December 2020

by Ian Ross | 02 Dec 2020 | 2020, Some Thoughts

I have heard the phrase The Roaring Twenties twice in the last week. Once from a large US investment bank in their 2021 forecast report and the other from Nick Jones, CEO of Soho House Group, in terms of describing the coming post-pandemic party in the years to...

November 2020

by Ian Ross | 07 Nov 2020 | 2020, Some Thoughts

The future’s bright. The future’s not orange. Election weeks are often turbulent and last week was no exception. The Dow soared nearly 1,000 points on Monday and Tuesday on a Blue Wave stimulus; then there is no Blue Wave and the market soared almost 1,000 points on...

September 2020

by Ian Ross | 29 Sep 2020 | 2020, Some Thoughts

Though we may want to hibernate, events do not give us that luxury. Expectations are that we will be elf isolating this Christmas. At Ocean Wall we stick firmly to niche alternatives and in this missive there will be minimal mention of Covid and the US election other...

July 2020

by Ian Ross | 27 Jul 2020 | 2020, Some Thoughts

In financial markets nothing epitomises animal spirits more than mega-mergers. Since March, M&A has been socially distancing like the rest of us. Barely $500bn-worth of deals were announced in the second quarter, compared with over $1trn a year earlier. Mega-deals...

June 2020

by Ian Ross | 27 May 2020 | 2020, Some Thoughts

Rather than try and answer the question of the day ‘can one drive 420km from London to Durham in a Range Rover without stopping for petrol?’ I wanted to use this missive to return to crisis alpha. Last month we discussed crisis alpha in distressed assets. As the...

May 2020

by Ian Ross | 30 Apr 2020 | 2020, Some Thoughts

We have now had $14tn of worldwide stimulus. When you consider global GDP was $87tn last year this stimulus has made up for three years of no growth. Stimulus will not hit all parts and there is concern over the future viability of a large range of businesses. As we...