This past year, the volatility of the pandemic and independent Reddit-based investors bidding up shares of GameStop has turned Wall Street toward a trend of nontraditional investing and trading — and it continues. Starting as early as last summer, celebrities and big-time Wall Street players began investing more and more money in special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). SPACs are shell corporations with no assets. A pool of investors sets up one of these companies with the sole purpose of raising money through an initial public offering (IPO) to eventually acquire a private company and take it public. SPACs don’t have products or services. Its only asset is typically the money raised in its own IPO. SPACs are usually given two years after its IPO to find a company to acquire, although investors rarely know what business the SPAC will acquire. (Shareholders do have to vote to approve the acquisition.) As CNBC explains, once acquired, shares of Should I Consider It, Too? Why Are Celebrities Investing in SPACs?
that business can be swapped for the SPAC shares (a SPAC merger), or investors can redeem their money plus interest. If a business cannot be acquired within an established time frame, the investors get their money back plus interest. Sounds lucrative, right? It can be, but not for everyone. For a long time, SPACs were seen as last-ditch efforts on the part of small start-ups that couldn’t afford to raise money on the open market. Many investors argued that if a business couldn’t raise these funds, how well could they actually perform once public? Plus, CNBC also reports that a five-year study found the average return on investment from SPAC mergers was generally less than returns from IPO investors. This should make investors wary, especially since they have no idea which company a SPAC might acquire. The risk is much higher than traditional investing. However, recent SPAC acquisitions of big corporations like DraftKings, the online sports gambling website, and a space exploration company, Virgin Galactic, have some investors hopeful. This could shift the thinking on the usefulness of SPACs and attract larger businesses to this arrangement. A SPAC may or may not be right for you, but that’s your decision to make. If you want to learn more about SPACs, speak with a trusted financial advisor to assess your risk.
Raleigh Continues to Be Recognized Nationally RALEIGH’S BOOM COULD BE OUR GAIN
We have always known Raleigh as one of the best places to live, work, and play in the U.S. — and now others are taking notice, too. As national researchers have discovered, the city that was once described as a quiet, “fly-over” destination is starting to boom. In 2021, Raleigh was named the third- happiest city in America, according to the January edition of Men’s Health, and the following month, Milken Institute, an economic research hub, ranked Raleigh’s economy fifth- best in the nation. Moreover, recent announcements by Silicon Valley tech giants may signal that these trends will continue to move upward. Earlier this year, both Google and Apple announced the construction of East Coast campuses in Raleigh. The Apple campus
will employ about 3,000 employees, while Google’s addition should employ another 1,000. This could mean more options for employment and higher wage opportunities for Raleigh workers. Some local experts fear what these additions could mean for local tech start- ups that have become prominent features of the city, but other experts point out that the addition of these tech giants could attract other large businesses to settle in Raleigh. Currently, Cisco, IBM, and Microsoft have a presence in Raleigh. Additionally, others point out that the addition of the large corporations could attract more talented tech minds to the region, offering smaller technology firms a larger pool from which to pull.
worrisome. After all, leaving the job market at a time when increased wages and job opportunities could drive up the price of local goods can be scary. But there’s a reason why Raleigh ranks high on the country’s happiest cities list and why 24/7 Wall Street named it one of the best places to relocate to during the pandemic in January 2021. The growing pains of the new tech giants will be hurdles the city will have to overcome, experts warn, but the benefits — a strong economy and more opportunities for growth — will far outweigh the risks. We’re honored to be one of the thousands of businesses that call Raleigh home, and we’re not surprised that big businesses are taking notice. Still, if recent growth is causing you to reconsider your financial plan, please call our team today.
For those preparing for retirement, the addition of large businesses could be
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