 3.4 percentage point increase in female representation is not a reality they are willing to accept. Yet the trillion dollar question remains, how can we improve this? While there is no magic bullet solution, they believe the right place to start, is to look to each other and initiate a collective effort for change.

The cost equals the commitment

FIF is not alone in this mission. There has been a widespread proliferation of communities and programs promising to empower women and accelerate their professional success, an approach many consider crucial for women. Yet unlike many of these networks, which incur sizable membership fees and restrict their events to women, FIF takes a different approach. McKenna says she wanted a ‘personally free network for qualifying women. “This is a network of decision-makers and investors who bring merit she says, “I want them to bring their passion to this mission at no cost but their commitment to cultivate change.”

A strategy for sponsors and allies

Instead, the monetization will come via paid talent matching and a sponsorship program for events and seminars open to men and women. This strategy appears to work well for McKenna, who has fostered a growing partner ecosystem of over 30 sponsors in year one, including names like Deloitte, Amazon, KPMG, Samsung Next, Netsuite, Davis Polk, and Ramp, hosted 12 events across the cities of New York, San Francisco, Boston and Washington DC.

Ken Egan, Partner at Cross Country Consulting, shares that he finds this approach effective as it focuses on bottom-line impacts and brings others along on the journey. In doing so, there is an organic allyship, something that critics of female-only networks often highlight as a missing link. “I have attended events and seen the value FIF brings,” he says, “This is a tough industry for women, and businesses in knowing how best to support but often showing up is half the battle. FIF forces people out of their comfort zones in a healthy way and creates a conscious and intentional level of connection.”

The burden of proof over potential

For venture capitalist Marissa Hodgdon, CEO of Sidelines.Vc, the nature of that intent is critical. She shares that a key challenge women in the finance industry face is the burden of ‘proof over potential.’ The ‘you know what you know’ effect that has worked very favorably for white males, who continue to receive more than 90% of annual VC dollars. She believes they will continue to do so unless women create a new wave of intentional change. Hodgdon, who is partnering with FIF to bring investment and advisory opportunities to the Collective, says, ‘we need to be targeted in putting opportunities for advisory roles and investment in front of women. FIF is the perfect forum for us to do this. A high caliber network of well-informed women creating change for themselves.”

The power of possibility

Much of the focus on financial leadership centers on business models—revenues, costs, niches, and leverage. However, what women often need are new mental models. Gaingels CEO Jennifer Jeronimo sees her firm’s partnership with FIF as a catalyst to create a new sense of possibility. Addressing the audience at the NYSE event, she gave the analogy of Roger Bannister, who shocked the world with the power of the possibility by breaking the record for the four-minute mile, once deemed hopelessly impossible, yet achieved by over 1000 runners since. Jeronimo wants to bring that same power of possibility to women in the VC realm and diversify the face of an industry that often looks and sounds the same.

What’s next for FIF?

Seaaoned finance exec and fractional CFO Amy Kux, a founding member of FIF says, “I have been part of many networks over the course of my career, but FIF is one of the only communities that promotes helping one another as its mission, and we cannot waver on that.”

This is an important factor for McKenna and the team at FIF as they look to the future and consider opportunities to grow the collective across new cities in the USA and international . McKenna says they will not put scale above substance and instead stay focused on their core values and strategic objectives by continuing to listen to one another. “We are a group of women who have created this as a labor of love and bootstrapped our way to now. We are not salaried, we do this voluntarily and most of us have full time jobs. Of course we want to grow and monetize to better resource and reinvest, but for now our core focus is not on headline growth but ensuring we maintain a high caliber community. That is what makes FIF so impactful.”

Muriel Siebert once said, “you create opportunities by performing not complaining.” For the women at FIF Collective this is a mantra for the next stage, as they look to build a future for females in finance by proving the power of connection, and collectively challenging the status quo.

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These 2 Finance Stocks Could Beat Earnings: Why They Should Be on Your Radar

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These 2 Finance Stocks Could Beat Earnings: Why They Should Be on Your Radar

Wall Street watches a company’s quarterly report closely to understand as much as possible about its recent performance and what to expect going forward. Of course, one figure often stands out among the rest: earnings.

Life and the stock market are both about expectations, and rising above what is expected is often rewarded, while falling short can come with negative consequences. Investors might want to try to capture stronger returns by finding positive earnings surprises.

Hunting for ‘earnings whispers’ or companies poised to beat their quarterly earnings estimates is a somewhat common practice. But that doesn’t make it easy. One way that has been proven to work is by using the Zacks Earnings ESP tool.

The Zacks Earnings ESP, Explained

The Zacks Earnings ESP, or Expected Surprise Prediction, aims to find earnings surprises by focusing on the most recent analyst revisions. The basic premise is that if an analyst reevaluates their earnings estimate ahead of an earnings release, it means they likely have new information that could possibly be more accurate.

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Now that we understand the basic idea, let’s look at how the Expected Surprise Prediction works. The ESP is calculated by comparing the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate, with the percentage difference between the two giving us the Zacks ESP figure.

In fact, when we combined a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better and a positive Earnings ESP, stocks produced a positive surprise 70% of the time. Perhaps most importantly, using these parameters has helped produce 28.3% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest.

Stocks with a ranking of #3 (Hold), or 60% of all stocks covered by the Zacks Rank, are expected to perform in-line with the broader market. Stocks with rankings of #2 (Buy) and #1 (Strong Buy), or the top 15% and top 5% of stocks, respectively, should outperform the market; Strong Buy stocks should outperform more than any other rank.

Should You Consider AGNC Investment?

The last thing we will do today, now that we have a grasp on the ESP and how powerful of a tool it can be, is to quickly look at a qualifying stock. AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) holds a #3 (Hold) at the moment and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $0.56 a share 27 days away from its upcoming earnings release on July 22, 2024.

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AGNC has an Earnings ESP figure of +5.66%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $0.56 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.53. AGNC Investment is one of a large database of stocks with positive ESPs.

AGNC is just one of a large group of Finance stocks with a positive ESP figure. Healthpeak (NYSE:DOC) is another qualifying stock you may want to consider.

Healthpeak is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock, and is getting ready to report earnings on July 25, 2024. DOC’s Most Accurate Estimate sits at $0.44 a share 30 days from its next earnings release.

For Healthpeak, the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.44 is +1.15%.

Because both stocks hold a positive Earnings ESP, AGNC and DOC could potentially post earnings beats in their next reports.

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To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

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Sixteen Glasgow students take first steps towards finance careers with Aon

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Sixteen Glasgow students take first steps towards finance careers with Aon

Professional services firm Aon plc has welcomed 16 Glasgow-area students to its 2024 Work Insights Programme.

The initiative aims to boost social mobility by offering 16 to 17-year-old students from lower socio-economic backgrounds valuable experience in the finance and professional services sector.

The students spent time in the York St office where Aon colleagues delivered the programme which included a real workplace challenge, speed networking where they met with colleagues across a variety of roles, panel discussions around career pathways, and a CV and interview skills workshop.


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Schools participating in the initiative included Woodfarm High School, St Ninian’s High School, Lourdes Secondary School, Jordanhill School, Eastwood High School, Holyrood Secondary School, Wallace High School, Hillhead High School, and Our Lady’s High School.

Last year Aon delivered its inaugural Work Insights programme to 600 students across the UK including 12 in Glasgow. On completion of the programme, 82% of students surveyed confirmed that they were likely to consider a career in finance and professional services.

Ross Mackay, head of office at Aon Glasgow, said: “It has never been more important to provide young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds with the opportunity to gain insight into the world of work, particularly the financial and professional services sector, through quality work experience.

“Aon is committed to increasing representation of those from lower socio-economic backgrounds across the business.

“The Work Insights Programme enables young people to develop employability skills, learn more about different career opportunities, and supports the transition from education to employment.”

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Mr Mackay added: “I want to thank colleagues from Aon Glasgow who volunteered their time to deliver the programme – without them it wouldn’t be possible. The students were a credit to the schools they represent and enthusiastically engaged in all activities.

“I hope they have a greater understanding of our industry and that the experience supports their future careers.”

Aon employs more than 250 staff across Scotland, providing clients, from SMEs to large corporates, with commercial risk, health, reinsurance and wealth solutions. As part of the programme, Aon partnered with state-funded schools in Glasgow to reach pupils who would benefit most – adopting a selection process based on diversity statistics, such as areas with a high percentage of free school meals.

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