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Good Morning,

US markets rallied on de-escalation efforts in the Middle East, hedge funds pumped leverage back to five-year highs, Oman will become the first Gulf nation to levy personal income tax, NYC's Democratic mayor primary has voters on edge, and Zuckerberg is leading the AI recruitment (or poaching🤷‍♂️) blitz with ultra-ambitious acquisition efforts, talent wars, and pay packages.

Planful's latest survey reveals insights from finance leaders on the top priorities shaping finance transformation in 2025, including the use of AI, team consolidation, and more. It's a valuable read.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

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Markets

• US stocks gained sharply in a choppy trading session yesterday after Iran's retaliatory strikes were more restrained than expected

• Latin America led EM FX recovery amid easing Mideast worry

• Cobalt surged 10% after DR Congo extended an export ban

  • Cobalt is down ~60% in three years

• Oil tumbled by the most in three years in broad Middle East de-escalation

Earnings

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: FedEx

  • Wednesday: General Mills, Jefferies

  • Thursday: Nike, Walgreens Boots Alliance

• Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

• The people of New York City must be so excited…

• 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

• Trump announced an Israel-Iran ceasefire (CNBC)

• Tanker rates soared to highest since 2023 after US bombed Iran (BBG)

• Fed will end policing 'reputational risk' in banks (RT)

• Hedge fund leverage hit a five-year high as traders buy financial services (RT)

• PE firms pursue Asian loans to fund investor payouts (BBG)

• Young investor demand for alts is reshaping Wall Street's playbook (BBG)

• Japan activist clout shown in shareholders' Taiyo CEO rejection (BBG)

• Asia EM central banks are becoming wary of FX intervention (BBG)

• Money-market fund AUM swelled to a record $7.4T (BBG)

• Mutual fund giant Wellington will enter PE secondaries business (BBG)

• PIMCO bets on long-term Japanese debt in 'dislocated' market (FT)

• Global banks increase fossil-fuel funding as climate pledges crumble (WSJ)

• Nomura's CEO pay doubled after the firm posted record profits (BBG)

• Revolut CEO in line for Musk-style payday at $150B valuation (FT)

• Zuckerberg leads AI recruitment blitz armed with $100M pay packages (WSJ)

• 'Kirklandisation' of Big Law pushes firms to launch salaried partnerships (FT)

• Oman will become first Gulf nation to introduce personal income tax (FT)

• FICO will offer credit scores including BNPL data (BBG)

• Tesla Robotaxi video showed speeding, driving into wrong lane (BBG)

• Compass sued Zillow for 'anti-competitive' tactics (BBG)

• Germany and Italy face calls to bring $245B of gold home from US (FT)

• OKC wins NBA championship for first time in 46 years (BBG)

A Message from Planful

You're being asked to guide strategy, deliver clarity, and drive growth—all while navigating nonstop change.

But are you getting the insights you need to lead with confidence?

In The Next Era of Finance: 2025 Global Finance Survey, 450+ finance leaders share what you've likely felt:

• Your role is no longer just about numbers, it's about shaping the future.

• AI is changing the game, and you need to stay ahead of it.

• Planning is now a team sport: faster, smarter, and always on.

You don't need more noise — your team needs data that validates your instincts and fuels your next bold move. This isn’t just a trends report. It’s a blueprint for leaders like you to shift from reacting to redefining.

See how your peers are doing it and how you can, too.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• $23B-listed Northern Trust plans to remain a standalone company following reports that $15B-listed BNY Mellon approached it about a potential merger

• Media giant Omnicom agreed to a FTC order prohibiting political ad boycotts to secure approval for its $13.5B acquisition of Interpublic Group

• A consortium led by PE firm Advent agreed to acquire UK testing equipment maker Spectris for $5.1B, representing an 85% premium

• Meta held acquisition talks with AI video startup Runway, last valued at $3B

• Ares Alternative Credit Management agreed to buy a 20% stake in Italian energy giant Eni's renewable unit Plenitude for ~$2.3B

• C&S Wholesale Grocers agreed to acquire food distribution and retail company SpartanNash for ~$1.8B, including debt

• India's Premji Invest and State Bank of India are in talks to acquire Warburg Pincus' ~10% stake in SBI General Insurance at a $4.5B valuation

• NY Jets co-owner Woody Johnson agreed to buy a significant stake in UK soccer club Crystal Palace FC from Eagle Football Group for ~$215M

• KKR is nearing a deal to acquire an 85% stake in Chinese beverage company Dayao

• Elliott-backed budget jeweler retailer Claire's is exploring a sale amid tariff pressure and competition

VC

• Legal AI startup Harvey raised a $300M Series E at a $5B valuation led by Kleiner Perkins and Coatue

• Industrial AI startup PhysicsX raised a $135M Series B led by Atomico

• Decagon, a startup building conversational AI agents, raised a $131M Series C at a $1.5B valuation co-led by a16z and Accel

• New Zealand-based cattle ranch tech startup Halter raised a $100M Series D at a $1B valuation led by Bond Ventures

• Robotic mobility systems startup Wandercraft raised a $75M Series D from Renault Group, PSIM, Teampact Ventures, and Quadrant Management

• At-home PCR diagnostics startup Visby Medical raised $55M in financing led by Catalio Capital Management

• AI hyper-automation startup Swimlane raised a $45M round led by Energy Impact Partners and Activate Capital

• Spinwheel, a startup providing real-time consumer credit data and payments platform, raised a $30M Series A led by F-Prime

• Uncountable, a platform for digital transformation in industrial research and development, raised a $27M Series A led by Sageview Capital

• Cyclic Materials, an advanced recycling company building a circular supply chain for rare earth elements, raised a $25M round

• Snowcap Compute, a startup building AI computing chips using superconducting technology, raised a $23M seed round led by Playground Global

• Zorro, a benefits administration platform, raised a $20M Series A led by Entrée Capital

• Veda, a DeFi vault platform, raised an $18M round led by CoinFund

• Outset, a AI-moderated research platform, raised a $17M Series A led by 8VC

• AllSpice, a platform for electrical engineering teams to collaborate on hardware designing, raised a $15M Series A led by Rethink Impact

• Celltrio, an automation solutions for cell culturing, raised $15M in a round led by Premier Partners

• Qualytics, an enterprise platform for augmented data quality, raised a $10M Series A led by BMW i Ventures

• Korean all-in-one HR SaaS platform Flex raised a $9M Series B-1 led by Han River Partners

• GrailPay, a risk and data platform for bank payments, raised $6.7M in funding led by Construct Capital

• French advocacy organizing platform Qomon raised a $6.4M round led by Asterion Ventures, Ternel, and Good Only Ventures

• VoiceCare AI, a healthcare administration general intelligence startup, raised a $4.54M seed round led by Caduceus Capital Partners

• Hivemapper, a decentralized mapping network, received a strategic investment from Ajna Capital

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Walmart-backed Indian fintech PhonePe is preparing to file for a $1.5B India IPO

• Chinese chip designer Montage Technology is planning a Hong Kong IPO that could raise ~$1B

• Medical software firm Brainlab is seeking to raise up to $460M in a Germany IPO

• Bain Capital-backed Virgin Australia will return to public markets after raising $445M in Australia's biggest IPO this year

• Robo-adviser Wealthfront filed confidentially for a US IPO

• Finnish military satellite maker Iceye is exploring an IPO

• Amrize, the North American unit of Swiss building material giant Holcim, fell 15% in its Switzerland spinoff debut

SPAC

• Anthony Pompliano-led Bitcoin firm ProCap BTC will go merge with Columbus Circle Capital Corp., planning to hold up to $1B in Bitcoin on its balance sheet with backing from Magnetar Capital and Blockchain.com

Debt

• Kuwait begun mobilizing banks to raise ~$6B in an international bond sale

• Supermicro is raising $2B through a convertible bond offering

• Digital infrastructure firm CityFibre raised ~$1.4B in new debt financing along with a $675M accordion facility

• Indian conglomerate Adani Group secured $750M in debt financing for its Mumbai airport unit via a private placement of dollar bonds led by Apollo

• Brazilian meat producer giant JBS is planning its first bond sale since its US listing to extend debt maturities

• Saudi Arabia's SWF PIF launched its first commercial paper program, enabling short-term debt issuance in dollars and euros to diversify funding sources

Fundraising / Secondaries

• European credit investor NorthWall Capital raised AUM to $3.3B following a first close of its 2025 fundraising)

• Morgan Stanley Capital Partners raised $3.2B for its latest buyout fund focused on middle-market deals

• Software-focused growth investor JMI Equity is seeking to raise $2.4B for its twelfth flagship fund

• A team of crypto hedge fund execs are in advanced talks to raise $100M to invest in a Binance-linked token through a publicly listed company

Crypto Sum Snapshot

• Stablecoin world opens up to Main Street banks

• A $4B AUM Hong Kong family office makes first crypto foray

• Michael Saylor's Strategy purchased $25M Bitcoin, the second-smallest purchase since November

• Check out our Crypto Sum newsletter for the full stories on everything crypto!

Exec’s Picks

• Intern just #REF'd out your Excel model? It's time to try Carousel.

  Carousel is an AI assistant for Excel that builds, edits, and formats models for you. And unlike your intern, Carousel is competent, doesn't complain when asked to fix spreadsheet formatting, and doesn't need a return offer.

  Try Carousel.

• Check out what Robin Wigglesworth has to say about the rise of pre-plan VC, where VC giants are investing billions in AI startups with no product, let alone revenue.

• Callie Cox wrote an insightful piece exploring how geopolitical conflicts have played out for stocks.

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.