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Good Morning,

Barclays hired McKinsey to simplify its investment bank, traders are betting on a dove to succeed J Pow, bank execs are counting on S&T to offset a slowdown in dealmaking, and Goldman Sachs lifted its self-imposed ban on SPAC underwriting.

Neutral is taking over multi-family real estate development by focusing on the booming health and wellness industry and they're currently fundraising across the capital structure. Schedule a call with their Director of Private Capital and explore an investment today. Read more below!

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

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Markets

• US stock indexes fell yesterday as traders digested economic data and awaited clarity on geo-political events and the Fed's rate decision today 

  • Traders fully priced in at least one 25 bps Fed rate cut this year

• South Korea's KOSPI index entered a bull market this month and is up 23% YTD 

  • The index is 10% away from its 2021 ATH after reclaiming its $2T mark after a three-year setback

Earnings

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Smith & Wesson

  • Friday: Kroger, Accenture, Darden Restaurants, CarMax

• Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

• A good bellwether for the 2028 Democratic primary…

• Trade your predictions on a range of events, only on Kalshi. Sign up with code LIT and get a $20 bonus when you trade $100.

Headline Roundup

• Barclays hired McKinsey to identify savings in its investment bank (BBG)

• Traders pile into bets that next Fed chair will slash rates (BBG)

• BOJ held rates at 0.5% and will slow pace of QT (CNBC) 

• US retail sales dropped for a second month (BBG)

• Bank execs leans on stock traders to cushion dealmaking slowdown (FT)

• Investors say US stock market outperformance is over (BBG)

• Private credit now makes up a third of US life insurance assets (BBG)

• Global private credit fundraising jumped 60% in Q1 (ACI)

• Foreign demand for Treasuries is showing 'cracks' (BBG)

• Hedge funds' Asia bullish bets hit an eight month-high (RT)

• Goldman Sachs lifted its self-imposed ban on SPAC underwriting (BBG)

• Goldman, JPMorgan see Germany leading Europe deals revival (BBG)

• Activist investors flood Japanese firms with record proposals (BBG)

• Middle East IPOs remain on track as investors monitor conflict (BBG)

• EM local debt could end decade-long drought as dollar wanes (RT)

• Era of German bund scarcity is over (FT)

• Canadians bought most US bonds since 2023 despite trade tensions (BBG)

• Hedge fund that gained 42% last year sold entire Nvidia position (BBG)

• A record 43% of central banks plan to increase gold reserves this year (BBG)

• HSBC considers ordering all staff back to office three days per week (FT)

• Robinhood launched new tools to woo traders (WSJ)

• US will extend TikTok sale deadline for third time (CNBC)

• Musk's xAI is burning through $1B per month (BBG)

• Amazon's CEO expects AI to reduce firms corporate workforce (BBG)

• General Mills and Kraft Heinz will remove all artificial colors from foods (BBG)

• Streaming surpassed US broadcast and cable TV viewing for first time (RT)

• Yum Brands CFO Chris Turner will take over as CEO (RT)

• 70k people applied for $5M US 'Golden Visa' (FT)

A Message from Neutral

Is your portfolio diversified? Consider Wellness Multifamily Real Estate

Wellness real estate development is no longer just a hospitality trend—it's the future of multifamily living. With the market projected to reach $912.6 billion by 2028, growing at an impressive 15.8% annually, according to GWI. You can invest in this rapidly growing niche and contribute to building healthier communities.

Neutral is a multifamily developer leading the way in resident health and wellbeing, integrating sustainable building materials, on-staff doctors, personal training, and organic food deliveries into our multifamily communities. Fast Company named Neutral among the top 3 Most Innovative Real Estate Companies of 2025.

Explore Neutral's offerings across debt and equity on their website at your own pace. 

You can also schedule an introductory call with Storm Murphy, Neutral's Director of Private Capital.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• KKR and Singapore SWF GIC are among final bidders for a 40% stake in a $11.5B valued fiber-optic broadband network JV owned by European telecom MasOrange and Zegona Communications-owned Vodafone Spain 

• Ascension Health agreed to acquire ambulatory surgery company AmSurg for $3.9B

• Canadian midstream giant Keyera Corp. agreed to buy Plains All American Pipeline's Canadian natural gas liquids business and some US assets for $3.77B cash

• UK lender NatWest is the most likely buyer of Spanish lender Sabadell's UK unit TSB, which could fetch ~$3.5B

• KPS Capital Partners ended talks with Warburg Pincus on a joint bid for $1.7B-listed German pharma packaging firm Gerresheimer 

• Eli Lilly agreed to acquire gene-editing biotech Verve Therapeutics for $1.3B, a 115% premium

• European alternative asset manager Tikehau Capital agreed to buy ruggedized displays provider ScioTeq from PE firm OpenGateCapital

VC

• AI coding startup Anysphere is considering raising capital at an $18B-$20B valuation

• Musk's OpenAI-rival xAI is in talks to raise $4.3B in equity on top of its $5B debt sale plans

• European defense tech startup Helsing raised a $690M round at a $13.7B valuation led by Prima Materia, the VC firm of Spotify CEO Daniel Ek

• Autonomous vehicle software startup Applied Intuition raised a $600M Series F at a $15B valuation led by BlackRock and Kleiner Perkins

• Teamworks, a startup building an OS for sports teams, raised a $235M Series F at a $1B+ pre-money valuation led by Dragoneer

• Antares Therapeutics, a biotech developing precision medicines for cancer, raised a $177M Series A led by Omega Funds, Atlas Venture, Lightspeed, and more

• Coralogix, an Israeli full-stack observability and security platform, raised a $115M Series E at a $1B+ pre-money valuation led by NewView Capital

• Rising defense tech star Mach Industries raised a $100M round at a $470M valuation led by Khosla Ventures and Bedrock Capital

• Corvia Medical, a company dedicated to transforming the treatment of heart failure, raised a $55M funding round from Third Rock Ventures, General Catalyst, AccelMed, Lumira Ventures, and others

• Ellipsis Health, an AI healthcare technology company, raised a $45M Series A led by Salesforce, Khosla Ventures, and CVS Health Ventures

• Pano AI, an AI-powered wildfire detection infrastructure, raised a $44M Series B led by Giant Ventures

• Sword Health, a Portuguese AI-powered digital health services, raised a $40M round at a $4B valuation led by General Catalyst

• Uncountable, a platform for digital transformation in industrial R&D, raised a $27M Series A led by Sageview Capital 

• Turkish mobile gaming company Bigger Games raised a $25M Series A led by Goodwater Capital

• AI-powered labor platform WorkWhile raised a $23M Series B led by Rethink Impact

• Onebrief, a software for military staff collaboration and operational planning, raised a $20M Series C extension at a $1.1B valuation led by Battery Ventures

• Daybreak, an AI-native supply chain planning platform, raised a $15M Series A from TPG Growth and Dell Technologies Capital

• Better Sour, a sour gummy candy brand, raised a $12M round led by Taste Tomorrow Ventures

• Ubyx, a stablecoin clearing system allowing banks and fintechs to redeem stablecoins at face value, raised a $10M seed round led by Galaxy Ventures

• AI worker platform ai.work raised a $10M seed round led by A* and lool ventures

• Cloud security startup Circumvent raised a $6M round led by Paladin Capital Group

• Sweepstakes gaming platform ZOOT raised a $6M seed round led by CoinFund

• Crosby, an AI-powered law firm, raised a $5.8M seed round led by Sequoia

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Chinese condiments giant Foshan Haitian raised $1.3B in an upsized Hong Kong listing

• Star Capital is considering an IPO of German defense tech firm Vincorion at a potential $1.2B valuation

• SoftBank-backed Indian eyewear company Lenskart is preparing to file for a $1B IPO

• Blackstone-backed Indian REIT Knowledge Realty Trust is planning a $558M IPO in what could be one of India's largest REIT listings

• Blackstone-backed casino operator Cirsa Enterprises plans to raise $530M in a Spain IPO

• Sixth Street Partners-backed oncology biotech Caris Life Sciences raised $494M at a $5.9B valuation in a US IPO 

• Apollo-backed online cart parts retailer Autodoc is seeking to raise $466M in one of Germany's biggest IPOs this year

• Italian lender UniCredit will gradually reduce its 6.7% stake in insurance giant Generali 

• Mining giant Vale's nickel and copper Base Metals unit aims to be IPO-ready by 2027

Debt

• DayOne Data Centers Singapore is seeking to raise over $1B in private credit to fund expansion

• Cerberus Capital Management's Spanish unit and One William Street Capital is in advanced talks to buy two loan portfolios totaling ~$755M from Spanish lender BBVA

Fundraising / Secondaries

• Macquarie Asset Management, a unit of Australian financial services giant Macquarie Group and one of the world's largest infrastructure investors, raised $6.8B for its sixth infrastructure fund

• Investment firm Kayne Anderson raised $1.7B for a second real estate opportunistic credit fund

• European PE firm CVC and European spa/sauna operator Therme Group are setting up a $1.2B JV 

• PE firm Aurelius raised over $920M for its fifth flagship fund to invest in Europe and North America middle markets

• PE firm Seaside Equity Partners raised over $720M across a new flagship fund and its first vehicle targeting smaller deals

• Investment firm Federated Hermes raised $600M from Carlyle's secondaries arm AlpInvest as part of for UK's BT Pension's PE mandate

• Ex-Waha Capital PM Omar Newera raised $500M from hedge fund Schonfeld for a new Abu Dhabi-based L/S hedge fund; Schonfeld will initially be the only LP

• VC Endeavor Catalyst is raising $300M for its fifth and largest fund yet to bet on high-growth startups in emerging markets 

• French alternative asset manager Tikehau Capital teamed with three insurers to launch a $175M PE fund focused on European defense and cybersecurity

• Lioncrest Ventures launched a $100M multi-strategy platform for equity and credit investments in early growth-stage software startups

Crypto Sum Snapshot

• Senate passed GENIUS stablecoin bill in big win for crypto industry

• Coinbase is seeking SEC approval to offer blockchain-based stocks

• Coinbase is facing backlash for sponsoring US Army parade

• Subscribe to our Crypto Sum newsletter for the most relevant stories on everything crypto!

Exec’s Picks

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• Bloomberg recently sat down with Ken Griffin to discuss topics ranging from his views on immigration to retail investors to Citadel's footprint in Miami. A short yet insightful conversation…

Financial Services Recruiting 💼

If you're a junior banker looking for your next career move, check out Litney Partners, a recruiting firm established by Litquidity and Whitney Partners (the oldest purely financial services executive search and consulting firm).

We aim to place strong candidates across private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, growth equity, credit, and investment banking.

We're currently seeking talent for some incredible roles. Head over to Litney Partners to drop your resume / create your profile and we'd love to get in touch!

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*DISCLAIMER: Investment advice provided by Autopilot Advisers, LLC ("Autopilot"), an SEC-registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investing carries risks, including loss of principal. As always, be smart out there. Litquidity is compensated to promote AutoPilot. Compensation details available upon request.