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The largest courier companies in the world

The continued rise of e-commerce has led to increased demand for courier services worldwide. As more consumers shop online, courier companies must expand their infrastructure and capabilities to meet growing delivery volumes.

The “big three” couriers of United Parcel Service (UPS), FedEx, and DHL continue to dominate courier services worldwide.

Other carriers that operate more regionally have still attained a lot of value, including Japan Post Holdings and China’s S.F. Express and ZTO Express.

Of course, there have been many hurdles for the courier industry to overcome in the past few years. Global supply chain disruptions, such as those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, or geopolitical tensions, can severely impact courier operations.

Any delays at cargo-shipping hubs, changes in trade routes, and supply shortages may affect the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of courier services.

But though courier services have already improved in both speed and availability in many countries, companies are still looking for ways to increase efficiency even further. FedEx, for example, has started experimenting with AI-powered sorting robots to improve efficiency downstream.

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📞 Phone: +421 (2) 335 278 27 ✉️ Email: [email protected] 🌐 Website: www.gpieurope.eu

The Price of a Big Mac Across the World

What can a Big Mac tell us about currency rates? As it turns out, quite a lot.

The Big Mac Index, created by The Economist in 1986, started out as a simple tool to make currency theory more digestible. Now, it’s a widely-known measure in popular economics to assess and compare currency valuations.

In short, the Big Mac index compares the purchasing power parity (PPP) of currencies using the price of a Big Mac in the U.S. as the benchmark. It shows how much a Big Mac costs in various countries compared to the U.S., but it also works as a way to assess exchange rates.

Calculating the Big Mac Index to Assess Currencies

One can use the price of Big Macs in other countries to see if a currency has more or less purchasing power than expected. This is done by taking the local price of a Big Mac (in local currency) and dividing it by the U.S. price of a Big Mac to calculate an implied exchange rate.

This implied exchange rate is then compared against the actual exchange rate between the two currencies; if the implied rate is higher than the actual rate, the local currency is “overvalued”, and if it is lower, the local currency is “undervalued”.

It’s worth noting that this measure is relatively simplistic and doesn’t account for some factors like taxes, local production costs, and market barriers.

The Big Mac Index

Switzerland has the most expensive Big Macs in the world at $8.17 USD, which is 44% more expensive than the price of a Big Mac in the United States. Using the Big Mac Index, that suggests that the Swiss franc is 44% overvalued against the U.S. dollar.

European countries like Switzerland, Norway, and those in the eurozone tend to have more expensive Big Macs than the United States. This indicates that these European currencies may be overvalued relative to the U.S. dollar.

On the other end of the spectrum, several major East Asian economies, including Taiwan, Japan, China, and South Korea, have currencies substantially undervalued against the U.S. dollar, according to the Big Mac Index.

In April, the Bank of America stated it was not bullish “on any currency in Asia” and mentioned the Chinese yuan, South Korean won, and Taiwan dollar under its bearish category. In June, the Japanese yen hit a 38-year low against the dollar.

5 popular investment trends for the second half of 2024

Seasoned investors often approach markets with a long-term view, using short- and medium-term volatility to buy into the themes they believe will profit over many years. While identifying these trends is difficult, tuning out the noise can help you focus your portfolio on the winners, possibly resulting in significant gains.

Here are five of the most popular trends right now — including several themes showing significant growth potential in the rest of 2024 and beyond.

1. Generative artificial intelligence

Generative AI, a subset of the broader AI technology, is accelerating digital innovation across industries. It creates new content such as poetry, art, music, and videos in seconds using vast amounts of text. In business, it enhances creativity and productivity, potentially transforming how we work. McKinsey Digital estimates that generative AI could increase global corporate profits by $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion annually.

Please, feel free to visit our website and read this article in full: https://gpieurope.eu/market-insights/5-popular-investment-trends-for-the-second-half-of-2024/

The top 10 highest paid CEOs in America

The median pay for S&P 500 CEOs soared to an all-time high of $15.7 million in 2023, as a strong stock market boosted executive compensation.

Some of the highest paid CEOs in America earned nine-figure pay packages, with the vast majority of CEO compensation tied to stock awards. Overall, executives in the index earned on average 196 times more than the median S&P 500 employee, up from 185 in 2022.

Hock Tan, CEO of chipmaker Broadcom, tops the list, with an annual compensation of $161.8 million in 2023.

Like Nvidia, the company has benefited from surging demand for AI technologies. Broadcom supplies the networking chips used in data centers for big tech companies, including Microsoft. Between 2022 and 2023, Tan’s salary doubled, earning 510 times the median pay of employees.

Ranking in third is Stephen Schwarzman, who runs the biggest private equity firm in the world, Blackstone. The executive’s $119.8 million pay package was bolstered by a 83% rise in its share price last year. The firm is the world’s largest owner of commercial property, with approximately 12,500 real estate assets overall.

Meanwhile, Apple CEO Tim Cook received $63.2 million in 2023—a sharp decline from the $99.4 million earned in the prior year. This rare pay cut was the result of shareholder pushback and requests from Cook himself.

Overall, four of the top 10 highest paid CEOs in America are in the tech sector, with each experiencing double-digit share price gains over 2023.

All of the World’s Trillion-Dollar Companies

Chipmaker Nvidia is now the world’s most valuable company, which means its time for an update to our frequent “trillion-dollar club” post.

Numbers for each company come from Companiesmarketcap.com, while the median S&P 500 market cap was sourced from S&P Global.

Here are the key reasons behind each of these companies’ massive valuations:

🔹 Nvidia: The industry leader in data center chips, essential for training artificial intelligence

🔹Microsoft: Dominance in enterprise software products (e.g. Windows, Office, Azure)

🔹Apple: Strong track record of innovation and a large, loyal customer base

🔹Alphabet: Leading player in online advertising and other digital platforms (e.g. Google Search, Youtube)

🔹Amazon: Dominance in e-commerce and rising cloud computing market share through Amazon Web Services (AWS)

🔹Saudi Aramco: World’s largest oil producer with massive reserves

🔹Meta: Dominant player in social media (Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp)

Which Company Will Hit $1 Trillion Next?

As of June 18, there are a few candidates that could soon join the trillion-dollar club, including TSMC ($932B), Berkshire Hathaway ($881B), Eli Lilly ($847B), and Broadcom ($839B).

Most of these stocks have climbed significantly in 2024 so far, with TSMC up 77% since the start of the year, Eli Lilly up 51%, and Broadcom up 66%.

Stock Buybacks by the Magnificent Seven

By 2025, Goldman Sachs predicts that total U.S. stock buybacks will exceed $1 trillion. The bank sees this growth being driven by strong tech earnings growth and lower rates.

But what are buyback amounts like for the largest tech companies today?

What is a Stock Buyback?

A stock buyback is when a company buys their own shares to reduce the number of available shares on the market. Companies may choose to buy back stock to return value to shareholders. Having fewer shares available improves earnings per share, and may drive up the stock price.

Buying back stocks can also come with risks, such as using up cash that would otherwise be put toward growing the business...

Feel free to visit our website and read this article in full: https://gpieurope.eu/market-insights/stock-buybacks-by-the-magnificent-seven/?preview_id=2888&preview_nonce=debec1da6b&preview=true

Comparing Saudi Aramco’s $1.9T Valuation to Its Rivals

As of May 2024, there are just six trillion-dollar companies in the world, and only one of them is an oil company.

Saudi Aramco launched its initial public offering (IPO) on December 11, 2019. It remains the largest IPO in history, raising $25.6 billion and valuing the company at $1.7 trillion. Aramco is also the only trillion-dollar company that isn’t based in the United States.

As of 2022, Aramco had proven reserves equal to 259 billion barrels of oil equivalent, which is massively greater than rivals like ExxonMobil (17.7 billion) and Chevron (11.2 billion).

$1.9T*

It should be noted that the Saudi government directly owns 90% of the company, while another 8% is held by the country’s sovereign wealth fund. With only 2% of shares available to the public, some believe that the company’s current valuation carries little weight.

For example, a Bloomberg op-ed from 2023 described Aramco’s valuation as an “illusion” due to its very low trading volume. Over a one year period, Aramco’s average daily turnover was just $51 million, compared to $1.9 billion for ExxonMobil and $1.4 billion for Chevron.

The World’s Largest Economies: Comparing the U.S. and China

Starting with GDP, we used 2024 estimates from the latest edition of the IMF’s World Economic Outlook (April 2024).

According to the IMF’s World Economic Outlook for April 2024, the United States is projected to contribute 26.3% of the global GDP, amounting to $28,780 billion. China follows with 16.9% and $18,530 billion. The rest of the world collectively accounts for 56.8% with $62,220 billion.

Based on these figures, the United States and China combine for a massive 43.2% share of the global economy...

Please, feel free to read this article in full on our website: https://gpieurope.eu/market-insights/the-worlds-largest-economies-comparing-the-us-and-china/?preview=true

The World’s 50 Largest Private Equity Firms

In 2023, private equity firms controlled $8.2 trillion in assets globally according to McKinsey & Company, a figure that has rapidly expanded since the industry first emerged 40 years ago.

As large investors such as pension funds and insurance companies increasingly look to private markets, these alternative asset managers have seen their assets grow by more than twofold in the last five years.

To determine the rankings, private equity firms were defined as those that raise capital with the purpose of directly investing in businesses, covering diversified private equity, venture capital, growth equity, buyouts, along with turnaround or control-oriented distressed investment capital.

The ranking does not include funds of funds, private investment in public equity (PIPE), or funds that follow a secondaries, real estate, infrastructure, hedge fund, debt or mezzanine strategies.

Private equity titan Blackstone is the top in the United States and the world, raising $125.6 billion in capital from 2018 to 2023.

Headquartered in New York, Blackstone’s total assets under management stood at $991 billion as of the first quarter of 2023, and have since surpassed $1 trillion this year. For perspective, this is comparable to the GDP of the Netherlands.

Following next in line are KKR and Sweden’s EQT, each raising over $100 billion. In fact, this was the first time three firms achieved this $100 billion equity-raise milestone in PEI’s ranking over a five-year period. This was particularly notable given a challenging fundraising landscape amid higher borrowing costs and lagging dealmaking activity.

North American Firms Dominate Private Equity

The vast majority of the biggest private equity firms are based in America, accounting for 36 of the top 50 firms globally. North American PE firms made up $1.34 trillion (72%) of the $1.85 trillion raised by the top 50 firms in the ranking.

Falling in second by a wide margin is Europe, with nine firms making up $179 billion (9.7%) of the total funds raised. Many of Europe’s largest private equity firms are based in London, England, with the most prominent asset managers in the city being Hg and Permira Advisors.

Across Asia, the top alternative investment firm was Singapore-based Hillhouse Capital Group, which launched in 2005. The firm has backed several internet companies spanning from Tencent, the largest publicly-traded company in China, to Baidu, but has faced increasing setbacks amid regulatory crackdowns and a sluggish Chinese stock market.

The Most Valuable Company in Each Southeast Asian Country

Southeast Asia has been emerging as an economic powerhouse in the past decade. However, there are very noticeable disparities in the sizes of the largest publicly-traded corporations in countries within the region.

Feel free to read this article in full here: https://gpieurope.eu/market-insights/the-most-valuable-company-in-each-southeast-asian-country/?preview=true

Big Four Market Share by S&P 500 Audits

The companies on the S&P 500 together paid $5.3 billion in audit fees in fiscal year (FY) 2022. But which accounting firm took home the lion’s share of that windfall?

PricewaterhouseCoopers claims the largest share of S&P 500 companies’ audit fees, at a massive $1.9 billion. Given the firm’s 152 clients among the index, this translates to roughly $12.6 million in revenue per relationship.Ernst & Young ($1.5 billion) and Deloitte ($1.2 billion) rank second and third, with KPMG a distant fourth at $739 million.

KPMG is generally considered the laggard of the Big Four accounting firms, and has faced more challenging times in the last few years. For instance, it was the auditor of the three U.S. banks that failed in 2023.

Read more: https://gpieurope.eu/market-insights/big-four-market-share-by-sp-500-audits/?preview_id=2860&preview_nonce=5733445708&preview=true

Financial vocabulary!

Asset 📈 🏘

The asset is essentially anything that has value and can generate future returns. Assets can take various forms, ranging from tangible items like real estate, machinery, and inventory to intangible assets like patents, copyrights, and trademarks. Understanding assets is fundamental to investing because they form the basis of investment portfolios and strategies.

Here are some key points to consider about assets from an investment perspective:

✅ Value Generation: Assets are acquired with the expectation that they will appreciate in value over time or generate income. For example, stocks and bonds can appreciate in value, while rental properties can generate rental income.

✅Liquidity: Assets vary in their liquidity, which refers to how quickly they can be converted into cash without significantly affecting their value. Cash and highly liquid investments like stocks are considered highly liquid, while real estate and private equity may have lower liquidity.

✅Risk and Return: Different assets carry different levels of risk and potential return. Generally, riskier assets have the potential for higher returns but also pose a greater risk of loss. For example, investing in stocks is typically riskier than investing in government bonds, but stocks also offer the potential for higher returns.

✅Diversification: Building a diversified portfolio involves investing in a variety of assets with different risk-return profiles. This helps spread risk across different asset classes and reduces the impact of volatility on the overall portfolio.

✅Asset Allocation: Asset allocation refers to the distribution of investments across different asset classes such as stocks, bonds, real estate, and commodities. The optimal asset allocation depends on factors such as an investor's risk tolerance, investment goals, and time horizon.

✅Depreciation and Amortization: Some assets, particularly tangible ones like machinery and equipment, may depreciate over time, reducing their value. Similarly, intangible assets like patents and trademarks may be amortized over their useful life, impacting their value on the balance sheet.

✅Market Valuation: The value of assets can fluctuate based on market conditions, supply and demand dynamics, economic factors, and other variables. Understanding how assets are valued in the market is crucial for making informed investment decisions.

Overall, assets play a central role in investment management, and investors must carefully analyze and manage their asset portfolios to achieve their financial objectives while managing risk effectively.

Learn more about finance here: https://gpieurope.eu/financial-vocabulary/asset/?preview_id=2853&preview_nonce=72daa6cf04&preview=true

The Top 5 Reasons Clients Hire a Financial Advisor: Insights from GPI Europe and Morningstar

From saving for a down payment to planning for retirement, clients turn to advisors to guide them through life’s complex financial decisions. At GPI Europe, we understand that the journey to financial stability involves more than just managing money—it's about building confidence in financial decisions. That's why, in partnership with Morningstar, we're exploring what drives investors to hire a financial advisor.

What Drives Hiring Decisions?

Based on a comprehensive survey of 312 respondents conducted by Morningstar, here are the most common reasons clients choose to work with a financial advisor:

🔹 Specific Goals or Needs (32%) - Financial-Based Reason

✅At GPI Europe, we tailor our strategies to meet the unique goals of each client, whether it's purchasing a home, funding education, or preparing for retirement.

🔹Discomfort Handling Finances (32%) - Emotion-Based Reason

✅We provide a comfortable, supportive environment where clients can gain financial literacy and confidence, making complex financial decisions feel simpler and more approachable.

🔹Behavioral Coaching (17%) - Emotion-Based Reason

✅Our advisors excel in behavioral coaching, helping clients maintain focus on long-term objectives and make informed decisions, even in volatile markets.

🔹Recommended by Family or Friends (12%) - Emotion-Based Reason

✅GPI Europe prides itself on building trustworthy relationships that encourage referrals, expanding our client family through personal connections.

🔹Quality of Relationship (10%) - Emotion-Based Reason

✅The cornerstone of our advisory service is the quality of relationships we nurture with our clients, characterized by mutual respect, understanding, and continuous communication.

While financial factors play a crucial role in the decision to hire a financial advisor, emotional reasons contribute significantly to our clients' choice to partner with GPI Europe. Our commitment to understanding and addressing both the financial and emotional needs of our clients sets us apart in the financial advisory landscape.

At GPI Europe, we believe in a holistic approach to financial advising. By focusing not just on financial goals but also on the emotional well-being of our clients, we forge stronger, more effective partnerships. This dual focus ensures that every client feels heard, valued, and empowered to make the best financial decisions for their future.

Top Emerging Markets for Investment in 2024

Foreign direct investment (FDI) refers to the investment made by individuals, companies, or entities from one country into businesses, assets, or ventures located in another country.

FDI plays a pivotal role in global economic development, as it facilitates capital flows, fosters business expansion, and contributes to job creation and economic growth.

Cambodia Tops the List

The 10 countries with the strongest FDI prospects for 2024 are spread across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.

Asia features six countries on the list, with Cambodia expected to carry the strongest investment momentum this year.

With a GDP growth forecasted at 6.1% in 2024, up from 5.6% in 2023, the IMF expects Cambodia to be the fastest-growing economy in Southeast Asia. The country has strengthened its trade relationships with China, South Korea, and the EU.

Additionally, Cambodia has benefited from a recovery in tourism since China started lifting its COVID-related travel restrictions earlier in 2023.

Meanwhile, the IMF expects the Philippines, in second place, increase GDP growth from 5.3% to 5.9% in 2024. Both public and private investment have played a key role in reinforcing its growth, bolstered by the opening of the renewable energy sector to foreign investors.

Kenya occupies the third spot.

The African nation has seen increasing foreign direct investment in various sectors. Recently, the U.S.-based pharmaceutical company Moderna finalized an agreement to invest up to $500 million to build its first African facility for the production of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines in Kenya—one of the first of its kind in Africa.

The country’s energy sector has also attracted strong FDI interest, with Dubai-based AMEA Power announcing in September 2023 the intention to produce green hydrogen in Mombasa, with total investment estimated at $2.29 billion.

Serbia was the only country outside Asia and Africa to make it into the top 10, securing ninth place.

The 12 Worst Investment Funds Over the Past Decade

From the list we can see that many of these funds are focused on emerging markets like China, or follow an “inverse equity” strategy, meaning they short their respective index.

Two noteworthy outliers are the ARK Innovation ETF and ARK Genomic Revolution ETF, which attempt to invest in “disruptive innovation”. Both ETFs are actively managed.

Shorting the U.S. Market
The U.S. stock market has experienced a long-term upward trend since 2009, meaning funds that short major indices like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 have suffered over the 10-year period.

Seeing the heaviest losses is the ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ (SQQQ), which seeks daily investment results that correspond to three times the inverse (-3x) of the daily performance of the Nasdaq-100.

While these funds are likely unsuitable for a long-term buy and hold strategy, they can be profitable during downturns. One example would be the COVID-19 crash on March 12, 2020, where the S&P 500 fell by 12%.

Chinese Equities Stumble
Another common theme from this ranking are China-focused funds such as the KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF (KWEB).

Since their 2021 peak, Chinese stocks have lost over $6 trillion in market cap. This has been due to various reasons, including a sluggish COVID-19 recovery, a troubled real estate market, and alarming crackdowns on tech firms by government officials.

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Will Tesla Lose Its Spot in the Magnificent Seven?

In the graphic, we visualize the year-to-date (YTD) performance of the “Magnificent Seven”, a leading group of U.S. tech stocks that gained prominence in 2023 as the replacement of FAANG stocks.

Nvidia and Meta Lead

Nvidia is the main hero of this show, setting new all-time highs seemingly every week. The chipmaker is currently the world’s third most valuable company, with a valuation of around $2.2 trillion. This puts it very close to Apple, which is currently valued at $2.7 trillion.

The second best performer of the Magnificent Seven has been Meta, which recently re-entered the trillion dollar club after falling out of favor in 2022. The company saw a massive one-day gain of $197 billion on Feb 2, 2024.

Apple and Tesla in the Red

Tesla has lost over a quarter of its value YTD as EV hype continues to fizzle out. Other pure play EV stocks like Rivian and Lucid are also down significantly in 2024.

Meanwhile, Apple shares have struggled due to weakening demand for its products in China, as well as the company’s lack of progress in the artificial intelligence (AI) space.

Investors may have also been disappointed to hear that Apple’s electric car project, which started a decade ago, has been scrapped.

Source: Visual Capitalist

The World’s Biggest Fashion Companies

LVMH Reigns Supreme

European countries dominate the list of the biggest fashion companies, with six in total. The U.S. boasts four companies, while Japan and Canada each have one.

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) is the industry’s biggest player by a wide margin. The company boasts an extensive portfolio of luxury brands spanning fashion, cosmetics, and liquor, including Marc Jacobs, Givenchy, Fendi, and Dior, the latter of which holds a 41% ownership stake in the global luxury goods company.

As a result of the success of the company, in 2024, LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault overtook Elon Musk as the richest person in the world.

In second place, Nike generated 68% of its revenue in 2023 from footwear. One of the company’s most popular brands, the Jordan Brand, generates around $5 billion in revenue per year.

The list also includes less-known names like Inditex, a corporate entity that owns Zara, as well as several other brands, and Fast Retailing, a Japanese holding company that owns Uniqlo, Theory, and Helmut Lang.

According to McKinsey & Company, the fashion industry is expected to experience modest growth of 2% to 4% in 2024, compared to 5% to 7% in 2023, attributed to subdued economic growth and weakened consumer confidence. The luxury segment is projected to contribute the largest share of economic profit.