Daily Brief Financials: Samsung Life Insurance, SelfWealth Ltd, NIFTY Index, Nikkei 225, USD, Moon River Capital , Sun Life Financial and more

• Once Samsung F&M burns treasury shares, Samsung Life’s stake hits 16.93%. If they avoid a subsidiary, they’ll need to dump ~817K shares. Today’s ruling makes that move much less likely.
• Samsung Life’s value-up announcement could be major, likely dropping around their earnings call on February 20, with solid intel backing this move.
• The balance of dividends vs. buybacks, plus Samsung Life’s 10% stake ceiling, will drive volatility for Samsung Electronics. Samsung Life’s value-up release, before Samsung Electronics’, will boost market clarity.

• On the 25th November, online trading player SelfWealth Ltd (SWF AU) entered into a SID with Bell Financial (BFG AU) at A$0.25/share after outbidding AxiCorp Financial Services.
• Now Singaporean-based wealth manager Svava has tabled a non-binding A$0.28/share Offer, in cash, by way of a Scheme. Svava also holds an effective blocking stake – 18.8% of shares out. 
• SelfWealth said Svava’s proposal “while indicative and non-binding, could be reasonably considered to become a superior proposal.” BFG needs to step up. 

• Nifty has been in a prolonged downtrend, currently 4 months in duration and clipping 10.3% off the index. This is the second longest decline since 2007.
• When looked at vs the extent of this decline, implied vol is at the bottom of its historical range and historic vol also quietest in a down-move since 2007.
• Implied vol is trading at or above peak levels seen on historic vol since the decline started and implied remains negatively correlated to movements in spot.

• This week we add in some additional graphs and commentary highlighting USD/JPY vs Nikkei 225.
• Implied vols were very reactive to spot to open the week with Nikkei dropping almost 1% on Monday.
• Heavier volume on the down days with Puts making up 57.8% of the total weekly volume.

• The Fed kept policy rates unchanged as expected, but Chair Powell’s press conference provided key insights on the Fed’s stance
• The Fed’s focus on inflation and asymmetric reaction function suggests a possible delay in further rate cuts
• Range-bound rate environment post-Fed meeting favors short gamma strategies for volatility sellers, while yield curve trading strategies may lack carry opportunities

This content is sourced through publicly available sources and has been machine generated. Information displayed is for general informational purposes only.

• Moon River announced it will now be trading on the OTCQB in the US under the symbol MRIVF.
• It also announced that its shares have received DTC Eligibility.
• We provide a rehash of our investment thesis on Moon River.

• Sun Life Financial may face challenges in its U.S. Group Benefits business, particularly in dental and stop-loss margins, as suggested by new information for the upcoming earnings report
• Negative readthroughs from other insurers in the industry and potential changes in Medicaid spend under a Republican administration could impact SLF’s stock
• Despite trading at a high multiple, SLF’s stock may face downside risk based on the current outlook, with a potential mid-teens % downside in a bear case scenario

This content is sourced through publicly available sources and has been machine generated. Information displayed is for general informational purposes only. This article was originally published 3 months ago on Value Investors Club.