Daily Brief Financials: Authum Investment Infrastructure, Thanachart Capital, Bitcoin Pro, BlackRock Greater Europe Inves, Consumer Portfolio Services, Deutsche Beteiligungs AG, FaithNetwork Co Ltd, Howard Hughes / and more

• Transformation of the company from Equity investment driven to Equity and stress business. 
• Complete restructuring of Reliance Capital and Reliance Home Finance into Authum and Focus on ARC and stressed assets.
• Recoveries in completely provided portfolios of Reliance Capital, Planned debt fundraise for further growth.

• Couple of weeks from the start of the review period for the December rebalance of SET 50 Index, we see four potential index changes.
• There are a few stocks that are close to the inclusion zone and there could be a reordering among the non-constituents as stock prices move around.
• The potential adds have outperformed the potential deletes since the start of the year with most of the outperformance coming over the last 6 weeks.

• Survive the purge, seize the opportunity: Last week’s extreme market volatility presents exceptional forward-looking opportunities for those who remain resilient.
• Liquidation waves: A path to equilibrium: Learn how major market disturbances like last week’s can create ripples that take time to settle, offering strategic consolidation points.
• Unlocks and ETF flows: What’s next for crypto? Discover how upcoming token unlocks and recent ETF trends may shape the near-term outlook for key crypto assets.

BlackRock Greater Europe Investment Trust’s (BRGE’s) co-managers Stefan Gries and Alexandra Dangoor remain positive on the trust’s prospects despite a mixed macroeconomic backdrop. Although the Chinese economy is weaker than forecast (China is an important European export market), and there are some weaker US economic indicators, European purchasing managers indices are rising and employment data is strong. The managers are selective, seeking high-quality European-based companies. Hence, investors do not have to have a positive view on the economy to consider BRGE, which has the highest returns in the AIC Europe sector over the last 10 years.

• Consumer Portfolio Services is a specialty finance company focused on purchasing and servicing retail automobile contracts (mostly secured by late model used vehicles) sourced by the company’s network of franchised and independent automobile dealers in the United States.
• CPSS provides indirect financing to subprime customers of dealers, or individuals with limited credit histories or past credit issues.
• Proprietary originations are generally funded on a long-term basis through the asset-backed securitization markets.

Deutsche Beteiligungs (DBAG) reported a c 4% NAV total return in 9M24, supported primarily by higher valuation multiples on the back of more benign public markets and the successful realisation of in-tech. DBAG’s management has recently experienced a significant increase in deal flow, which we attribute to the first signs of a recovery in global M&A activity, reduced competition (as evidenced by two of its competitors no longer pursuing new investments), as well as cross-deal flow from the recently acquired ELF Capital Group. This has encouraged the company to issue a €100m convertible bond to further boost its dry powder.

• Sales increased to JPY2.0bn (+46.2% YoY), but operating loss widened to JPY425mn, with recurring loss at JPY1.8bn.
• Real Estate Investment Support segment sales rose 50.6% YoY, but operating loss widened to JPY469mn.
• Real Estate Management segment sales grew 18.7% YoY, with operating profit up 129.4% YoY to JPY44mn.

• Howard Hughes Holdings, a real estate company with a diversified portfolio of master-planned communities, operating assets, and strategic developments, has recently garnered attention due to the possibility of being taken private by Pershing Square, an investment firm led by Bill Ackman.
• Pershing Square, the largest shareholder of Howard Hughes with a 38% stake, is reportedly considering this move to unlock greater value from the company.
• On the one hand, Howard Hughes has shown strong performance across its core business segments, delivering impressive results in land sales, operating assets, and condo developments.