Motherhood on Wall Street — Pension funds invest in offices — Bloomberg courts quants

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On the agenda today:

• Moms on Wall Street open up about balancing work, the pandemic, and parenthood.
• Pension funds have their fingers crossed that the office isn't dead.
• Citizens on the hunt for more deals in healthcare and infrastructure.

Let's get started. 

Moms in finance open up about the pandemic and parenthood

We asked five moms working on Wall Street to share their experiences juggling work and parenthood throughout the pandemic. From being there for a child's first steps to doing laundry in the middle of the night, women on Wall Street detail how they've balanced work and motherhood for the past year and a half.

Pension funds are betting that the office isn't dead

The market for office space in metro areas like New York City and San Francisco has floundered since the start of the pandemic, but that's not keeping pension investors from scooping up deals. Why investors are ignoring the narrative — and going bargain hunting instead.

Big investors are divided over China

The world's biggest investors are split over whether to invest in China, with the Evergrande crisis fueling debate. Ray Dalio and Elon Musk see the country as a big opportunity for investors, while others are questioning the idea that China is an "investable" market. Here's what they're saying as the Evergrande crisis unfolds.

Citizens on the hunt for more deals

Shortly after snapping up San Francisco-based advisory firm JMP, Citizens is looking to build out its investment bank. Among other hot sectors, the bank is eyeing acquisitions in healthcare and infrastructure. More on its push for deals.

Merrill Lynch is rolling out a new app

As it looks for new ways to keep financial advisors from jumping ship, Merrill Lynch is launching a new app and adding trust- and estate-focused employees to help advisors. More on the updates intended to help retain advisors.

Scotiabank is moving workloads to Google Cloud

After tapping Google Cloud to be its preferred cloud provider for its customer data, Scotiabank is "aggressively" transferring workloads to the cloud. We spoke with Scotiabank's chief analytics officer, who described how the partnership will help the bank better anticipate customers' needs.

Bloomberg is launching a new tool to keep quant clients happy

For years, Bloomberg has been working on reshaping its ubiquitous terminal for a new type of user: quants. Now, with the launch of its new tool, BQuant Enterprise, Bloomberg is hoping to woo quant analysts and coders. A Bloomberg exec walked us through the tool and explained why leveraging the cloud was key.

On our radar:

• After a damning New York Times article, an Ozy investor and advertisers are demanding answers. Get the rundown here.
• New data shows that U.K. investment banks pay women 56% of what their male colleagues make, Bloomberg reports. More on the latest data.
• According to WSJ, nonbank lenders are having one of the biggest years ever for loan volume. Why business is booming.
• Per Bloomberg, Affirm will debut crypto offerings and debit products. More on its push to become a "super app."

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