Private equity firms are growing more interested in Hollywood production companies as they try to get a slice of the USD 115 bn streaming pie, reports the Financial Times. PE giants like Apollo and Blackstone are investing more in these companies as they expect that demand for original content will continue to rise in the years to come. Between the two of them, Apollo and Blackstone have committed near USD 2.8 bn to the production industry, between acquiring movie studios and building a new one to develop original content, with Blackstone investing bns in soundstages as well. Over the past year, companies like Disney and AT&T’s WarnerMedia, among others, have accelerated the shift to streaming, even as subscriber growth slows and the USD 100 bn outlay on content squeezes bottom lines.

This isn’t PE’s first foray into creative industries: Last year, PE firms turned their attention to music in efforts to capitalize on the dominance of streaming services in global music consumption.

Global fund managers tend to be biased towards (or against) investing in their own markets, depending on where they hail from, according to a study on global equity funds from 16 different countries. Fund managers from the UK, Spain, and Germany, are typically overweight on investments in their home countries, while those from the US, France, and Belgium tend to be underweight, Derek Horstmeyer, one of the researchers, writes for the Wall Street Journal. The research, which looks at earnings over the past decade, indicates that the underweight position is king: Fund managers who undervalue their nation’s market have reaped more returns than investors who have overestimated the potential of their national markets.

Is a hybrid work setting undermining employee loyalty? As employees spend fewer hours in the office, their commitment to their employers is under threat of being compromised, suggests this piece in the Financial Times. Prior to the pandemic, flexible work settings proved to be a driving force for loyalty, largely because these were considered a rare exception. However, now that a hybrid work setup that more frequently allows employees to work from home is more common, employers are concerned that the social ties formed in the workplace are being undermined, making employees less invested in their organizations. This, in turn, makes them less attached to their employer, particularly as work has become a “less important” factor in employees’ lives, compared to social ties with friends and family.