The Finance Narrative: Corporate Moments That Matter

Blog 3 Green, Washed Out: My Morning Inside the BlackRock ESG Backlash Sneka | Published May 20, 2025     Planet split between green sustainability and grey industry | © shutterstock.com January 21st felt routine until the Financial Times alert: “BlackRock quits flagship climate group.” As ESG analyst, I was yanked into an emergency call with asset management clients who wanted to know if sustainability was suddenly passé. Inside the incident During the call, news broke that several US state treasurers had threatened to pull mandates over perceived “anti-fossil bias.” BlackRock’s retreat looked like appeasement. I spoke firsthand with a portfolio manager there who admitted staff morale dipped; analysts on the Sustainable Investing team felt their work was sidelined. Meanwhile, risk officers worried about reputational spill over to core ETFs. Fallout for employees and management Internally, the schism was stark. The sustainability desk saw years of climate scena...

Blog 2 When the Market Paid Me to Hedge: Inside Rivian’s April Convertible and the Beta Lesson It Taught Sneka | Published May 20, 2025 Rivian R1T rolling production line | © Bloomberg April showers usually bring complacent markets, but on 3   April Rivian pulled a stunt that jolted every risk manager I know. The EV maker launched a US   $2.5   billion zero coupon convertible , pricing it 35   percent above the previous close yet demand was five times covered. As I built a hedge model for a client, I realised I was staring at modern portfolio theory in action. Living the volatility I sat through the syndicate call where bankers pitched the deal as a “beta neutral equity alternative.” In plainer English: buy the note, short a delta slice of shares, pocket near risk free convexity. The market’s efficiency showed itself within minutes of pricing, options desks arbitraged away mis’ valuations. By day’s end, implied vol settled at a level that almost perfectly fit CAPM based fair value...

Blog 1 From Cash Pile to Cloud Surge: The February Day Apple Taught Me What ‘Value’ Really Means Sneka  |  Published May 20, 2025 A close-up of Apple headquarters building. | © shutterstock.com I still remember the February morning when Apple’s latest bond prospectus lit up my Bloomberg terminal. Ten-year coupons at 3.4   percent? My first instinct was disbelief why would the most cash rich firm I follow add another US   $12   billion of debt? But as I read the fine print, the strategy clicked, and I felt the familiar buzz that comes when financial logic dovetails with shareholder value. Apple said the proceeds would do two things: bankroll a $70   billion accelerated share buy back and part fund the first wave of AI optimised data centre build outs. In one stroke management lowered the weighted cost of capital, shrank share count, and positioned the firm for outsized cloud revenues. How it looked on the inside By midday the trading desk was alive with calls from port...