Kroll Webinar: Cost of Capital in a Year of Elections

Stocks reached record highs through mid-2024, boosted by hopes of productivity gains stemming from Gen-AI. More recently, markets have experienced turmoil due to investor fears of a possible recession and over-optimism regarding earnings improvements from Gen-AI. In addition, the U.S. is heading into Presidential elections, creating additional uncertainty for businesses and consumers. Failure to address the growing U.S. Federal debt burden and large budget deficits could place upward pressures on long-term interest rates. Meanwhile, major central banks are at a crossroads on the pace and magnitude of future interest rate cuts. These headwinds mean that companies are now facing a higher cost of capital that matches the levels last seen during the 2008-2009 Global Financial Crisis.

Join Kroll for a webinar on Wednesday, September 25 at 11:00 a.m. ET, where our experts will unpack the latest economic and financial market developments that have an impact on valuations and cost of capital estimates.

Learning Objectives

• Examine the latest real GDP growth forecasts for major geographies and how economic activity is being impacted by the current interest rate environment
• Examine U.S. equity market performance in years of U.S. Presidential Elections vs. non-election years
• Discuss the impact of the Fed’s September monetary policy meeting on financial markets and what this means for the U.S. and the global economy
• Recognize the latest trends in safe-haven government bond yields and associated monetary policy by other major central banks
• Identify economic indicators and financial market risk factors that impact Kroll’s U.S. and eurozone equity risk premium recommendations
• Review certain country risk premium trends, with a focus on some of the countries most impacted by high inflation and high interest rates