Benjamin Braun Profile picture
Feb 14, 2022 7 tweets 8 min read Read on X
Thank you, @adam_tooze! Couldn't have wished for a more cracking summary of my thoughts on asset manager capitalism. I'll take the opportunity for a brief 🧵on recent work on the topic by stars such as @adribuller, @MadisonECondon, @franziscooi, @lenorepalladino & @NataschaZwan.
Someone who knows everything about index funds, ESG, and climate is @adribuller. Her recent @DissentMag piece on private climate finance is excellent and has links to her other work. Incredibly, Adrienne is writing two (2) books, both scheduled for 2022. dissentmagazine.org/article/the-li…
The sharpest mind on all things universal owner, externalities, fiduciary duty, and other asset manager incentives, legal or otherwise, surely is @MadisonECondon. "Externalities and the Common Owner" is an instant classic (also on my #IPEofMoFi syllabus). scholarship.law.bu.edu/cgi/viewconten…
.@lenorepalladino, lawyer *and* economist ("that progressive economist” – @BernieSanders) knows US corporate governance inside out. She publishes killer articles *and* is a key voice in policy debates, from curbing stock buybacks to public asset managers.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.117…
We haven't even talked about alternative asset managers. On European venture capital, I highly recommend @franziscooi's work. Her first article on this recently came out in @RIPEJournal (open access), more is in the making. tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…
Then there's asset owners, especially pension funds. The towering figure here is, obviously, @NataschaZwan. She & colleagues are currently doing a lot of exciting work on the democratic governance of funded occupational pension schemes: deepen-norface.eu
We'd all be completely clueless, of course, without financial journalists. Over the years I've learned a ton from @AttractaMooney and @kayewiggins, for instance, and I've been reading a lot @KateAronoff and @leee_harris recently.

That's it – end of Chartbook #82 addendum.

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More from @BJMbraun

Mar 25
The @economyandspace theme issue I've been editing with Brett Christophers is out: 'Taking stock [sorry couldn't help it] of asset manager capitalism'. Open access!

It's been a privilege working with these scholars – we're *very* happy with the result! A 🧵 on the contributions. Image
Brett and I have tried to condense our combined thoughts into 10 introductory pages: What is asset manager capitalism, who are the actors, what are their business models, and what the sources (and limits) of their power? A 'very short introduction'.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.11…
Image
Albina Gibadullina maps global share ownership & control using Orbis data. This could have been a book, and indeed is part of her PhD on the evolution of finance in the age of asset manager capitalism. A truly impressive piece that we're proud to feature.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.11…

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Read 10 tweets
Jan 20, 2023
Man muss etwas weiter ausholen, um die polit-ökonomischen Konsequenzen der Aktienrente zu erfassen – für das Machtgefüge zwischen Kapital und Arbeit, und für die Finanzialisierung der Grundlagen für ein gutes Leben im Alter. Das mache ich hier. Mini-🧵
jacobin.de/artikel/aktien…
Rentenfinanzierung ist nicht nur Rentenpolitik, sondern die politische Stellschraube schlechthin, um das Ausmaß der Finanzialisierung zu steuern.

Ein Blick ins Ausland hilft, die Rolle der Kapitaldeckung als Treiber der Finanzialiserung zu verstehen: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10…
Wer meint, ein Land mit stärkerer Sozialdemokratie als die USA könne Kapitaldeckung so organisieren, dass Pensionsfonds nicht zur größten Kundengruppe von Hedge und Private Equity Fonds werden – I give you: Finland.
Read 5 tweets
Dec 17, 2022
Starke Recherche über einen heftigen Fall von #MeTooScience. Die @UniCologne sieht extrem schlecht aus, die Argumentation ihrer Justiziarin bei der "Vernehmung" ist ein Skandal.

Hoffentlich bald ohne Paywall, @derspiegel? Bis dahin, das wichtigste im 🧵.
spiegel.de/panorama/bildu… Image
Erste Beschwerde 2019. Bis heute kein Resultat. Dabei gibt es sogar Chat-Protokolle (s.u.). ImageImage
Der Mann ist weiterhin Prof und beschäftigt weiterhin wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterinnen an der @UniCologne ImageImageImage
Read 8 tweets
Oct 18, 2022
Are asset managers powerful? I'm excited that my attempt at an answer is now published (open access).

Summary:
1) Exit-based power is down
2) Control-based power is up
3) ...but also more visible: AM power is constrained by politics.

More in 🧵
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00…
We theorize the structural power of finance as being based on exit. But the primary function of finance has been shifting from financing to asset management, which reduces exit options.
-> Financialization and rising financial-sector power are *not* two sides of the same coin. /2
Here's 'The end of exit', told for the US economy in three charts:

1) the declining importance of external financing for corporate investment
2) and especially of the stock market
2) the declining importance of banks & of corporate lending for banks /3
Read 14 tweets
Dec 8, 2021
China will prohibit its firms from using variable interest entities (VIEs) in offshore jurisdictions. What, you ask.

@m_maggiori et al have done incredible work showing the giant impact of VIEs on bilateral investment positions. Quick IPE data explainer.
academic.oup.com/qje/article-ab…
FT visual on VIEs. To deal with this, Coppola et al. match "the universe of traded securities issued by firms in tax havens with their issuer’s ultimate parent" to restate bilateral investment positions.

The issue: So far, data on bilateral positions has been residency-based.
Residency-based: US Treasury International Capital (TIC) & IMF Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey (CPIS) -> red columns

Coppola et al. use firm-level securities data to restate this as nationality-based positions -> purple

Restatements are huge for bonds & equities.
Read 8 tweets
Dec 6, 2021
For New Labor Forum I wrote about what’s wrong with funded pensions. It's a crucial question for many countries, and yet the debate is often confused.

I focus on one issue: Pension funds are financialization machines.

Open-access link & a short 🧵
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10… Image
Some context: The dream of wielding labor’s capital in the interest of workers is old, see Barber/Rifkin 1978.

And it's true that capital stewardship has often delivered results for US workers, see @DavidWebber's excellent Labor’s Last Best Weapon.
hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?is… ImageImage
But there are structural reasons why, despite the best meso-level efforts, at the macro-level the weapon is bound to misfire.

As @ewaldeng once put it, pension funds are structurally pressured to "push the envelope", investment-wise.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.106… Image
Read 11 tweets

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