Akio Toyoda delivers an address at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025, showcasing the company’s latest innovations in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Jan. 6, 2025. Anadolu via Getty Images
Akio Toyoda, grandson of Toyota Motors’ founder Kiichiro Toyoda, is leading a $33 billion effort to take private Toyota Industries—one of the automaker’s largest and oldest suppliers. The deal carries deep symbolic weight: Toyota Industries was the original parent company of Toyota Motors. Founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1926, Toyota Industries spun off Toyota Motors as a separate entity in 1937. Now, nearly a century later, Akio Toyoda is reclaiming the ancestral core of the Toyota empire—at a significant discount—tightening the founding family’s grip on the world’s largest automaker.
Both Toyota Motors and Toyota Industries are subsidiaries within the Toyota Group conglomerate. Today, Toyota Industries is the world’s largest manufacturer of forklifts.
Akio Toyoda, 69, currently serves as chairman of Toyota Motors. He led the company as CEO and president for 14 years before stepping down in 2023. He was succeeded by Koji Sato, a non-family executive who had previously served as CEO of Toyota’s luxury division, Lexus, for seven years.
At $33 billion, the offer came in well below the $42 billion investors had anticipated, prompting criticism that Akio Toyoda may be engineering a discounted buyout to benefit Toyota Group leadership at the expense of shareholders. “The tender offer price is very low compared to our estimate of intrinsic value,” said David Mitchinson, chief investment officer at Zennor Asset Management and a Toyota Industries investor, in an interview with Yahoo Finance. He added that there is “strong opposition” from shareholders.
Still, the offer represents a premium over Toyota Industries’ stock price before the deal was made public in April. Toyota executives argue the valuation is fair and reflects that premium. They also suggest investors may have artificially inflated expectations in the lead-up to the announcement, which may explain why shares dropped more than 10 percent this week following the official offer.
The buyout raises other concerns as well. Control of Toyota Industries will now shift to Toyota Fudusan, an unlisted real estate firm that serves as the Toyoda family’s private investment vehicle and where Akio Toyoda is also chairman. Toyoda is contributing just ¥1 billion—roughly $7 million—of his personal wealth to the deal, with the rest funded by Toyota Fudusan, Toyota Motors and loans from Japan’s largest banks.
In an effort to dispel concerns that the deal is a power grab by the founding family, a senior Toyota Motors executive—formerly the company’s CFO—stated during an online briefing, “The chairman’s involvement isn’t about control over the business, it’s about his commitment to the deal, to provide support on the ground and to the betterment of Japan.”
According to a press release, the three parties involved say the buyout is intended to “deepen collaboration within Toyota Group.” The group operates a complex network of companies and subsidiaries. In recent years, Japan’s government has pressured conglomerates to improve corporate governance by unwinding these structures—particularly so-called “parent-child listings,” where both a parent company and its subsidiary are publicly traded. In such cases, like that of Toyota Motors and Toyota Industries, shareholder value can be diminished. The Toyota Group has acknowledged these governance concerns and says it is taking steps to address them.
Dara Khosrowshahi has been CEO of Uber since 2017. Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images
In February, hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman revealed he had acquired a roughly $2 billion stake in Uber. Known for his activist approach and tendency to push for major changes at companies he invests in, Ackman hasn’t always been welcomed by corporate leaders. But Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says the relationship has been entirely positive, calling Ackman a “legendary investor” whose involvement has inspired the company to launch new features.
“I’ve always admired Bill, so when we found out he was a shareholder, it was like, ‘Right on,’” Khosrowshahi said at the Bloomberg Tech Summit in San Francisco yesterday (June 5). “We’ve got a great relationship,” he added.
Ackman called himself a “long-term customer and admirer” of Uber in a February post on X. He noted that he first invested in the company through a small venture fund and remains actively engaged with the product. “He’s intensely interested in the product and talks to his drivers, so he gives me a lot of feedback,” Khosrowshahi said.
And his feedback is taken seriously. Earlier this year, the investor posted on X about the difficulty of ordering multiple Ubers at once for himself, his children and his mother after an event. In response, Uber began developing a feature to address that use case. According to Khosrowshahi, the resulting tool has “proven to be a really cool feature.”
Pershing Square, Ackman’s hedge fund, now holds 30.3 million shares in Uber. Though he once described Uber’s past leadership as “erratic,” Ackman praised Khosrowshahi’s tenure, saying in the same post, “We believe that Uber is one of the best managed and highest quality businesses in the world.”
Pershing Square, which manages more than $17 billion in assets, is a major investor in the restaurant and hospitality sectors. The hedge fund holds $1 billion worth of Chipotle shares and a $1.5 billion stake in Restaurant Brands International, the parent company of Burger King and Tim Hortons. Ackman has previously called restaurants a “really simple business”—one in which Pershing has never lost money. The fund also maintains large positions in Hilton.
Ackman recently made his foray into the mobility sector. Earlier this year, he acquired a nearly 20 percent stake in Hertz, citing the car rental company’s strong position in the used car market amid rising tariffs. He also floated the idea of a future partnership between Hertz and Uber focused on rolling out autonomous vehicle (AV) fleets.
Uber has already made significant moves in the AV space, partnering with Waymo to offer self-driving taxis in Austin and Atlanta and investing in U.K.-based AV startup Wayve. “Ultimately, we think it’ll expand the marketplace by making safe transportation in cities accessible to everyone,” Khosrowshahi said at the Bloomberg Tech Summit.
As advances in A.I. continue to propel autonomous driving, Uber acknowledges the potential threat to driver and courier jobs. However, the company is also using the technology to create new forms of “knowledge work” for its contractors. According to Khosrowshahi, Uber now offers opportunities for drivers and couriers to earn additional income by labeling maps, translating languages and grading A.I. responses. “Over the next five to ten years, this work will be a significant part of the overall opportunities that we’re giving to our drivers and couriers,” he said.
Stepping down after 37 years at American Express, CEO Ken Chenault was one of just four African-Americans running a Fortune 500 company. A rock star to the green card faithful, Chenault was a preternaturally calm leader during turbulent times for the financial services firm, from the 9/11 attacks in Lower Manhattan to the 2008 recession. He talked with CBS News Special Correspondent James Brown about his tenure, and his future.
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SpaceX earns revenue through three primary streams: government launches, commercial launches and Starlink, its satellite-based internet service. As in previous years, Starlink is expected to be the company’s main revenue driver, accounting for about 80 percent of total revenue in 2025, per market research firm Quilty Space.
In 2024, Starlink generated $7.8 billion in revenue, Quilty reports. More than half of that came from commercial customers, while government contracts contributed around $3 billion.
Starlink currently operates the world’s largest satellite constellation, with roughly 7,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit. SpaceX aims to expand the network by another 30,000 satellites. The service now has more than 5 million users across 125 countries.
The remainder of SpaceX’s revenue will come from its launch business, which serves both government and commercial clients using the Falcon family of rockets. In 2024, the company completed 134 launches—more than any other operator globally. It plans to increase that number to 170 this year. NASA alone is expected to contribute $1.1 billion to SpaceX’s 2025 revenue, according to Musk.
“Commercial revenue from space will exceed the entire budget of NASA next year,” Musk said. The U.S. space agency is expected to face steep funding cuts under the Trump administration, which has proposed slashing NASA’s budget from $24.8 billion in 2025 to $18.8 billion in 2026.
SpaceX was valued at $350 billion last year after completing a secondary shares sale, making it one of the most valuable private firms in the world.
But SpaceX is also spending heavily. It is developing the Starship rocket system, a massive next-generation vehicle designed to eventually carry humans to the Moon and Mars. So far, SpaceX has conducted nine orbital test flights of Starship and aims to begin uncrewed missions to Mars as early as 2026.
I quit! The joys of leaving your job for good – CBS News
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Many Americans with full-time jobs say they daydream about leaving those jobs far behind. But giving up an unsatisfying career (and the paycheck with it) is not just a fantasy, say those who have experienced the joy of quitting. Tony Dokoupil talks with business and financial writers Seth Godin and Michelle Singletary, and with two people who left their jobs, and never looked back.
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Anne Wojcicki established 23andMe nearly two decades ago. Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images
The saga surrounding the once-hot DNA testing company 23andMe has taken another unexpected turn. Last month, biotech firm Regeneron purchased the company’s assets—including its genetic database of around 15 million users—for $256 million at a bankruptcy auction, seemingly closing the deal. However, a larger bid from Anne Wojcicki, 23andMe’s co-founder and former CEO, has prompted a second auction.
At a court hearing in St. Louis, Mo. yesterday (June 4), 23andMe’s attorney inadvertently revealed that Wojcicki’s post-auction proposal had reached $305 million. Wojcicki, who resigned as 23andMe’s CEO in March and has contested the outcome of the initial auction, joined forces with her nonprofit TTAM Research Institute to place the bid.
Following the revelation, representatives from 23andMe, TTAM, and Regeneron reached an agreement to reopen the sale process. The second auction, scheduled for later this month, will begin with TTAM’s new offer—nearly $50 million higher than Regeneron’s original winning bid.
23andMe’s shares soared more than 24 percent today after the news.
What happened to 23andMe?
The move marks a turning point in 23andMe’s tumultuous decline. Founded in 2006 by Wojcicki, the company initially gained traction with its saliva-based ancestry kits and went public in 2021. By the end of that year, its valuation peaked at $6 billion.
However, its financial situation quickly deteriorated. 23andMe struggled to generate consistent revenue beyond its DNA testing kits, which customers typically purchased only once. In 2023, the company faced a significant data breach that exposed information from roughly 7 million users, resulting in a class action lawsuit. Earlier this year, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Amid 23andMe’s downfall, concerns grew over the fate of its vast database of user DNA, with state attorneys general urging users to delete their genetic data from the platform. When Regeneron announced its acquisition of the company’s assets last month, it pledged to adhere to privacy laws and consumer policies regarding the genetic database—a commitment that TTAM also intends to honor should it win the upcoming auction.
Regeneron, which develops treatments for a variety of diseases, stated that it planned to use the data to accelerate medical research. The company also agreed to allow a court-appointed ombudsman and other stakeholders to review its privacy practices.
Another sale on the cards
For 23andMe’s upcoming auction, TTAM will kick off the process with its $305 million bid. Regeneron will then be required to place a higher bid, starting at $315 million, after which TTAM will have two hours to respond with a final proposal before the final bid goes to Regeneron. Lawyers for both sides agreed that the losing bidder will receive a $10 million “breakup fee.”
TTAM’s new bid is a substantial increase from the $146 million it offered during last month’s auction, and it far exceeds the initial $40 million bid Wojcicki proposed before 23andMe filed for bankruptcy in March. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brian Walsh described the negotiated terms of the new auction as a “very positive development” for equity holders during yesterday’s hearing.
Lucy Guo attends as Passes presents Lucypalooza 2024 during LA Tech Week on Oct. 16, 2024 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Getty Images for Passes
Lucy Guo, the 30-year-old co-founder of high-flying A.I. startup Scale AI, just dethroned Taylor Swift as the youngest self-made female billionaire. With a net worth nearing $1.3 billion, Guo landed at No. 26 on Forbes’ annual “America’s Richest Self-Made Women” list, published yesterday (June 3).
Raised in Fremont, Calif. by Chinese immigrant parents, Guo was “always an entrepreneur growing up,” she said in a 2023 interview—selling Pokémon cards and colored pencils in kindergarten. By second grade, she was coding; soon after, she was building bots that made her thousands. In 2014, at just 20 years old, she dropped out of Carnegie Mellon University, where she studied computer science, after receiving the Thiel Fellowship. The program, backed by billionaire investor Peter Thiel, offers $200,000 over two years to help promising college students build companies—on the condition they leave school behind.
Around that time, she interned at Facebook, had a brief stint at Quora in 2015, and then became Snapchat’s first female product designer, working full-time for a year. At Quora, she met Alexandr Wang, a math prodigy two years younger who rose quickly at the company. In 2016, the two founded Scale AI—initially as a healthcare platform matching patients with doctors for specific procedures. The concept earned them admission to Y Combinator’s summer 2016 batch.
A friend at Y Combinator floated the idea of building an “API for Humans”—a streamlined way for people to exchange data at scale. The concept stuck. It quickly attracted funding from Accel and morphed into Scale AI’s core business: supplying the high-quality, labeled data that powers A.I. systems. By employing thousands of contractors to annotate images and data points, Scale AI helps companies like Tesla train their models to recognize everything from pedestrians to roadblocks.
Guo was ousted from Scale in 2018, reportedly after a disagreement with Wang, who still serves as CEO. She kept a roughly 5 percent stake—an asset that’s aged well. Scale AI is currently valued at $25 billion after closing a fundraising round earlier this week.
“I don’t really think about it much, it’s a bit wild. Too bad it’s all on paper haha,” Guo told Forbes via text in response to her new billionaire status.
While Guo insists most of her fortune exists only on paper, she hasn’t exactly been living modestly. Last year, she bought a $4.2 million designer home in Los Angeles and also owns a $6.7 million apartment in Miami. At the latter, she hosted a party featuring exotic animals that reportedly irritated fellow residents, including David Beckham. In 2022, the New York Post anointed her “Miami’s number one party girl.”
Since parting ways with Scale AI, Guo has stayed busy. She founded Backend Capital to invest in early-stage startups, backing hits like Ramp, the financial software firm now worth $13 billion. Not long after, she raised $50 million between 2022 and 2024 for her next act: Passes, a pay-for-content platform she founded and now runs as CEO. The platform attracted major names like Shaquille O’Neal and DJ Kygo, offering fans exclusive access to celebrity content. But controversy soon followed: Passes was accused of enabling underage sexual content. Prior to the allegations, the company had already banned underage creators and scrubbed all associated content.
Now based full-time in Los Angeles, Guo remains focused on scaling Passes. In 2024, she made headlines again when Passes co-hosted an afterparty with Revolve featuring Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter, and a handful of other A-list names.
People walk past the Macy’s Herald Square flagship store on November 29, 2024 in New York City. Getty Images
Tariff-driven price hikes are making their way into department stores. This week, Macy’s CEO Tony Spring—whose company also owns Bloomingdale’s and the cosmetics chain Bluemercury—said rising costs tied to tariffs will soon impact prices across select product categories. His comments followed similar warnings from Walmart, Target and Nike, whose business relies heavily on Chinese manufacturing.
Macy’s sources about 20 percent of its merchandise from China. “There are going to be items that are the same price as they were a year ago. There [are] going to be, selectively, items that may be more expensive, and there are items that we might not carry because the pricing doesn’t merit the quality or the perceived value by the consumer,” Spring told CNBC after reporting quarterly earnings on May 28.
Spring emphasized that price increases would be confined to specific brands and categories where customers still perceive strong value. He also noted that Macy’s is actively reducing its exposure to Chinese imports by renegotiating supplier contracts and canceling or delaying orders that no longer meet the company’s value criteria.
For the quarter ending May 3, Macy’s reported a 5 percent year-over-year revenue decline to $4.6 billion, with net income falling to $38 million from $62 million the previous year. The company expects tariffs to slightly erode its gross margin in fiscal 2025.
Earlier this month, Nordstrom—one of Macy’s chief competitors—completed a $4 billion sale to Mexican retail group El Puerto de Liverpool. The deal, first announced in December 2024, faced delays due to tariff-related uncertainty but ultimately closed.
“Department stores may continue to see pressure on profit margins, weakened competitiveness compared to e-commerce players with more flexible supply chains and increased operational complexity,” William London, an international business attorney and partner at California-based Kimura London & White LLP, told Observer. He noted that executives citing tariffs are not just highlighting cost increases, but also the broader strategic volatility they introduce into global sourcing.
“Now may be the ideal moment to introduce more U.S.-made alternatives that aren’t vulnerable to tariff fluctuations,” said Liya Getachew, principal at Sendero Consulting, who specializes in manufacturing, consumer-packaged goods and supply chain operations. She added that retailers must now strike a careful balance between maintaining customer loyalty and building supply chain resilience.
Concerns around tariffs are mounting across the retail sector. Earlier in May, Walmart CEO Douglas McMillon told analysts that despite efforts to shield shoppers from rising costs, the scale of the tariffs makes it difficult to absorb the full impact. Walmart has already raised prices on certain items.
Target CEO Brian Cornell has also flagged “massive potential costs” from tariffs but said price increases would remain a “very last resort.”
Other major consumer brands are already moving forward. Nike is set to implement price hikes starting in June, while Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz said select toys may become more expensive if tariffs on Chinese goods stay in place.
Peter Pernot-Day heads up strategic and corporate affairs at Shein. Photo By Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile for Collision via Getty Images
Ever wonder how Shein, the budget-friendly fast fashion giant, manages to keep pace with trends seemingly overnight? According to Peter Pernot-Day, the company’s head of strategic and corporate affairs, it all comes down to Shein’s “micro-production” model—a system that allows for lightning-fast turnaround based on real-time demand.
“We are precisely tailoring the supply of products to the actual demand in the marketplace,” said Pernot-Day while speaking at Web Summit Vancouver today (May 30). Unlike traditional retailers that typically manufacture between 50,000 and 100,000 units per item months in advance, Shein starts with small batches—just 100 to 200 garments—based on emerging trends.
Shein then uses data from its e-commerce platform to assess interest, tracking metrics like product hovers, cart additions and social media shares. This real-time feedback enables designers to experiment boldly and helps the company maintain a wide range of styles while minimizing overproduction, said Pernot-Day.
Founded in China and now headquartered in Singapore, Shein is known for its low-cost, trend-driven clothing. The company was valued at as much as $100 billion in 2022. But with a potential IPO in the U.K. on the horizon and mounting economic challenges—including the Trump-era tariffs and the removal of the “de minimis” exemption that previously allowed goods under $800 to enter the U.S. duty-free—Shein is reportedly under pressure to slash its valuation to around $30 billion. The company also continues to face criticism over labor practices, intellectual property disputes and environmental impact.
Still, Pernot-Day argued that Shein’s on-demand production model actually reduces waste. Because the company only manufactures what consumers are likely to buy, he said, excess inventory remains in the “very low single digits.”
In response to claims that Shein fuels overconsumption, Pernot-Day also defended the durability of its products. “Around 68 percent of shoppers wear Shein products multiple, multiple times,” he said, pushing back on the idea that the retailer produces “disposable” fashion. “When you look at the data, when you talk to our customers, they’re keeping our clothes for longer, and the principal way in which they dispose them is through gifting.”
From Treasuries to Bitcoin, the pursuit of safety is reshaping how investors allocate and exit their capital. Unsplash+
In times of stress, wealth always chases after safety, but in 2025, the definition of “safe” has become much murkier. The investment landscape for high-net-worth (HNW) investors is undergoing a significant transformation, and the definition of safe assets is being re-evaluated. In a world marked by geopolitical instability and unpredictable market responses, liquidity is increasingly viewed as a measure of control, autonomy and psychological reassurance. Investors are quietly rewriting their liquidity playbooks, showcasing a shift in wealth psychology.
T-Bills: Refuge amid the turmoil
U.S. Treasuries have long been the go-to choice during times of crisis. However, given recent events, even this asset class is being tested, and the long-standing fortress is showing some cracks. Once considered a safe corner of the market, it has become a battleground for hedge funds engaged in “basis trading”—speculative bets on price gaps between Treasuries and their futures. These trades depend heavily on repo funding, which can dry up suddenly in market stress. When that happens, funds can be forced to unwind positions en masse, potentially triggering liquidity spirals. This played out in March 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic triggered a global dash for cash and repo markets abruptly tightened, forcing hedge funds to unwind their positions. This led to increased volatility and liquidity strains in the Treasury market. To try to stabilize, the U.S. Federal Reserve implemented emergency measures, including large-scale purchases of Treasury securities.
Today’s market faces similar worries. The issue isn’t just volatility—it’s structural fragility and the interconnectedness of financial institutions, which can result in systemic risks, especially during sudden liquidity withdrawal. The Fed is concerned about the web of dependencies connecting hedge funds, clearinghouses and banks via the Treasury repo market.
Still, Treasuries aren’t dead, and it’s too early to write them off. Short-duration T-bills, in particular, remain a preferred instrument among risk-aware investors because they strike the combination of traits that many HNWIs crave: relatively low risk, reasonable yield and—most importantly—liquidity. In a world where things can go sideways overnight, the ability to exit positions swiftly and without disruption is valued more than incremental returns.
A growing preference for digital autonomy
If T-bills represent cautious optimism, Bitcoin is starting to reflect something else: digital autonomy. Cryptocurrencies are no longer a niche domain for risk-happy technophiles. Bitcoin is finding its way into the portfolios of younger HNW investors who view it less as a speculative instrument and more as a tool of financial independence.
In an era of bank bail-ins, frozen accounts and political uncertainty, Bitcoin offers psychological insurance—a way to preserve access to one’s funds independently of centralized banking systems. For many, it represents a safety net in a world where financial infrastructure feels increasingly fragile.
Moreover, the credibility of cryptocurrencies as an asset class has grown considerably in recent times. Bitcoin is now held in ETFs and on major custodial platforms like BlackRock and Fidelity, reinforcing its legitimacy as an institutionally accepted asset. Notable regulatory milestones such as MiCA in the EU and ETF approvals in the U.S. are reframing crypto as a “compliant asset.” This is a big boost to their appeal among conservative HNWIs.
Crypto as a whole still remains a volatile asset class. But, in a way, that volatility is understood and accepted these days. Bitcoin’s appeal persists because what rattles people more is not volatility but the lack of access. Being unable to move one’s money in a moment of stress is the greatest fear that transcends crypto and touches every asset class right now. In that regard, cryptocurrencies offer an increasingly popular alternative option. That said, most institutional capital continues to flow into Bitcoin—and to a lesser degree, Ethereum. But not the broader crypto ecosystem. The narrative of legitimacy appears to be mostly confined to these two assets for now.
Gold’s return offers less inflation, more de-dollarization
Gold has also re-entered the spotlight, but not for the usual reasons—this time, the focus is not on inflation fears and the metal’s traditional role as a hedge. Gold’s demand today is driven by the desire to de-dollarize and mitigate geopolitical exposure. Central banks around the world are increasing their reserves, seeking insulation from financial shocks and growing geopolitical tensions.
Many countries now view gold as a neutral reserve asset that can be used to insulate their economies from U.S. monetary policy and reduce reliance on the dollar in international transactions. High-net-worth investors are also taking note of this trend, choosing gold as a store of value not just to diversify, but to reduce exposure to global fiat-driven volatility.
Gold offers something that other assets cannot: a tangible, non-digital store of value that operates outside the influence of any single currency or government. Unlike Bitcoin, you can’t email it to yourself across borders, but in terms of psychological safety, it still holds a unique place. In an increasingly digitized and interconnected world, gold reminds people that some wealth should be physically untouchable to feel permanent and reliable. It’s as much about emotional security as it is about portfolio strategy.
Liquidity is now an emotional anchor
What all of these asset shifts have in common is a growing recognition that liquidity is not just a technical metric, it is also an emotional comfort zone. Investors no longer ask, “Can I sell this?” They ask, “Can I get out if things go bad, before everyone else?” How quickly and predictably they can do so when market conditions deteriorate is a key factor up for consideration these days.
Recent events have demonstrated just how quickly liquidity can vanish. From the UK’s LDI pension crisis to Silicon Valley Bank’s overnight implosion, the lesson is clear: in a digital, interconnected world, liquidity crunches arrive with little to no warning. Not because of poor asset selection, but because too many people hit the “sell” button at the same time, and the markets just can’t handle it. This results in a new set of investor priorities. Access, execution flexibility and operational resilience now rank alongside—or above—yield and long-term appreciation in wealth management discussions.
What wealth managers must understand
So what does this mean for advisors, private banks and family offices? It means that traditional approaches to portfolio construction are no longer sufficient. Today’s clients are asking deeper questions about asset behavior under stress, and they expect precise, actionable answers. In response to this changing mindset, asset managers should keep several strategies in mind.
First: segmentation matters. Advisors need to start viewing portfolios not just in terms of risk and reward, but also in terms of exit timelines. What can be liquidated in a day? A week? A quarter? Segment portfolios by liquidity tiers to offer greater clarity and control. That’s how investors are learning to think now.
Second: diversify not just across assets, but across liquidity types. Investment-grade corporate bonds might carry more credit risk than Treasuries, for example, but they offer alternatives for those seeking yield without locking up capital long-term.
Third: embrace transparency and offer real-time monitoring tools. Dashboards that show bid-ask spreads, margin call thresholds and funding market stress aren’t just for CIOs anymore—clients want to be able to see them too.
The future of liquidity thinking
In 2025, liquidity is no longer just a technical detail. It’s a board-level issue. It influences asset selection, client satisfaction and, ultimately, institutional resilience. The biggest takeaway? Liquidity must be built before it’s needed. In volatile periods, buffers are tested, often brutally and with no warning, so make sure to construct them while there’s relative calm.
Stress test everything, and remember: the true mark of safety isn’t an asset’s label or historical reputation—it’s how it behaves when the music stops. Investors and institutions must take the initiative to prepare for liquidity shocks, because when the stress hits, the window to act is often measured in minutes, not days.
