Financials Credit Analyst

Hank Calenti, CFA

CreditContinuum

Credit

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/jpmorgan-chase-co" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:277:1" rel="noopener">JPMorgan Chase &amp; Co's (JPM US)</a> fortress foundation needs repair. Rather than a rock-solid balance sheet, JPM’s capital foundation needs to be strengthened to handle the leverage load. It has the lowest Supplementary Leverage Ratio (SLR) amongst the largest US banks and its Tier 1 securities suffer, in part, due to this. It is time to lighten the leverage exposure and add a layer of capital. This creates an investment opportunity.As the pandemic-induced economic crisis unfolded last year, we noted that JPM Tier 1 securities were over-bought relative to the leverage exposure risk at the institution. Please see: <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/compose/insight/49670/Bank%20Credit%20Weekly:%20US%20Capital%20Buffer%20Risk%20&amp;%20Q1%20Earnings%20Reports-%20JPMorgan%20Looks%20Slightly%20Overbought.%20Read%20more:%20https:/skr.ma/uQHaQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bank Credit Weekly: US Capital Buffer Risk &amp; Q1 Earnings Reports- JPMorgan Looks Slightly Overbought.</a>The Fed exemption of Treasury securities and deposits with the central bank from the SLR bought JPM time. Fast forward one year later to the expiration of these exemptions and, despite ample opportunity, JPMorgan did not issue Tier 1 securities until only two weeks ago when it brought a $25 par security. In additional to raising needed capital, the firm recently threatened to stop taking deposits. It may price itself out of the deposit market, temporarily, but this is not a long-term strategy. The SLR is the binding capital constrain on the firm’s asset growth. JPM needs to obtain or retain more Tier 1 capital. We quantify this within.We believe that JPM could easily bring a 10-year Tier 1 bond to the market and find between US$2 to US$3bn in demand, thereby taking the total Tier 1 financing needs, or balance sheet optimization equivalent, down materially for the remainder of the year. Based on its recently issued Preferred, we believe JPM could achieve a price of Treasuries plus circa 300bps in a 10-year Tier 1 note.Aside from its SLR level, JPMorgan’s credit metrics are on-par with, if not superior to, most other large systemically important financial institutions. And yet, as we present within, JPM’s Tier 1 bonds trade at a discount to materially weaker banks located outside the US. Furthermore, we find that JPMorgan’s 2025 callable Tier 1 bond is at least 40bps oversold as, in our view, its call option is overvalued by the same amount.JPM faces an inflection point with respect to its capital adequacy. Concurrently, the Fed may re-adjust the SLR requirements before year-end; however, we believe it would be foolish of JPM not to take the opportunity to increase its SLR in an improving economic environment. It should re-enforce the foundation of its fortress balance sheet. We believe investors should pre-position for this eventuality. We recommend overweighting JPMorgan’s Tier 1 securities.

JPMorgan Chase &amp; Co's (JPM US) fortress foundation needs repair. Rather than a rock-solid balance sheet, JPM’s capital foundation needs to be strengthened to handle the leverage load. It has the lowest Supplementary Leverage Ratio (SLR) amongst the largest US banks and its Tier 1 securities suffer, in part, due to this. It is time to lighten the leverage exposure and add a layer of capital. This creates an investment opportunity.As the pandemic-induced economic crisis unfolded last year, we noted that JPM Tier 1 securities were over-bought relative to the leverage exposure risk at the institution. Please see: Bank Credit Weekly: US Capital Buffer Risk &amp; Q1 Earnings Reports- JPMorgan Looks Slightly Overbought.The Fed exemption of Treasury securities and deposits with the central bank from the SLR bought JPM time. Fast forward one year later to the expiration of these exemptions and, despite ample opportunity, JPMorgan did not issue Tier 1 securities until only two weeks ago when it brought a $25 par security. In additional to raising needed capital, the firm recently threatened to stop taking deposits. It may price itself out of the deposit market, temporarily, but this is not a long-term strategy. The SLR is the binding capital constrain on the firm’s asset growth. JPM needs to obtain or retain more Tier 1 capital. We quantify this within.We believe that JPM could easily bring a 10-year Tier 1 bond to the market and find between US$2 to US$3bn in demand, thereby taking the total Tier 1 financing needs, or balance sheet optimization equivalent, down materially for the remainder of the year. Based on its recently issued Preferred, we believe JPM could achieve a price of Treasuries plus circa 300bps in a 10-year Tier 1 note.Aside from its SLR level, JPMorgan’s credit metrics are on-par with, if not superior to, most other large systemically important financial institutions. And yet, as we present within, JPM’s Tier 1 bonds trade at a discount to materially weaker banks located outside the US. Furthermore, we find that JPMorgan’s 2025 callable Tier 1 bond is at least 40bps oversold as, in our view, its call option is overvalued by the same amount.JPM faces an inflection point with respect to its capital adequacy. Concurrently, the Fed may re-adjust the SLR requirements before year-end; however, we believe it would be foolish of JPM not to take the opportunity to increase its SLR in an improving economic environment. It should re-enforce the foundation of its fortress balance sheet. We believe investors should pre-position for this eventuality. We recommend overweighting JPMorgan’s Tier 1 securities.

US Banks and the SLR Situation: Overweight JPM Tier 1 Securities

Chief Economist & Political Strategist, CrossASEAN Research

Prasenjit K. Basu

Chief Economist & Political Strategist

CrossASEAN Research

At CrossASEAN Research we strive to produce unbiased and differentiated on the ground insights on companies across South East Asia. Our Research is produced for the most part after face to face meetings and conversations with company management to dig deep into the long term vision and strategy of the companies we cover. We seek to deliver investable and actionable themes on sectors and markets across SE Asia, often in collaboration with other Insight Providers across the region, pooling the vast experience of the analysts within the Smartkarma Ecosystem. We also offer bespoke work and tailor made trips for our clients. 

Insights across South East Asia

Cross Asset Strategy

Dividend yields for the S&amp;P 500 are 1.5%; the only time they were lower in the past 150 years was in 2000 (1% before the "dot-com crash" of 2000). We expect the S&amp;P 500 earnings yield to rebound from its low of 2.5% through a combination of stronger EPS growth and falling stock prices. The 14% of GDP fiscal stimulus will strengthen the recovery; already the end of the SLR-relaxation amounts to a slight tightening of monetary conditions from April 2021. The pledge of US$120 billion of monthly bond purchases will need to be relaxed after May 2021, and further tightening is likely at the FOMC meeting at the end of June, via either a 12.5bp rise in Fed Funds rate or an increase in the 0.1% interest rate paid on banks' reserves. The US$ will strengthen.Over the past 3 months (starting 27 December 2020), the US has legislated an aggregate fiscal stimulus of US$2.8 trillion (14% of GDP), of which the first part (US$0.9 trillion) has been almost entirely disbursed in the current quarter. Unsurprisingly, FOMC members expect US real GDP to rebound to a spectacular 6.5% growth in 2021. The unemployment rate has already declined to 6.2% in February 2021 (from 6.7% in Nov-Dec 2020, and 10.2% in July 2020); although much higher than February 2020 (3.5%), the current unemployment rate is not far above the traditional 5-6% rate considered the non-accelerating-inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU), which is estimated to have fallen to 4-5% for the 2005-30 period. Given that jobs in the pandemic-hit hospitality sector are unlikely to come back for awhile, we estimate that NAIRU this year is close to 5%, a level of unemployment that is likely to be reached before 4Q 2021. Manufacturing is leading the US recovery: the ISM's manufacturing PMI was equal to a 3-year high (last exceeded 17 years ago) in February 2021 despite inclement weather. The Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing outlook reached a 48-year high this month. Inflation is likely to edge up as unemployment declines toward the NAIRU, making it untenable for the Fed to keep to its pledge of buying US$120 billion of bonds monthly without countervailing actions to reduce the money-multiplier. The first such step removes the SLR relaxations from the beginning of next month. The second is likely to be an increase in the interest rate paid on banks' reserves (from their 0.1% current level) or an outright increase in the Fed Funds rate (to 0.25%) at the June FOMC meeting. We are bearish on risk assets (equities and EMs) over the next half year, and would recommend continuing to rotate away from technology stocks to cyclicals, consumer cyclicals and banks.

Dividend yields for the S&amp;P 500 are 1.5%; the only time they were lower in the past 150 years was in 2000 (1% before the "dot-com crash" of 2000). We expect the S&amp;P 500 earnings yield to rebound from its low of 2.5% through a combination of stronger EPS growth and falling stock prices. The 14% of GDP fiscal stimulus will strengthen the recovery; already the end of the SLR-relaxation amounts to a slight tightening of monetary conditions from April 2021. The pledge of US$120 billion of monthly bond purchases will need to be relaxed after May 2021, and further tightening is likely at the FOMC meeting at the end of June, via either a 12.5bp rise in Fed Funds rate or an increase in the 0.1% interest rate paid on banks' reserves. The US$ will strengthen.Over the past 3 months (starting 27 December 2020), the US has legislated an aggregate fiscal stimulus of US$2.8 trillion (14% of GDP), of which the first part (US$0.9 trillion) has been almost entirely disbursed in the current quarter. Unsurprisingly, FOMC members expect US real GDP to rebound to a spectacular 6.5% growth in 2021. The unemployment rate has already declined to 6.2% in February 2021 (from 6.7% in Nov-Dec 2020, and 10.2% in July 2020); although much higher than February 2020 (3.5%), the current unemployment rate is not far above the traditional 5-6% rate considered the non-accelerating-inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU), which is estimated to have fallen to 4-5% for the 2005-30 period. Given that jobs in the pandemic-hit hospitality sector are unlikely to come back for awhile, we estimate that NAIRU this year is close to 5%, a level of unemployment that is likely to be reached before 4Q 2021. Manufacturing is leading the US recovery: the ISM's manufacturing PMI was equal to a 3-year high (last exceeded 17 years ago) in February 2021 despite inclement weather. The Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing outlook reached a 48-year high this month. Inflation is likely to edge up as unemployment declines toward the NAIRU, making it untenable for the Fed to keep to its pledge of buying US$120 billion of bonds monthly without countervailing actions to reduce the money-multiplier. The first such step removes the SLR relaxations from the beginning of next month. The second is likely to be an increase in the interest rate paid on banks' reserves (from their 0.1% current level) or an outright increase in the Fed Funds rate (to 0.25%) at the June FOMC meeting. We are bearish on risk assets (equities and EMs) over the next half year, and would recommend continuing to rotate away from technology stocks to cyclicals, consumer cyclicals and banks. 

Biden's Huge Stimulus Is Obliging the Fed to Edge Away from Unlimited QE

Covering IPOs, Healthcare and Technology Stocks

Andrei Zakharov

Algosun Global

Equity Capital Markets

San Francisco-based ON24 Inc., cloud-based digital experience platform and provider of webinar, virtual event and multimedia experiences, finally priced IPO at $50 per share (top of the range) by offering ~8.6 million shares, what implies an IPO valuation of ~$2.3 billion at top of the price range. The stock is expected to trade on the NYSE under the ticker “ONTF” starting today.  Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Securities and KeyBanc Capital Markets are lead underwriters on the IPO. ON24 Inc. has raised a total of ~$72 million in funding over 6 rounds. Their latest $25 million venture round was led by Goldman Sachs in 2016. ON24 Inc. was founded in 1998 and backed by U.S. Venture Partners, Canaan Partners, Goldman Sachs, Rho Ventures, Merrill Lynch, Comdisco Ventures and Reuters Venture Capital.

San Francisco-based ON24 Inc., cloud-based digital experience platform and provider of webinar, virtual event and multimedia experiences, finally priced IPO at $50 per share (top of the range) by offering ~8.6 million shares, what implies an IPO valuation of ~$2.3 billion at top of the price range. The stock is expected to trade on the NYSE under the ticker “ONTF” starting today.  Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Securities and KeyBanc Capital Markets are lead underwriters on the IPO. ON24 Inc. has raised a total of ~$72 million in funding over 6 rounds. Their latest $25 million venture round was led by Goldman Sachs in 2016. ON24 Inc. was founded in 1998 and backed by U.S. Venture Partners, Canaan Partners, Goldman Sachs, Rho Ventures, Merrill Lynch, Comdisco Ventures and Reuters Venture Capital.  

ON24 IPO. Perfect Market Timing To Go Public

Silver Point

Thomas J. Monaco

Independent Insight Provider

Silver Point is a boutique research firm that focuses on the broader financial services sector, with a particular focus on troubled institutions globally. 

Asia Ex Japan

Equity Bottom-Up

*Super Results And Will Only Get Better: JP Morgan Chase &amp; Co (JPM.US) [JPM] reported 4Q20 bottom-line results of USD 12.1 bn, increasing USD 2.7 bn (28.5%) linked quarter. On a core operating basis, we note an even stronger QOQ improvement, with numbers coming in at USD 12.1 bn or USD 3.1 bn (34.6%) higher than 3Q20. Results were essentially driven by a reserve reversal of USD 1.9 bn, which no doubt will be a consistent theme in 2021;*Credit Weakness Significantly Decelerates: We find that net new NPLs on a linked quarter amounted to only USD 1 mn or well under 1.0% on an annualized basis. The pace of increase has decelerated from the 7.0% and 26% posted in 3Q20 and 2Q20, respectively; and*Solid Share Buyback In Place: JPM noted that it could repurchase a maximum number of shares of USD 4.5 bn for 1Q21.

*Super Results And Will Only Get Better: JP Morgan Chase &amp; Co (JPM.US) [JPM] reported 4Q20 bottom-line results of USD 12.1 bn, increasing USD 2.7 bn (28.5%) linked quarter. On a core operating basis, we note an even stronger QOQ improvement, with numbers coming in at USD 12.1 bn or USD 3.1 bn (34.6%) higher than 3Q20. Results were essentially driven by a reserve reversal of USD 1.9 bn, which no doubt will be a consistent theme in 2021;*Credit Weakness Significantly Decelerates: We find that net new NPLs on a linked quarter amounted to only USD 1 mn or well under 1.0% on an annualized basis. The pace of increase has decelerated from the 7.0% and 26% posted in 3Q20 and 2Q20, respectively; and*Solid Share Buyback In Place: JPM noted that it could repurchase a maximum number of shares of USD 4.5 bn for 1Q21. 

Expert on Japan Retail and Consumer Markets, JapanConsuming

Michael Causton

Expert on Japan Retail and Consumer Markets

Real Insight on Japanese Consumer Markets

JapanConsuming

JapanConsuming is a specialist research firm producing intelligence on Japanese retail and consumer markets. Founded in 2000, JapanConsuming has become the leading provider of insights on Japanese retailers and consumer trends to retailers, brands, government agencies and investors. As well as a highly regarded monthly report on the market, JapanConsuming produces in-depth reports on retail sectors, seminars on key trends and telephone consulting to investors on trends and retailers.

JapanConsuming was founded by Michael Causton and Roy Larke. 

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

Japan may be one of the top three luxury markets in the world but luxury e-commerce is poorly evolved, with much of the focus still on flagships, boutiques and department stores.While Rakuten opened its own luxury section last month, a new dedicated luxury platform, Milleporte, which is backed by Goldman Sachs and Itochu Corp, has just launched with the promise to offer both merchants and customers a true luxury experience.In marked contrast to the busier online fashion pages of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/zozo-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18379:1" rel="noopener">ZOZO Inc (3092 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/rakuten-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:31:1" rel="noopener">Rakuten Inc (4755 JP)</a>’s new luxury store, where the focus remains on the platform-as-brand at the expense of the merchant, Milleporte strips away the store front to allow customers to focus on the luxury brands themselves.The site is a direct challenge to both Zozo and Rakuten.

Japan may be one of the top three luxury markets in the world but luxury e-commerce is poorly evolved, with much of the focus still on flagships, boutiques and department stores.While Rakuten opened its own luxury section last month, a new dedicated luxury platform, Milleporte, which is backed by Goldman Sachs and Itochu Corp, has just launched with the promise to offer both merchants and customers a true luxury experience.In marked contrast to the busier online fashion pages of ZOZO Inc (3092 JP) and Rakuten Inc (4755 JP)’s new luxury store, where the focus remains on the platform-as-brand at the expense of the merchant, Milleporte strips away the store front to allow customers to focus on the luxury brands themselves.The site is a direct challenge to both Zozo and Rakuten.

Milleporte Counters Rakuten and Zozo on Luxury Platform

United States

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., a bank holding company, is a global investment banking and securities firm specializing in investment banking, trading and principal investments, asset management and securities services.  The Company provides services to corporations, financial institutions, governments, and high-net worth individuals.

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Goldman Sachs Group (GS US)

US Banks and the SLR Situation: Overweight JPM Tier 1 Securities

JPM’s fortress foundation needs repair. It has the lowest SLR buffer, and its Tier 1 suffers from this. Leverage slimming and a deeper capital...

Hank Calenti, CFA

Biden's Huge Stimulus Is Obliging the Fed to Edge Away from Unlimited QE

The 14% of GDP stimulus will oblige the Fed to tighten policy by mid-year, strengthening the US$.S&P500 dividend yield (1.5%) has been lower only...

Prasenjit K. Basu

ON24 IPO. Perfect Market Timing To Go Public

We believe shares of VC-backed provider of webinar and virtual events ON24 have substantial upside potential and look undervalued at IPO price of...

Andrei Zakharov

JP Morgan Chase & Co. – Just Wow

JP MORGAN CHASE: JPM] reported 4Q20 bottom-line results increased 28.5% linked quarter, driven by a reserve reversal. Net new NPLs on a linked...

Thomas J. Monaco

Milleporte Counters Rakuten and Zozo on Luxury Platform

Japan is the 3rd biggest luxury market but has no dedicated luxury online platform. Until now. Rakuten launched last month a new mall just launched...

Michael Causton

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