Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - Where the big money is

For decades, many of the world’s richest people chose to safeguard their assets in locales ranging from the Caymans to Switzerland and the British Virgin Islands. But there’s a new addition to the list that has become wildly popular with billionaires: the skyscraper-studded emirate of Abu Dhabi. Big shots ranging from crypto king Changpeng “CZ” Zhao to India’s Adani family, hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio and Russian steel magnate Vladimir Lisin are funneling their money to the city. And they’re not alone. According to a Bloomberg News review of hundreds of corporate filings in the United Arab Emirates, they are among dozens of ultra-high net worth individuals who have recently set up special purpose vehicles in Abu Dhabi’s international financial center. —Natasha Solo-Lyons 

Americans may be starting to process some of that good economic news that’s been coming their way. US consumers’ inflation expectations dropped in November to the lowest level since April 2021, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of New York survey released Monday. The pullback in consumers’ near-term inflation views reflected a number of factors. The expected price changes for gasoline slipped, and those for both rent and a college education fell to the lowest since January 2021. Inflation views among those over age 60 retreated to a nearly three-year low.

Call it the year of the pivot. Now that all the rate hiking looks to be over, key central banks will be shifting to reducing borrowing costs come 2024. One important question though is whether the course taken by slowing inflation will allow policymakers to pivot quickly enough to blunt any lingering impact from all that tightening.

US Special Counsel Jack Smith has asked the Supreme Court to decide on a fast-track basis whether Donald Trump is entitled to absolute presidential immunity. The Republican has asserted the claim in a bid to avoid trial for his alleged role in the effort to subvert the 2020 presidential election. It’s one of four federal and state prosecutions faced by the twice-impeached former president. Over the weekend, Trump restated his pledge to be a “dictator for one day” if he were to return to the White House. 

Goldman Sachs’s asset management arm is reshuffling senior executives in its $110 billion private credit unit as it seeks to double the size of the business. A number of high-profile senior executives have departed Goldman in the past year amid a round of restructuring in the asset management space. The revamp will see Greg Olafson become global head of private credit from his current role as co-president of alternatives, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg.

Goldman Sachs headquarters, left, near the World Trade Center in New York Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management is bulking up its macro trading teams as his stocks-focused multi-manager investment firm diversifies its $31 billion hedge fund business.

More than 700 Harvard University faculty have signed a petition urging the school’s leadership to resist political pressures “at odds with Harvard’s commitment to academic freedom, including calls for the removal of President Claudine Gay.” At the same time over 1,000 students and alumni are demanding the school replace its leader in part for her response to rising antisemitism on campus.

Barack and Michelle Obama have their first film hit with Leave the World Behind, an apocalyptic thriller released on Netflix Dec. 8. Co-produced by the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions, the picture stars Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali and Ethan Hawke.

Fans and guests outside the Paris Theater during Netflix's Leave The World Behind premiere in New York City. Photographer: Angela Weiss/AFP

• Guyana says oil producers are moving ahead despite Venezuela’s threats.
• Ukraine’s Zelenskiy in Washington in crucial week for alliance.
• Real estate titans battle Florida’s DeSantis over China crackdown.
• In a potential deal to take Macy’s private, it’s all about the real estate.
• Investment firm General Atlantic confidentially files for IPO in US.
• Solomon Partners expands its New York City offices.
• The five biggest takeaways from Art Basel Miami Beach.

A beer brewery will open in Abu Dhabi this month, becoming the first company to legally make alcohol in the region. It will open under a little-noticed rule change published in 2021, which allowed license holders to ferment alcoholic beverages for consumption on site. It’s the latest in a series of moves loosening socially conservative laws in the United Arab Emirates and the surrounding Gulf region.

The gastropub Craft by Side Hustle will open in Abu Dhabi this month  Photographer: Side Hustle

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