Behind the Money - podcast cover

Behind the Money

Financial Timesft.com
From hostile takeovers to C-suite intrigue, Behind the Money takes you inside the business and financial stories of the moment with reporting from Financial Times journalists around the world.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Episodes

Blowing the whistle on ESG

Last week authorities raided the offices of Germany’s top asset manager DWS Group and its majority owner Deutsche Bank. The raid was spurred by allegations of greenwashing. That is, that DWS had made misleading claims about how sustainable or “green” some of its financial products were. DWS says it denies those allegations and has cooperated with regulators and authorities, but this move has prompted a larger reckoning throughout the financial industry. At the centre of much of this is former DW...

Jun 08, 202228 min

Tether’s path to the spotlight

We’re diving back into the world of stablecoins for part 2 of 2 in our miniseries on crypto. This time, it’s a story filled with troubled companies and a real life fire that sends a business up in smoke. With the help of FT reporters Kadhim Shubber and Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan, we dig into the professional histories of two executives who sit atop two of crypto’s most important businesses: stablecoin issuer Tether and exchange Bitfinex. Clips courtesy CSPAN For further reading: Tether’s CEO:...

Jun 01, 202226 min

A crypto vibe shift?

Behind the Money is back! Our first episode is part 1 of 2 in a miniseries on crypto. First up, we're wondering: is a crypto vibe shift underway? Bitcoin’s price has been dropping for weeks and earlier this month, a popular stablecoin collapsed. FT reporter Ethan Wu explains how the effects of that rippled into other areas of the crypto universe. Michela and Ethan will talk about what stablecoins are and why they matter — even for people who aren’t crypto investors. For further reading: Crypto s...

May 25, 202220 min

We're back!

Behind the Money is back with all-new episodes! From hostile takeovers to C-suite intrigue, Behind the Money takes you inside the business and financial stories of the moment with reporting from Financial Times journalists around the world. The podcast returns May 25. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 17, 20221 min

Introducing Tech Tonic: The US/China Tech Race

A new six-part series of Tech Tonic brings you stories from the frontlines of the battle between the US and China for global technological supremacy. At stake is the future of technologies that will shape all our lives, from the way the internet is used to the way we govern our societies. Join the FT’s Global China Editor James Kynge as he charts China’s dramatic transformation into a global tech superpower, sparking rivalry with the US over who controls our technological future. Hosted on Acast...

Apr 13, 20222 min

5 - Inside ESG: A sceptic vs a believer, our experts face off

The amount of money flowing into investment funds that claim to invest in sustainable businesses has surged in recent years. More companies than ever have embraced policies with environmental, social and corporate governance criteria as their central plank. But there's a debate over what ESG investing can achieve, particularly when it comes to cutting carbon emissions and addressing climate change. In the final episode of our five-part series on ESG investing, we hear from two leading FT voices ...

Nov 03, 202121 min

Introducing Working It: Can wellness apps fix us and beat staff burnout?

This is the podcast about doing work differently. Join host Isabel Berwick every Wednesday for expert analysis and watercooler chat about ahead-of-the-curve workplace trends, the big ideas shaping work today — and the old habits we need to leave behind. Subscribe on Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/working-it/id1591925469 - On Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/5vNDHxEOc1pI1acJS7He5e Or wherever you get your podcasts. The wellness industry is a trillion-dollar business, and the pan...

Oct 30, 202117 min

4 - Inside ESG: Sustainable finance and the threat to divest

If you want your investments to match your principles should a threat to divest be part of your long-term strategy? In the fourth episode of our special five-part series on sustainable or ESG investing, produced in partnership with the FT’s Moral Money team, the story of the California State Teachers' Retirement System, or Calstrs, and why its decision to divest from the US private prisons industry prompted tears and passionate discussion on the board. Joe Rennison, deputy US markets editor, ass...

Oct 20, 202124 min

4 - Inside ESG: Sustainable finance and the threat to divest

If you want your investments to match your principles should a threat to divest be part of your long-term strategy? In the fourth episode of our special five-part series on sustainable or ESG investing, produced in partnership with the FT’s Moral Money team, the story of the California State Teachers' Retirement System, or Calstrs, and why its decision to divest from the US private prisons industry prompted tears and passionate discussion on the board. Joe Rennison, deputy US markets editor, ass...

Oct 20, 202124 min

3 - Inside ESG: The tiny fund that took on a US giant and won

The story of how a tiny, unknown hedge fund took on a giant of corporate America over climate change - and won. Charlie Penner of Engine No 1 talks about the very public proxy campaign he launched against Exxon Mobil, forcing the oil major to prepare for a future free of fossil fuels. In the third episode of our special five-part series on sustainable or ESG investing, produced in partnership with the FT’s Moral Money team, Derek Brower, US energy editor, and Attracta Mooney, the FT’s investment...

Oct 06, 202119 min

2 - Inside ESG: Can businesses really marry profit and purpose?

Milton Friedman, the renowned American economist and spiritual mentor of many entrepreneurs, argued that the social responsibility of business was to increase profits. This has been the gospel since the early 1970s, but companies and investors are beginning to rethink the purpose of business. Has the sun really set on the Miltonian era? In the second episode of our special five-part series produced in partnership with the Moral Money team, Leila Abboud, the FT’s Paris correspondent, and Gillian ...

Sep 23, 202122 min

1 - Inside ESG: Is the $1.7tn wave of sustainable investing hope or hype?

When Tariq Fancy joined BlackRock as its first chief investment officer for sustainable investing in 2018, he was convinced that with companies around the world, including the world’s biggest asset manager, embracing environmental, social and governance (ESG) causes, the stage was set to reform capitalism. As a former Wall Street banker, he’d been hired by Blackrock after setting up his own digital learning non-profit group in Canada. But just two years after joining Blackrock, he left his job. ...

Sep 23, 202123 min

Trailer: Inside ESG

Behind the Money presents a special 5-part series produced in partnership with the FT’s Moral Money team that goes inside the colossal sums flowing into sustainable investing. Trillions have flooded into funds that have made environmental, social and governance issues, or ESG, central to their investment strategies. As the world begins slowly to recover from the multiple shocks of the pandemic, we take listeners to the center of a loaded debate: Will a shift to more sustainable investments actua...

Sep 22, 20212 min

Introducing Tech Tonic: You Can’t Always Get What you Quant

Introducing the FT Tech Tonic podcast. You can subscribe and listen to the rest of the series here. From picking the best stocks to listening in on earnings calls, AI-powered systems are changing finance. But how big are the rewards, really? And what are the risks? In this episode Robin Wigglesworth tells us how AI has been used in investing, what happens when programs must adapt to new risks and what the robots could learn from watching children play. Alice Fordham is senior producer. Josh Gabe...

Jul 19, 202128 min

Financial services after Brexit

The City of London is home to some of the world’s biggest banks and busiest exchanges but the UK is just weeks away from leaving the EU single market and many questions about access to the bloc are still unresolved. Philip Stafford, editor of FT Trading Room, and Stephen Morris, the FT’s banking editor, take a look at the future of financial services after Brexit. Review clips: BBC News, CNBC, EU 27 Read more on the FT’s coverage of Brexit here: Brexit trade talks: the three big sticking points ...

Dec 09, 202023 min

Moderna’s race to the vaccine

The Boston-based biotech eschewed a traditional approach to vaccine development, instead pitching its use of mRNA technology to investors. That pitch paid off this year as the company stands to be one of the first to bring a Covid-19 vaccine to market. Hannah Kuchler, the FT’s US pharma and biotech correspondent, reports on Moderna’s race to find an immunisation for the novel coronavirus. The FT is making key coronavirus coverage free to read for everyone. Go to ft.com/coronavirusfree to read th...

Dec 02, 202019 min

Reckoning with a colonial past

As protests following the killing of George Floyd in the US reverberated around the world this summer, Belgium, like many other countries, experienced its own reckoning: with a brutal colonial past, with the systemic racism that inhibits its black citizens today and with the question of what exactly it owes to the Democratic Republic of Congo, which it exploited for 75 years. The FT's Neil Munshi reports on the company at the heart of Belgium's colonial pursuit, the Union Minière. Read Neil's FT...

Nov 26, 202026 min

The unravelling of the Ant IPO

The IPO of Jack Ma's Ant Group would have been the largest in history: it was expected to raise $37bn at a valuation of $316bn. But just days before the stock market listing, China called it off. The FT's Ryan McMorrow and Hudson Lockett report on what led to Beijing pulling the plug, and what it means for China's private sector. Further reading: 'The party is pushing back': why Beijing reined in Jack Ma and Ant . Review clips: Reuters, World Economic Forum, CNA, Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance. Hosted...

Nov 18, 202018 min

An economic uncoupling

Tensions between Washington and Beijing are beginning to resemble a new cold war. Could the complex supply chains built up over a generation that produce Apple's iPhone and other electronics soon be untangled? In this episode Kathrin Hille, the FT’s greater China correspondent , and Richard Waters, the FT’s west coast editor , tell the story of how technology supply chains in the US and China became intertwined and the forces that are pulling them apart. Review Clips: CNBC, CSPAN, Washington Pos...

Nov 11, 202023 min

US election programming note

There is no episode of Behind the Money this week. Here is a preview of what we are working on for next week. Review Clips: C-SPAN, CNBC, Dallas Morning News Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nov 04, 20201 min

Direct lending rush

The pandemic docked Carnival’s cruise ships and grounded Bombardier’s planes. But when the companies were in need of cash, one went to the bond market and the other to a direct lender. Robert Smith, FT capital market correspondent and Nikou Asgari, FT corporate finance reporter, tell the story of the billion dollar private debt deals shaping who has the capital to weather the crisis. Review Clips: CNBC, Reuters, ABC News Read more from Nikou, Rob and the rest of the corporate finance team Covid-...

Oct 28, 202022 min

Bank profits in a recession

The market volatility of the past few months has been a boon for the trading divisions of many Wall Street banks, including Morgan Stanley. Laura Noonan, the FT’s US banking editor, explains how success in trading, and a focus on wealth management has positioned Morgan Stanley to make gains during the pandemic - and whether this trend is likely to last. -- Review clips: CNBC, PBS, Federal Reserve Read more on Laura’s Noonan reporting on Morgan Stanley - https://www.ft.com/content/22d7c870-870d-4...

Oct 21, 202019 min

LVMH, Tiffany and a case of buyer’s remorse

Bernard Arnault built a €210bn luxury empire through an unflinching acquisition strategy that earned him the “wolf in cashmere” moniker. Tiffany, famous for its robin-egg blue boxes and diamond engagement rings, was meant to be the jewel atop his LVMH luxury group. The takeover would have been the largest-ever in the luxury sector, until the pandemic hit. The FT’s Leila Abboud, Arash Massoudi and James Fontanella-Khan unwind the saga of how the $16.6bn deal has hit rocky ground and how the pande...

Oct 14, 202023 min

Mafia high finance

While reporting on the coronavirus crisis in northern Italy this year, Rome correspondent Miles Johnson discovered an equally concerning story in the country’s south. Italy’s most powerful organised crime group, the ‘Ndrangheta, had infiltrated local hospitals and packaged millions of plundered euros into global investment funds and portfolios. In the first episode of Behind the Money’s fourth season, Miles follows the money trail in a cautionary tale for the era of ultra-low interest rates. Rea...

Oct 07, 202020 min

We're back with a new season

Episodes will be released weekly starting Wednesday October 7. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sep 30, 202057 sec

Wirecard: how to find a €2bn hole

In September 2014, the FT’s Dan McCrum received a tip about a fast-growing German fintech group, Wirecard. Over the next couple of years Dan and his colleagues uncovered the secret behind the payment company’s meteoric growth: many of the customers listed in company documents did not exist. In this episode Dan tells the story of the whistleblowers, shoe-leather reporting, hacking, suspected surveillance and legal threats that led to Wirecard’s downfall. --- Review clips: CNBC, Deutsche Welle Fur...

Jul 14, 202023 min

Rent, real estate and the commercial mortgage market in the age of coronavirus

In the US, commercial mortgage backed securities are a $1.2tn market, and an integral part of how banks lend to commercial property owners. But as the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns changed almost every sector of the economy, commercial real estate has changed too. Hotels and retailers have been hit hard by the shutdown, and mortgage and rent payments they have deferred are coming due. The FT’s Joe Rennison explains what this means for the CMBS market. We also hear from two people who are hel...

Jun 26, 202016 min

A history of police funding

When a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd, it was as if a fire was ignited. His death, along with the killings of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery have sparked the most widespread protests in the US since 1968. Hundreds of thousands of people have marched under banners such as “Black Lives Matter”, “No Justice, No Peace” and “Say Their Names”. Now, the voices of activists are converging around a call to “defund the police”. In this episode, we hear from Rachel Harmon, a professor of ...

Jun 13, 202022 min

A programming note

An update on this week's episode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jun 09, 202018 sec

The private equity bet that coronavirus cut short

Last December executives at the Carlyle Group worked into the night to sign what they imagined would be one of the private equity firm’s most enduring deals. In 2020, however, there may be no such thing as a stable business. Carlyle is now trying to walk away from a deal with American Express Global Business Travel before any money has changed hands. Our US private capital correspondent, Mark Vandevelde, reports on the ensuing legal row, and what it could mean for dealmaking during the pandemic....

May 26, 202019 min
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