A glimpse into the notoriously opaque private markets.

Photographer: Bloomberg Creative Photos/Bloomberg

(Jan 5) — The pain – and the questions – kept coming as big name hedge funds took turns marking down the value of their stakes in private companies. Every time they wrote down holdings by millions – or even billions – of dollars, investors last year questioned whether they had gone far enough. Now, an exclusive Bloomberg News analysis offers a glimpse into one of the most opaque corners of the investing world, and the findings aren’t reassuring.

Illustration: Alexandra Citrin-Safadi | The Wall Street Journal

Fed weighs risk of over-tightening that hits vulnerable workers

At least some Federal Reserve officials are growing concerned about disproportionate damage to some US communities as policymakers continue with their most aggressive monetary-tightening campaign in decades. “Many” policymakers at the Fed’s December meeting highlighted that the central bank needed to balance two separate risks. One danger is not doing enough to quell inflation, something that could entrench expectations for big price gains over the longer haul. The other risk, however, is ending up doing more than was needed, leading to “an unnecessary reduction in economic activity, potentially placing the largest burdens on the most vulnerable groups of the population,” minutes of the gathering showed Wednesday. (Bloomberg Government | Jan 4)

Asset managers brace for tough year of cost-cutting in 2023

Global asset managers are facing a long-delayed reckoning in 2023 as falling assets force them to cut costs and make tough decisions about where to invest for growth. Revenues were down across the industry last year, after a record 2021, as falling markets across almost all asset classes hit both management and performance fees. (Financial Times | Jan 3)

For battered bonds, threats of further losses linger

The year 2022 marked a truly historic bust for the US bond market. The question now is whether 2023 will produce any kind of meaningful rebound. Investors were forced to repeatedly lift their expectations for how high the Federal Reserve would raise short-term interest rates to combat the worst inflation in decades. The sharp drop in bond prices was in many ways the dominant force in financial markets, driving borrowing costs higher and contributing to double-digit losses for stocks. (The Wall Street Journal | Jan 2)

European asset managers use ‘subadvisory’ to crack the US market

Asset managers scrambling to boost assets and enter new markets while keeping costs down are turning to partnerships that split responsibility for sales and clients from the actual investing. Enthusiasm for so-called “subadvisory” contracts is especially high among European money managers looking to break into the US market and institutional managers hoping to tap individual investors. (Financial Times | Jan 1)

Pension funds must take ‘extreme care’ with liquidity risks, OECD warns

Pension funds should be “extremely careful” when investing in illiquid assets, as rising interest rates and falling stock markets increase the likelihood of their having to access cash quickly, the OECD has warned. In the recent era of low interest rates, pension funds poured money into alternative investments, such as infrastructure projects and private equity, in an effort to escape the low yields available on government bonds. (Financial Times | Jan 1)

A silicon wafer of quantum computer chips made by Hitachi. Photo: Yoshio Tsunoda/AFLO

Chinese researchers claim to find way to break encryption using quantum computers

Computer security experts were struggling this week to assess a startling claim by Chinese researchers that they have found a way to break the most common form of online encryption using the current generation of quantum computers, years before the technology was expected to pose a threat.

— Financial Times

Hackers had a banner year in 2022. US regulators aim to slow them down in 2023.

Cyberattacks against charities, companies and governments continued apace in 2022, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February stoked fears that war-related cyber strikes could spill over into other nations. The coming year will begin to clarify how new US laws and regulations outlined in 2022 might strengthen corporate and infrastructure resilience.

— The Wall Street Journal

Why technology convergence is the future of cybersecurity

Most IT security functions have accrued multiple point products over the years. The idea is not in itself a bad one – find a product that does one thing really well and integrate it with the rest to deliver “best-of-breed” security. For many years that’s what enterprises aimed for. But too often the promise didn’t match the reality. Best-of-breed often translated to “worst of both worlds”: security that was disjointed, and expensive to manage and maintain.

— Security Boulevard

Sign up for cybersecurity advisories from the

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency here.

Thom Browne’s $3,000 dachshund-shaped bag is one part of fashion’s strange year. Photo: Vanni Bassetti | Getty Images

Fashion’s weirdest year? Why 2022 saw paint cans as handbags, and worse

It was a year, above all, of oddity. In fashion, it was a year of bags shaped like paint cans, pigeons and potato-chip wrappers. It was a year of R-rated skirts that barely covered your gluteus maximus; of shirts splayed, boorishly, from cuff to collar with fast-food logos. A year of shoes made from repurposed sex toys and sagging totes made from jeans.

— The Wall Street Journal

The term 'woke' has a long, complicated history

Dictionaries tell us that woke refers to a sensitivity to injustice, racial and otherwise. This definition is incomplete. Yes, what divides the woke from the unwoke (and the fake woke) is often the tough question of what constitutes injustice; but experience suggests that the dividing line is more often about the appropriate response once injustice is spotted.

— Bloomberg (opinion)

Sorry, GDP. There are other ways to measure a nation's worth.

Amid the perfect storm of food and energy crises, in 2023 politicians worldwide will finally start adopting alternative economic indicators. A country’s real wealth lies in its equality, environment, and happiness.

— Wired