What is happening?

The Trump administration is advancing an anti-equity agenda that will make people in the U.S. sicker and less economically secure. In his first 100 days, Trump rescinded dozens of Biden-era executive orders designed to advance racial equity and directed federal agencies to end all diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility offices and programs. His “Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy” EO takes direct aim at the pursuit of racial equity as a policy goal by attacking Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin (and religion and sex as well in the case of title VII) in programs that receive federal funding and employment, respectively.

Trump’s order for government agencies to remove all content and materials related to equity from government websites—leading to the disappearance of words like “diversity,” “historically,” and “female” from government documents—clearly shows that his administration does not value the perspectives, lived experiences, and struggles of those who are not white, male, heterosexual, and cisgender. Trump’s anti-equity actions will stunt efforts to understand, measure, document, and address health and economic disparities. For all the attempts made by the Biden administration to treat equity as a federal policy goal, Trump’s objective is to reverse that progress.

Why is this happening?

This newly created barrier to assessing and addressing disparities is not accidental; it serves a concrete purpose. By obscuring racial and other types of disparities and making them harder to address, this administration seeks to keep the benefits of production for its favored groups (i.e., employers, the wealthy, men, white people, cisgender people, and citizens), and to push the harmful parts of production onto vulnerable groups (workers, the poor, women, Black people, transgender people, and immigrants).

Trump and his allies’ motivation to remove protections for vulnerable populations in ways that benefit employers is no secret. The “Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy” EO describes “disparate-impact liability”—i.e., the consideration of the impact of ostensibly neutral actions by employers and of policy on outcomes across groups—as having “hindered businesses from making hiring and other employment decisions based on merit and skill, their needs, or the needs of their customers because of the specter that such a process might lead to disparate outcomes, and thus disparate-impact lawsuits.” Trump is explicitly removing ways employers (and his administration) can be held legally and materially accountable for their harm to vulnerable groups. This helps employers avoid costly lawsuits, while workers and communities who lack the means to resist are exposed to discrimination and bias without recourse.

To be very clear: These anti-equity actions are one of the administration’s vanguard efforts toward advancing authoritarian governance that is rooted in white male supremacy. In restricting our ability to measure disparities where they emerge, removing government responsibility for addressing economic or social inequities, and further removing means of holding the government or employers accountable for the harm done to vulnerable populations, Trump has set the stage for a new regime of oppression which will make us all more vulnerable to the next public health crisis.

Why does this matter for public health?

The Trump administration’s anti-equity agenda poses long-term and widespread threats to the nation’s health. Among these is the loss of capacity to research, report on, and prevent the disproportionate burden of sickness, injury, and premature death borne by racial and ethnic minorities. This loss of capacity is already in motion with Trump’s gutting of public health institutions, particularly in divisions focusing on health equity, and also extends to nonprofits and academic institutions who rely on federal funding to carry out their advocacy and research.

Public health equity demands that we allocate resources toward addressing structural barriers in ways that improve health for the disadvantaged. By abandoning equity as a policy goal, the Trump administration shirks this responsibility, choosing instead to leave communities under-resourced and structural barriers intact, and impeding progress on improving health for vulnerable communities.

Leaving health disparities and the structural barriers that maintain them unaddressed is dangerous for the entire population, however, not just the most vulnerable. The COVID-19 pandemic gave the nation a stark lesson in social epidemiology: An infectious disease may hurt vulnerable groups more severely for a time, but the pain will eventually spill over to privileged groups as well. The entire economy suffers when essential workers—often people from disadvantaged and vulnerable communities—are debilitated by disease. Moreover, we share public spaces. Epidemics and pandemics do not stay localized to minorities, immigrants, or the poor; it is in the interest of the entire country to take health crises seriously, and that requires taking health equity seriously.

Why does this matter for racial health disparities?

To close racial health disparities through policy, we need to be able to study them and understand how they emerge. The Biden-era government agency Equity Action Plans sought to measure disparities across groups, account for the ways government policy has underserved and harmed people of color and other vulnerable populations, and investigate how each agency could break down structural barriers to thriving and fully participating in American life. On his first day in office, Trump directed all government agencies to terminate all equity action plans, along with any grants, programs, initiatives, or contracts related to equity. If we can’t say the word “equity” or ensure government agencies are operating equitably and funding is taken away from those who measure disparities, we will be unable to address health inequities.

Losing our ability to assess racial disparities and pursue racial equity limits our ability to hold corporations accountable for the harm they inflict on people of color. The use of menthol cigarettes is growing among Black and Hispanic adults due to aggressive, targeted advertising by tobacco companies toward those communities. We know this because of government programs like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s investigation of health disparities related to commercial tobacco and advancing health equity and academic efforts like Standford’s Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising collection. Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, and menthol in cigarettes are associated with greater nicotine addiction and dependence. Understanding how corporations are responsible for rising menthol cigarette use in Black and Hispanic communities despite smoking rates generally falling nationwide is essential to combatting racial health disparities. When the Trump administration eliminates offices, positions, and grant mechanisms related to equity from the Department of Health and Human Services, it becomes more difficult to identify the root causes of racial health disparities and develop policy that will close gaps.

What will it mean economically for workers and their families?

Racial and ethnic health inequity is a drain on the nation’s economic well-being—and the steep cost of that inequity to the U.S. economy shows just how much Trump is sacrificing by shirking the responsibility to address disparities. A landmark study by the Tulane University Institute for Innovation and Health Equity (commissioned by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, whose director has now been placed on administrative leave by the Trump administration) estimated the total cost of lost labor market productivity, excess medical care due to excess morbidity, and premature death due to health inequities, by racial and ethnic group and for the nation as a whole. They estimated that in 2018, the economic burden of falling short of health equity was $421.1 billion for racial and ethnic minorities, two-thirds of which was due to premature death and most of which were attributable to losses faced by the Black population. The total cost to the nation of not achieving health equity goals was estimated to be $1.03 trillion. Stepping away from equity is not just a moral failing by the Trump administration, it is an economic policy failure.

The costs and racial and ethnic health inequities to the US economy are substantial and more than justify the societal investment in developing policies and programs to eliminate health inequities and larger data sets for smaller racial and ethnic subpopulations. Even a modest reduction in health inequalities can save the nation billions of dollars in medical spending and lost labor market productivity annually.
—Institute for Innovation and Health Equity, Tulane University 

Economic and social inequity is costly for workers, their families, and the economy. The Trump administration is shortsightedly sacrificing the potential for new engines of economic growth by neglecting disparities across groups and preventing efforts to pursue equity.

What should we do about it?

As the Trump administration continues to wage war on equity at the federal level, it becomes increasingly important to call out the racism, sexism, and xenophobia at the root of his actions, and to make full-throated commitments to the pursuit of equity through policy where possible. That means shoring up economic and health equity programs at the state and local levels, as well as continuing to resist the dismantling of our federal institutions through office closings and staff reductions.

Unions are an effective means of instituting equity in pay and working conditions where government standards may be lacking. Supporting organized labor is therefore important for maintaining both economic and health equity. But beyond their impact on workplaces, unions also increase political participation. The sooner we can empower workers and their families to use their voices to hold corporations and our government accountable, the sooner we can renew our commitments to pursuing equity through policy and the sooner we can secure ourselves against future economic and public health crises.

Sammy Hudes of the Canadian Press reports BCE cuts quarterly dividend, signs fiber deal with PSP Investments:

BCE Inc. cut its quarterly dividend payment to shareholders and announced a partnership deal with the Public Sector Pension Investment Board to help accelerate the development of fibre infrastructure in the U.S.

BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said Thursday the dividend cut comes as the company faces intense price competition against a backdrop of macroeconomic and geopolitical instability.

The company said it will now pay a quarterly dividend of 43.75 cents per share, down from 99.75 cents per share. The decision cuts BCE’s annualized dividend to $1.75 per common share from $3.99.

“As we debated this, deliberated at the board, certainly having taken and having listened to the perspectives of investors over the last few months, we decided that resetting the dividend ... was the most responsible way to address our capital allocation strategy,” Bibic said in an interview.

“Essentially the new dividend level allows us to de-lever and invest for growth.”

Inflation and the prospect of a global recession are weighing on consumer confidence, the company said, while reductions in BCE’s share price have resulted in higher capital costs. BCE’s board also considered factors such as an “unsupportive regulatory environment given recent CRTC decisions” and a slowdown in immigration to Canada.

Bibic said there have been “significant changes” in the economic and operating environments since the fall of 2024 that the company needs to address.

While last quarter began with wireless prices stabilizing, the latter half of that period saw more fluctuations. That, along with the “overall macro environment” affected Bell’s ability to boost subscriptions, Bibic said.

BCE had a net loss of 9,598 postpaid mobile phone subscribers in its first quarter, compared with 45,247 net activations during the same period a year earlier.

The company cited a “less active market,” slowing population growth due to federal immigration policies, and its own focus on “higher-value subscriber loadings.” Bibic said there were 25,000 net new customers on the main Bell brand in the quarter, which was down 9,000 year-over-year.

The company said customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — was stable at 1.21 per cent. BCE’s mobile phone average revenue per user was $57.08, down 1.8 per cent from the prior year.

The dividend cut came as BCE reported net earnings attributable to common shareholders of $630 million or 68 cents per diluted share for its first quarter, up from $402 million or 44 cents per diluted share a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 69 cents per share in its latest quarter, down from an adjusted profit of 72 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

Operating revenue totalled $5.93 billion, down from $6.01 billion a year ago.

Meanwhile, Bibic told analysts on a conference call that BCE’s previously announced deal to buy U.S. fibre internet provider Ziply Fiber for about $5 billion in cash is expected to close in the second half of 2025.

Under a plan announced Thursday, Ziply Fiber will become a long-term partner to Network FiberCo, jointly owned by PSP Investments and BCE, as the exclusive internet service provider to locations passed by Network FiberCo.

BCE through Ziply Fiber will hold a 49 per cent equity stake in Network FiberCo, while PSP Investments will own 51 per cent. PSP Investments has agreed to a potential commitment in excess of US$1.5 billion.

“We anticipate that more institutional investors will now consider investing in BCE to diversify their Canadian telecom positions, which should provide support and counterbalance the selling pressure from dividend seekers selling over the coming weeks,” said Desjardins analyst Jerome Dubreuil in a note.

Network FiberCo will be focused on “last-mile fibre deployment” outside of Ziply incumbent service areas in the Pacific Northwest, enabling Ziply to potentially reach up to eight million total fibre passings.

Bibic said that would make BCE the third-largest fibre internet provider in North America, essentially doubling the number of locations where it already serves fibre customers in Canada.

“There’s clearly long-term growth potential in this critical space,” Bibic said.

Earlier this year, BCE said it would scale back plans for the build of its fibre internet footprint in Canada, as a response to regulatory rules implemented by the CRTC surrounding internet resell access.

Bibic said Thursday the company will continue to advocate to the telecom regulator and new federal government when it comes to competition policy. He reiterated that BCE’s largest competitors should not have the ability to resell fibre services through Bell’s network.

“We’re continuing to build fibre, we’re just doing it at a slower pace than we anticipated,” he said in an interview.

“Large players should invest in their own networks. That increases competition and it increases network resiliency, and it’s the best way to ensure that all Canadians, including rural, are connected.”

Earlier today, BCE and PSP Investments issued a press release announcing a strategic partnership to create Network FiberCo:

MONTRÉAL, May 8, 2025 – BCE Inc. (TSX: BCE) (NYSE: BCE), Canada’s largest communications company1, and Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments), one of Canada’s largest pension investors, today announced the formation of Network FiberCo, a long-term strategic partnership to accelerate the development of fibre infrastructure through Ziply Fiber, in underserved markets in the United States. 

As a premier wholesale network provider, Network FiberCo will be focused on last-mile fibre deployment outside of Ziply Fiber’s incumbent service areas, enabling Ziply Fiber to potentially reach up to 8 million total fibre passings.  

PSP Investments has agreed to a potential commitment in excess of US$1.5 billion.

Leadership Perspectives 

“Today’s announcement represents a pivotal step in BCE’s fibre growth strategy. By bringing PSP Investments’ financial resources and acumen to Ziply Fiber, we are creating a scalable, capital-efficient platform to fund U.S. fibre footprint expansion. This strategic partnership will improve free cash flow generation and strengthen EBITDA accretion over the long term, reinforcing our commitment to delivering long-term value for shareholders while maintaining financial discipline.” 

• Mirko Bibic, President and CEO, BCE and Bell Canada 
  

“PSP Investments is pleased to partner with BCE, a long-standing Canadian champion of innovation and connectivity, to support the development of fibre infrastructure in Ziply Fiber’s target markets, which benefit from secular tailwinds. This commitment by PSP Investments will generate inflation linked and downside protected returns, which will contribute to fulfilling our mission to support the retirement of people who protect and serve Canada. PSP Investments has been an investor in Ziply Fiber, and this partnership, leveraging our global infrastructure experience, aligns perfectly with our strategy and strengthens our diversified portfolio.” 

• Deborah Orida, President and Chief Executive Officer, PSP Investments 
  

“This strategic partnership aligns perfectly with Ziply Fiber’s mission to improve connectivity in the communities we serve. We’re combining our operational expertise with BCE’s scale and PSP Investments’ financial strength to accelerate fibre deployment, enhance customer experiences, and drive sustainable growth.” 

• Harold Zeitz, CEO, Ziply Fiber 
  

Key Highlights of the Strategic Partnership 

• Ownership Structure: BCE through Ziply Fiber will hold a 49% equity stake in Network FiberCo, with PSP Investments owning 51% through its High Inflation Correlated Infrastructure Portfolio (HICI), contingent on closing of BCE’s acquisition of Ziply Fiber.  

• Fibre Expansion Goals: Network FiberCo will develop approximately 1 million fibre passings in Ziply Fiber’s existing states and will target development of up to 5 million additional passings, which will enable Ziply Fiber to reach up to 8 million total fibre passings. 

• Optimized Capital Efficiency: Network FiberCo will have its own non-recourse debt financing, which is anticipated to be the majority of its capital over time. BCE and PSP Investments will proportionately fund equity required by Network FiberCo to support fibre expansion. 

• Complementary Skill Set: The operational capabilities of BCE combined with PSP Investments’ significant infrastructure investing experience will enable Network FiberCo to capture the substantial growth anticipated and deliver the target fibre passing for Ziply Fiber.  
  

Strategic Rationale 

The U.S. fibre broadband market represents a transformative growth opportunity, with penetration rates well below Canada’s and efficient construction costs enabling large-scale deployment. Network FiberCo’s scalable platform supports both organic fibre expansion and potential acquisitions while enhancing returns through its capital-efficient structure. 

Driving Sustainable Growth 

BCE’s proposed acquisition of Ziply Fiber marks a strategic entry into the U.S. broadband market, securing a leading management team and operating platform with significant long-term growth potential. This disciplined reinvestment unlocks value through an expanded and diversified fibre footprint while benefiting from economies of scale.  

Ziply Fiber has achieved significant fibre broadband subscriber growth and adjusted EBITDA growth in 2024, validating the strategic rationale and demonstrating its ability to generate meaningful and sustainable long-term cash flow. 

Ownership and Operations 

Upon, and contingent on, close of the previously announced acquisition of Ziply Fiber, BCE will assume 100% ownership of Ziply Fiber’s existing operations. Ziply Fiber, as a BCE subsidiary, will continue to operate its existing network and execute its in-footprint fibre-to-the-home build strategy. Ziply Fiber will become a long-term partner to Network FiberCo, jointly owned by PSP Investments and BCE, as the exclusive Internet service provider to locations passed by Network FiberCo.

Additional Transaction Details 

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions and the closing of BCE’s previously announced acquisition of Ziply Fiber.  

Analyst Call Details 

BCE will hold a conference call with the financial community at 8:00 AM ET today, May 8, 2025 to discuss its Q1 2025 results and speak to the Network FiberCo strategic partnership. Media are welcome to participate on a listen-only basis. To participate, please dial toll-free 1-844-933-2401 or 647-724-5455. A replay will be available until midnight on June 8, 2025 by dialing 1-877-454-9859 or 647-483-1416 and entering passcode 7485404. A live audio webcast of the conference call will be available on BCE's website at BCE Q1-2025 conference call.   

About BCE 

BCE is Canada’s largest communications company1, providing advanced Bell broadband wireless, Internet, TV, media and business communication services. To learn more, please visit Bell.ca or BCE.ca. 

Through Bell for Better, we are investing to create a better today and a better tomorrow by supporting the social and economic prosperity of our communities. This includes the Bell Let's Talk initiative, which promotes Canadian mental health with national awareness and anti-stigma campaigns like Bell Let's Talk Day and significant Bell funding of community care and access, research and workplace leadership initiatives throughout the country. To learn more, please visit Bell Let’s Talk. 

About PSP Investments 

The Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) is one of Canada's largest pension investors with C$264.9 billion of net assets under management as of 31 March 2024. It manages a diversified global portfolio composed of investments in capital markets, private equity, real estate, infrastructure, natural resources, and credit investments. Established in 1999, PSP Investments manages and invests amounts transferred to it by the Government of Canada for the pension plans of the federal public service, the Canadian Forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Reserve Force. Headquartered in Ottawa, PSP Investments has its principal business office in Montréal and offices in New York, London and Hong Kong. For more information, visit investpsp.com or follow us on LinkedIn. 

Earlier today, Charles Bonhomme, Senior Advisor External Communications and Media Relations, sent me a few background points on this deal:

• This strategic partnership with BCE, a long-standing Canadian champion of innovation and connectivity, will enable PSP to capitalize on the transformative growth opportunity presented by Ziply Fiber’s target broadband markets.
• Aligned with PSP’s investment strategy, this partnership will generate inflation-linked, and downside protected returns, helping PSP Investments to meet its mission to support the retirement of people who protect and serve Canada. 
• PSP Investments brings significant global infrastructure investing experience to this partnership, and combined with BCE’s operational capabilities, forms a complimentary skillset that will enable Network FibreCo to capture the substantial growth anticipated and deliver the target fibre passing for Ziply Fiber.
• Investing in high-quality, essential infrastructure like transportation, communications, and energy is a core part of our strategy. We look for reliable assets that generate steady returns, and this partnership aligns perfectly with our strategy and strengthens our diversified portfolio.
• PSP Investments has been an investor in Ziply Fiber, and this strategic partnership supports the development of fibre infrastructure in Ziply Fiber’s target markets, while achieving our mandate.

Recall that BCI, CPP Investments and PSP Investments exited Ziply Fiber back in November 2024 when BCE acquired it.

At the time, I provided a background on Ziply Fiber and explained how the syndicate put in US$2.45 billion in total (including debt) and sold Ziply to BCE for US$3.6 billion (CAD $5 billion) five years later for a decent return.

In this latest deal, BCE and PSP Investments announced the formation of Network FiberCo, a long-term strategic partnership to accelerate the development of fibre infrastructure through Ziply Fiber, in underserved markets in the United States.  

On LinkedIn, PSP Investments posted these comments from CEO Deborah Orida:

She notes how this commitment by PSP will generate inflation linked downside protected returns and that they have been an investor in Ziply Fiber and therefore know the company well.

The press release states PSP Investments has agreed to a potential commitment in excess of US$1.5 billion. 

That's a significant commitment and I think it's a wise one as Network FiberCo will help Ziply Fiber accelerate its growth in US broadband markets it is serving.

Keep in mind, both the US and Canada are experiencing strong growth in fiber-to-the home-adoption, driven by increased demand for faster internet speeds and the need to modernize infrastructure.

Think about how often you stream movies or shows from Netflix, Disney or another provider and think about how all that demand for streaming gets through to households.

That is why Ziply Fiber is growing very rapidly, providing fast fiber speeds to meet this growing demand.

A lot of analysts criticized BCE's acquisition stating it was too risky but I think they did the right long -term move here and now with PSP Investments as its strategic partner in Network FiberCo, they will provide the needed support for Ziply Fiber to accelerate its growth. 

Again, this mega deal shows how Canada's large pension funds can work with large strategic corporations to help them grow and the telecom sector is a great area because it requires a massive amount of capital.

What does BCE get? A strategic partner in PSP that will provide significant and stable capital and strong knowledge of the communications infrastructure space. It can use its balance sheet more effectively with PSP as a partner to accelerate the growth of this strategic asset in the US.

And despite the big cut in the dividend, BCE shares had a strong day:

That tells me most investors were expecting the cut and are happy about it.

Now, I realize a lot of investors, especially seniors, aren't happy to hear the dividend has been chopped in half (14% to 7%) but BCE CEO Mirko Bibic said the new dividend will allow them to "de-lever and invest for growth."

With the decline in immigration and the stock way off its 5-year high, I don't think BCE has much of a choice because growth will be hard to come by.

As far as PSP Investments, I foresee more strategic partnerships with large corporations in areas like this where they can realize stable inflation-linked, downside-protected returns and commit significant capital.

This deal definitely fits in their mandate and in a slowing economy, it makes a lot of sense.

Below, Mirko Bibic, president and chief executive officer of BCE and Bell Canada, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss Q1 2025 earnings results.

Also, Dan Rohinton, portfolio manager at iA Global Asset Management, shares his analysis of BCE Inc. earnings results and the decision to cut its dividend. 

Listen to his comments on how PSP has bought in for the majority of the fiber buildout with this new joint venture and how it comes out as the winner in this deal.

During the first 100 days of his administration, President Trump has consistently put the interests of billionaires and corporations over working people. This is most evident by the Trump administration already halting or dismissing nearly 90 investigations against lawbreaking corporations, according to a recent report by Public Citizen. One of the biggest beneficiaries of this is tech billionaire Elon Musk.

Before Inauguration Day, federal agencies had at least 32 open investigations into Musk’s companies. Since then, Trump has appointed Musk as a special government employee to lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is slashing government programs and jobs and targeting many agencies that are investigating his companies. His actions in this role have led to the end of many, if not all, of these investigations. The end of these investigations will not only boost Musk’s bottom line, but they will also make U.S. workers less safe. The following are examples of how Musk has benefited from the Trump administration halting investigations into Tesla, Neuralink, and SpaceX.

The Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) began auditing Tesla in 2024 to ensure adherence to equal employment laws for federal contractors. Tesla has been widely cited as creating a hostile work environment, with rampant racial bias and instances of sexual harassment. The OFCCP can levy fines of millions of dollars if they find wrongdoing and even ban contractors from bidding on future projects—an important enforcement mechanism because federal taxpayer dollars shouldn’t be going to companies that break the law and exploit workers. However, Trump signed an executive order effectively eliminating the OFCCP during his first week in office, effectively halting their investigation into Tesla and ensuring that U.S. workers will be subject to unlawful treatment.

In 2022, the inspector general at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched an investigation into Neuralink, a Musk-owned company developing brain-computer interfaces. But one of Trump’s first executive actions included illegally firing inspectors general from 17 federal agencies, including at the USDA. Though the content of the investigation was unclear, it was most likely due to the botched experiments that led to the deaths of multiple mammals, including monkeys. Numerous employees have complained that Musk has pressured the company into moving too quickly, not only leading to the unnecessary deaths but also compromising the research.

One of the first agencies the Trump administration attempted to dismantle is the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). While at first it was unclear why Musk and DOGE had their sights set on eliminating an agency focused on foreign aid, recent reports have shed light on Musk’s connection with USAID. In May 2024, the USAID inspector general announced it was investigating USAID’s relationship with Starlink (a subsidiary of SpaceX), which it had paid to provide internet services to Ukraine civilians. While the details of the investigation are not public, there is evidence Russia had access to Starlink, which was not supposed to be possible. However, the investigation will likely be dropped as the Trump administration moves forward with shutting down USAID.

Just before Trump took office, the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced it was investigating Tesla over its self-driving technology. Tesla has the largest number of crashes per driver of any car on the road—making it one of the least safe cars in America. Musk has frequently said that Tesla’s software and AI technology is its most valuable part, and a government investigation demonstrating that the software was not as good as advertised could have had far-reaching consequences for the company and for Musk’s wealth. Now, instead of being investigated, Trump is loosening rules on self-driving cars, benefiting Tesla and putting other U.S. drivers and pedestrians at risk.

These are just a few of the many examples of how the Trump administration has sided with billionaires at the expense of working people. Musk stands to gain significantly from Trump shutting down investigations into his various businesses, and it seems very clear new investigations will not be opened into Musk’s activities. This means that if workers in his factories are discriminated against, if his rockets continue to pollute the environment, or if he continues to violate election law, he will not face any consequences. Further, as head of DOGE, Musk has unfettered access to Americans’ sensitive and personal data, potentially giving him an advantage to future federal government contracts. While Musk’s days as a special government employee are numbered, it’s clear that U.S. workers, the environment, and the rule of law have all suffered to line the pockets of the richest man in modern history.

Nina Kienle and Adria Calatayud of the Wall Street Journal report Veolia to Buy CDPQ's Stake in Water Technologies and Solutions for $1.75 Billion:

Veolia said it agreed to buy Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec's minority stake in its Water Technologies and Solutions subsidiary for $1.75 billion, taking full ownership.

The French utility and resource-management company said Wednesday that the acquisition of the investment group's 30% stake will allow it to achieve cost savings and accelerate earnings growth at the business.

It now aims to achieve an annual growth rate in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of at least 10% for its water-technologies division over the 2023-27 period, it said.

The business generated an Ebitda of 612 million euros ($695.8 million) in 2024 with an organic growth rate of 16%. Sales in the first quarter of 2025 were stable on year.

The deal, due to be completed by the end of June, is expected to lead to annual cost synergies of 90 million euros by 2027, the company said.

This in turn should serve as an important new growth driver in achieving its medium-term Ebitda target, RBC Capital Markets analysts said in a note to clients.

Whilst additional synergies are a positive, Jefferies analyst Yi Shu Ho notes that the transaction is part of Veolia's GreenUp plan and not incremental. "Market will likely be concerned over balance sheet headroom," he said.

JPMorgan analysts find the acquisition to be strategic, but note results for the first quarter were only neutral.

The company posted sales for the three-month period that fell to 11.51 billion euros from 11.57 billion euros the prior-year period. The figure missed analysts' expectation of 11.62 billion euros, according to consensus estimates provided by Visible Alpha.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, however, rose to 1.70 billion euros from 1.62 billion euros with a margin expansion of 14.7% from 14.1%, it said.

Current earnings before interest and taxes also rose, amounting to 915 million euros, up from 843 million euros, it added.

Veolia backed its guidance for the year, targeting organic Ebitda growth at around 5% to 6% and current net income growth of around 9%, it said.

Shares trade 2.5% lower at 31.63 euros.

Dimitri Rhodes and Etienne Breban of Reuters also report Veolia to take full ownership of water management unit in $1.75 billion deal, gets $750 million in new contracts:

May 7 (Reuters) - French group Veolia said on Wednesday it will buy the 30% of shares in Water Technologies and Solutions (WT&S) that it does not already own from Quebec Deposit and Investment Fund (CDPQ) for $1.75 billion.

The waste and water management company also announced $750 million in three new contracts to supply water to clients in the energy and semiconductor sectors. Veolia also estimated that gaining full control of WT&S will help it extract 90 million euros ($102.3 million) of additional cost synergies by 2027. "This (deal) will allow us to take full control of all our water technology branches, and thus deliver the full potential of this activity, which is at the heart of our strategic business," CEO Estelle Brachlianoff told Reuters. Over half of WT&S's business is in North America, the CEO added in a press call, consistent with Veolia's plan to strengthen its presence in water technologies activities and in the United States, both identified as priority growth boosters. It expects the WT&S deal to close by the end of June. Veolia said the new contracts included a $550 million deal with a very large microelectronics factory in the American Midwest, and smaller contracts in San Francisco, Brazil and the UAE. "By 2027, we want to increase our turnover in the United States by 50%, and we want to double the size of our business in the United States by 2030," Brachlianoff said in the press call. Veolia reported 20% of group sales in France, 60% of group sales in Europe, including France, and 40% of group sales outside Europe, including $5 billion in the U.S. in 2024, the CEO said. The company posted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 1.7 billion euros for the first quarter, up from 1.62 billion euros a year ago. It also reiterated its guidance for 2025. ($1 = 0.8814 euros)

Veolia issued a press release stating it has acquired CDPQ’s 30% stake in Water Technologies and Solutions, achieving full ownership to accelerate value creation:

Veolia has signed an agreement with CDPQ for the acquisition of its 30% stake in Veolia’s subsidiary Water Technologies and Solutions (“WTS”), allowing Veolia to achieve full ownership of WTS, enabling to unlock more value potential, simplify further its structure and extract additional run-rate cost synergies of ~€90m.

This acquisition is a logical step in the deployment of Veolia’s GreenUp strategic roadmap, with an efficient capital allocation to strengthen the Group’s anchoring in Water technologies activities and in the United States, both identified as priority growth “boosters”.

The acquisition of CDPQ’s minority interests will further strengthen Veolia's unique positioning as a global leader in Water Technologies. The Group is perfectly positioned to take advantage of the growing demand for innovative water treatment technologies and solutions, fueled by macro-trends such as water scarcity, adaptation to climate change, health concerns and the development of strategic industries such as semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and data centers.

The acquisition of the remaining 30% of Veolia’s subsidiary WTS will allow full operational control, enabling it to enhance operational performance and seize all opportunities for development and innovation, through a complete integration process. Following the acquisition, the Group will be able to unlock additional ~€90m of run-rate cost synergies by 2027. Those synergies are already well-identified and benefit from a very low execution risk, given the deep and intimate knowledge of the asset and Veolia’s proven track-record in synergies extraction. The acquisition is expected to be accretive from 2026 and will contribute to improve Group ROCE.

The purchase price for the acquisition will be $1.75bn (~€1.5bn), corresponding to ~11x EV/post-synergies 2025e EBITDA. Post-transaction, Veolia will still maintain headroom compared to its Net Debt / EBITDA target of 3x, allowing the Group to retain strategic flexibility to continue to deploy its GreenUp strategic plan.

Veolia confirms all 2025 guidance and GreenUp targets previously communicated both at Group level and at Water Technologies level, and now aims to achieve an EBITDA CAGR of at least +10%(1) over the 2023-2027 period for its Water Technologies division.

“This acquisition marks a pivotal step in unlocking the full value potential of Water Technologies, a growth booster identified as a priority in our GreenUp strategic plan, and a segment where we are already a market leader. Full ownership will enable us to accelerate growth, enhance operational efficiency and synergies as well as deepen the alignment with strategic priorities. This move is especially crucial given the urgent and rapidly evolving needs of the market, allowing us to respond faster and more effectively to emerging opportunities and challenges," said Estelle Brachlianoff, Veolia’s Chief Executive Officer.

“We are proud of WTS’ achievements since our investment in 2017, as it has grown into a global market leader in water technologies. Through our partnership, we helped strengthen the company’s foundations and position it for sustained growth and long-term value creation. We are grateful for the close collaboration with the management teams at WTS and Veolia, and we wish them every success in this next chapter," said Albrecht von Alvensleben, Managing Director, Head of Private Equity Europe at CDPQ.

The closing of the transaction is expected by the end of June 2025.

Veolia Water Technologies segment

• In FY2024, Veolia Water Technologies segment achieved revenues of €4.97bn (41% North America, 25% Europe, 13% Asia Pacific, 13% Africa Middle-East and 8% Latin America) and EBITDA of €612M. The business serves over 8,000 clients in 44 countries, with 38 technological sites and 11 dedicated R&I laboratories.
• Veolia Water Technologies activities include both Veolia WT, 100% owned and Water Technologies and Solutions “WTS” subsidiary, 70% Veolia-30% CDPQ.

Water Technologies and Solutions “WTS” subsidiary;

• WTS was formed as a 70%-30% joint venture between Suez and CDPQ in 2017, before becoming a subsidiary of Veolia following the Veolia–Suez merger in 2022, with CDPQ keeping its 30% minority stake. In FY2024, WTS achieved revenues of €3.3bn ($3.6bn) and EBITDA of €472M ($511M).

ABOUT VEOLIA

Veolia group aims to become the benchmark company for ecological transformation. Present on five continents with 215,000 employees, the Group designs and deploys useful, practical solutions for the management of water, waste and energy that are contributing to a radical turnaround of the current situation. Through its three complementary activities, Veolia helps to develop access to resources, to preserve available resources and to renew them. In 2024, the Veolia group provided 111 million inhabitants with drinking water and 98 million with sanitation, produced 42 million megawatt hours of energy and treated 65 million tonnes of waste. Veolia Environnement (Paris Euronext: VIE) achieved consolidated revenue of 44.7 billion euros in 2024.

It is worth going back to the 2017 press release when CDPQ teamed up with SUEZ in a joint venture to acquire GE Water:

Today Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and SUEZ announced that they have entered into an agreement with General Electric Company to acquire its Water & Process Technologies business (“GE Water”), a leading provider of water treatment solutions. The transaction values GE Water at approximately USD 3.4 billion. As part of the transaction, CDPQ will invest over USD 700 million for a 30% stake. SUEZ will have a 70% stake and will contribute its industrial water business to GE Water to create a new self-standing business unit within SUEZ encompassing all industrial water activities with a global focus.

With operations in 130 countries and over 7,500 employees, GE Water is a global leader in the provision of equipment, chemicals and services for the treatment of water and wastewater. In order to address its industrial clients’ increasingly complex needs, GE Water invests heavily in research and development of unique solutions. Its innovative technology has made it one of the most sophisticated players in its industry.

Long-term demand for water treatment equipment, chemicals and services are expected to remain strong both as a consequence of growing water scarcity and the impact of global warming on the water cycle. Furthermore, there are increasing global concerns related to industrial wastewater and its impact on the environment which make advanced treatment of water an absolute necessity. In this context, CDPQ is looking to increase its exposure to the water sector and views this investment as a way to generate long-term value.

“With an emphasis on industrial applications, GE Water has positioned itself as a key player in the water treatment industry thanks to its cutting-edge technology and a management team that has proven itself highly skilled at leveraging that competitive advantage,” said Michael Sabia, President and Chief Executive Officer at CDPQ. “Operating in a core industry, GE Water has built a premier business with recurring revenues and a high-quality and diversified customer base. This investment is therefore highly aligned with CDPQ’s long-term vision and its strategy of increasing its emphasis on stable assets anchored in the real economy, alongside a world-class operator such as SUEZ.”

Jean-Louis Chaussade, CEO of SUEZ, said: “I am very proud to announce the acquisition of GE Water, which will accelerate the implementation of SUEZ’ strategy by strengthening its position in the promising and fast-growing industrial water market. This combination will create further value for both our clients and shareholders. Clients will benefit from the combined knowledge, expertise, geographic footprint and leading edge products and services available. The transaction will also deliver strong value to our shareholders by enhancing SUEZ’ profitable growth profile. I look forward to integrating GE Water’s highly skilled staff to our teams to form an unparalleled industrial water platform. We are also thrilled to join forces with CDPQ, a financial investor which shares our long term vision for our business.”

SUEZ is a French, publicly-listed industrial services and solutions company focused on water optimization and waste recovery. By teaming with SUEZ, CDPQ gains a strong partner which can help accelerate the growth and success of GE Water.

In 2017, GE Water was rebranded as SUEZ Water Technologies & Solutions after it was acquired and SUEZ and Veolia finally merged in 2022 and the company became known as Water Technologies and Solutions.

CDPQ acquired a 30% stake for $700 million and exited selling it to Veolia for $1.75 billion (all USD figures) after eight years.

The key here is what Veolia’s CEO Estelle Brachlianoff and CDPQ's Managing Director, Head of Private Equity Europe lbrecht von Alvensleben stated in the press release:

“This acquisition marks a pivotal step in unlocking the full value potential of Water Technologies, a growth booster identified as a priority in our GreenUp strategic plan, and a segment where we are already a market leader. Full ownership will enable us to accelerate growth, enhance operational efficiency and synergies as well as deepen the alignment with strategic priorities. This move is especially crucial given the urgent and rapidly evolving needs of the market, allowing us to respond faster and more effectively to emerging opportunities and challenges," said Estelle Brachlianoff, Veolia’s Chief Executive Officer.

“We are proud of WTS’ achievements since our investment in 2017, as it has grown into a global market leader in water technologies. Through our partnership, we helped strengthen the company’s foundations and position it for sustained growth and long-term value creation. We are grateful for the close collaboration with the management teams at WTS and Veolia, and we wish them every success in this next chapter," said Albrecht von Alvensleben, Managing Director, Head of Private Equity Europe at CDPQ.

Apart from cost savings, full ownership will enable Veolia to accelerate growth, enhance operational efficiency and synergies as well as deepen the alignment with its Green Up strategic plan.

CDPQ exits at a nice return and can redeploy that capital elsewhere.

This is what I call a successful joint venture that went well for all parties.

In other related CDPQ news, La Presse reports that CEO Charles Emond appeared before the Quebec National Assembly to state there are no plans to export the REM to the United States.

He also said the Azure India bribery scandal that plagued the organization last year was isolated to three former employees and that the toll road projects in India are profitable. 

You can read the entire article here and I will just say that CDPQ needs to focus on the REM here to make sure it addresses all operational glitches as there are too many issues that impact service.

As far as the India bribery scandal, well, let's hope it is an isolated case that never repeats itself ever again.

Charles Emond stated this at the National Assembly: "There is no perfect system for detecting the behavior of three former employees who decided to act through collusion outside of the Caisse's systems." 

That may be true but there should be checks and balances all the time to detect and prevent fraud.

To be blunt, no pension fund can afford to be embroiled in any bribery scandal anywhere, especially a global investor like CDPQ.

Below, Veolia CEO Estelle Brachlianoff celebrates 170 years of innovation (video uses AI as you will notice). Very impressive company cleaning water all over the world.

Key findings:

• Young workers—those 16–24 years old—have experienced historically strong real wage growth (9.1%) since February 2020, exceeding the wage growth for workers ages 25 and older (5.4%).
• Wages for young workers have also grown faster than the prices of rent and college tuition since February 2020.
• A smaller share of young adults is unemployed, underemployed, or “idled”—neither employed nor enrolled in further education—than their averages over the prior three decades.
• However, recent Trump administration policy actions could be devastating for young adults trying to get a foothold in the labor market as they enter the workforce following graduation.

Young workers have experienced a strong labor market coming out of the pandemic recession, with better job opportunities and faster wage growth than they experienced in much of the prior four decades. However, the Trump administration’s recent attacks on the federal workforce, higher education, and registered apprenticeships—as well as imposing extreme tariffs—threaten to reverse these gains. In this first post in a series on young adults, we examine their labor market prospects as they graduate from high school and college this spring and discuss how policy changes might impact their prospects.1

Young adults have experienced historically fast wage growth in this business cycle

Figure A shows that real (inflation-adjusted) wage growth has been strong for workers of all ages in the pandemic recovery, but young workers have experienced faster wage growth (9.1%) than workers ages 25 and older (5.4%). Compared with the previous four business cycles, real wage growth in this recovery has been extraordinarily fast for young workers. It was not only significantly above zero for the first time in the early stages of a recovery, but also 14.4 percentage points faster than the recovery following the Great Recession of 2008.

Though the difference is not as stark, it is worth noting that workers ages 25 and older have also experienced faster wage growth this business cycle than in prior business cycles. This is no accident—all age groups have seen strong wage growth during the pandemic recovery because of intentional policy decisions.

After the huge job losses in March and April 2020 (specifically in industries most likely to employ young workers), policymakers passed large fiscal recovery packages that spurred rapid rehiring efforts, which gave workers leverage to secure higher wages and better working conditions. Further, pandemic relief efforts like expanded unemployment insurance coverage and economic impact payments gave these workers the economic security to be more selective than normal when job hunting.

Figure A Wages for young workers have grown faster than rent and college tuition

We also compare nominal wage growth with the growth in prices of goods and services that stress the budgets of young adults. In addition to exceeding overall inflation, nominal wage growth for young workers (40.3%) has significantly outpaced growth in the cost of rent (27.4%) and college tuition (8.6%) since February 2020 (Figure B).

While rent and college tuition are unaffordable for many young adults and their families, the rate of growth since 2020 suggests they have not become any more unaffordable over this period. This is a crucially under-recognized achievement: strong labor markets directly made both college attendance and the cost of rent more affordable for young workers in recent years.

Figure B Young adults are less likely to experience unemployment and underemployment now than in the past

Labor market outcomes for young workers have also been more promising recently than on average over the prior three decades. Figure C below shows the unemployment rate, underemployment rate, and “idling” rate in March 2025 and the average in the July 1990 to March 2024 period.2

The unemployment rate for young workers now is 9.2% compared with 12.1% on average between 1990 and 2024. The underemployment rate is also lower today compared with the prior three decades. The underemployment rate is the share of the labor force that either 1) is unemployed, 2) is working part time but wants and is available to work full time (an “involuntary” part timer), or 3) wants and is available to work and has looked for work in the last year but has given up actively seeking work in the last four weeks (“marginally attached” worker).

Another important measure of opportunities for young adults is what we call the idled rate—the share of young adults who are neither employed nor enrolled in school. This idled rate is useful because it is often hard to judge whether higher employment of young people is unambiguously good. For example, in some states that have weakened child labor laws, 16- and 17-year-olds are now at higher risk of facing exploitative conditions like subminimum wages, safety hazards, or long hours that interfere with high school completion. But it is almost always unambiguously bad when young people lack opportunities to either work or be enrolled in school—and this is what the idled rate measures. The share idled in 2025 is lower than on average between 1990 and 2024.

Figure C Recent Trump policy decisions could harm the economic futures of young adults

These promising outcomes for young workers are a tremendous policy achievement. The decision to use large fiscal relief and recovery packages to heal the labor market as quickly as possible after the pandemic recession has paid off enormously for the nation’s young workers. However, recent actions by the Trump administration threaten to reverse these gains.

Specifically, attacks on higher education in the form of cuts to university funding and uncertainty around student loans will make college less attainable for all, but in particular for young women and Black and Hispanic people. This will only further exacerbate significant gaps in education, wages, and lifetime earnings across race/ethnicity and gender.

The administration has also attacked federal initiatives to expand access to registered apprenticeships, another accredited system through which young workers advance their careers and reach higher earnings. Data show that union registered apprenticeships are increasingly important pathways to living-wage skilled trades careers for young and low-income people, women, and Black and Hispanic workers, illustrating the disproportionate harm that these attacks will have.

Additionally, the current administration has launched large-scale attacks on the federal workforce, supported drastic cuts to Medicaid, pursued mass deportations, and imposed extreme tariffs.

Cuts to the federal workforce mean that young people interested in public service careers will have fewer opportunities. Further, major staffing cuts to the Department of Labor and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health will weaken the enforcement of laws that keep workers safe and investigate wage violations (which disproportionately harm young workers, women, people of color, and immigrants). Meanwhile, Medicaid cuts would directly harm young people who are lower income and rely on Medicaid to meet their health care needs, including the high share of women who depend on Medicaid for their pregnancy.

Those cuts—combined with current immigration and tariffs policies—could lead to an economic recession. Young workers are often hurt more in a recession due to the “last hired, first fired” phenomenon and their lack of a significant foothold in the labor market. Graduating into a recession can set them back for years to come, depending on the depth and duration of the recession. To prevent a recession and remove the threat of undoing gains made over the pandemic recovery, these policy actions must be halted immediately.

In the next blog post in this series, we will delve deeper into the wages of high school and college graduates, respectively, and discuss gaps that exist across race and ethnicity and gender.

1. We define young workers as 16–24 years old. For all of our data in this post we use 12-month moving averages. For example, March 2025 data represent the average of April 2024 to March 2025. Smoothing over 12 months allows for sufficient sample sizes for analysis and to account for seasonal fluctuations throughout the year. Data for young workers, in particular, may vary by season given changes in their schedule between the academic year and the summer.

2. The idling data are available starting in 1984, but we use July 1990 as the start date to capture only full business cycles.

Harrisson Connery of PERE reports that Ares’ Arougheti sees tariffs will boost real estate values, transaction activity:

As tariff-related uncertainty casts a shadow over global property markets, Ares Management chief executive Michael Arougheti said his firm’s real estate strategies stand to benefit from the disruption. 

“We continue to believe that this is an opportune time for continued growth in our real estate business,” said Arougheti on the Los Angeles-based manager’s first-quarter earnings call this week. “Tariffs should drive up construction costs, which might constrain supply in markets that are already supply-constrained. This, coupled with a decrease in cost of capital and lower interest rates should improve values of real estate held and spur transaction activity.”  

Arougheti’s comments came as Ares reported $3.9 billion in fundraising for its real estate strategies in the quarter, up from just $400 million for the same period last year.  

It was Ares’ first quarterly update since finalizing its $3.7 billion acquisition of Singapore-based logistics and data center specialist GLP Capital Partners’ non-China business, and Ares’ revised portfolio metrics reflect the scale of that transaction. Its real assets platform now manages $124.2 billion in assets, Ares reported, up from $75.3 billion at the end of 2024. 

The GLP deal significantly boosted Ares’ regional footprint as well, particularly in Japan and Southeast Asia, and the manager’s first Japanese data center development fund attracted $1.5 billion in commitments in the first quarter, Arougheti said, adding that he anticipates a final close “in the near term.”  

Ares’ American real estate equity real estate funds produced returns of 1.8 percent for the quarter and 7.3 percent over the past 12 months, and its European real estate equity strategies produced returns of 0.2 percent last quarter and 1 percent over the prior year. It deployed $3.3 billion into real estate assets in the quarter, up from $500 million in the first quarter of 2024. 

Arougheti’s optimism stands in contrast to some of the prevailing concerns held by other private real estate managers that tariffs will bring further pain to the industry. Investors and managers alike have told PERE that Trump’s on-again, off-again policies would make underwriting all but impossible in the near term. The potential for prolonged transaction paralysis helped contribute to a record secondaries fundraise for New York-based StepStone Group last week, according to Jeff Giller, the manager’s head of real estate.   

Arougheti said the macro-environment has not impacted his outlook on logistics and data center assets, for which he believes there is strong demand, and added that US tariffs could drive more volume towards Ares’ distribution businesses in Japan.  

“There is a modest shift of investor interest and appetite away from the US markets,” he said. “So I could envision that if we continue to be in that type of environment, that the opportunity to offer non-US product in Japan and in our European distribution business could actually catch a stronger bid here and be a net beneficiary.”

Ares's co-founder Michael Arougheti is optimistic on real estate, private equity and private credit and believes his firm stands to benefit from any severe dislocation.

Speaking from the Milken Institute conference, he also stated that tariffs are unlikely to trigger a sharp uptick in private-equity-owned companies failing to repay their loans.

Things are going very well for Ares Management. Silas Sloan of Secondaries Investor reports the firm is looking to close its third infrastructure fund and its secondaries fund is attracting a lot of capital too:

Ares Management is looking to close its third infrastructure fund soon with its secondaries business continuing to “generate significant investor interest”, chief executive Michael Arougheti said on the firm’s recent earnings call.

Ares Secondaries Infrastructure Solutions III crossed $2 billion in total commitments, doubling its predecessor, Arougheti said during the firm’s Q1 2025 earnings call on 5 May. The fund is expected to hold a final close this summer.

Arougheti’s comments mean the fund launched in 2023 has also hit its target, which is $2 billion, according to Secondaries Investor data. The infrastructure fund collected about $400 million in the first quarter, according to slides prepared for the earnings call.

In addition to the infrastructure fund, Ares Credit Secondaries I raised $475 million in Q1 and $700 million in April, bringing the total equity commitments in the strategy to $3 billion and exceeding the fund’s target, Arougheti said on the call.

Ares raised about $2.3 billion in Q1 across PE, credit, infrastructure and real estate. Overall, the firm raised more than $20 billion in the first three months of the year, which Arougheti said was the strongest first quarter of fundraising ever for the firm.

“As we think about fundraising for 2025 and how it could be impacted by the current market uncertainty, we believe that we’re well-positioned due to the strength in the institutional channel and the global diversity of our investor base,” Arougheti said on the call. “We have deep relationships with our LPs who tend to be repeat investors across our funds and strategies as they seek to consolidate with key relationships.”

Fundraising got off to a blazing start in 2025, collecting a total of $50.7 billion in Q1, according to Secondaries Investor data. It was a massive step up from the $10 billion raised in Q1 2024.

However, there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to that Q1 total, as nearly 60 percent came from Ardian’s $30 billion close on Ardian Secondary Fund IX in January. Without the behemoth fund, Q1 2025 secondaries fundraising would have seen its fourth-largest tally for total closed commitments across the first three months of the year since 2020.

Ares is a strategic partner to Canada's large pension funds and institutional funds all over the world. Therefore I would pay attention to what this firm is doing and what its CEO and co-founder is saying. Below, Ares Management CEO and co-founder Michael Arougheti discussed the market impact of trade tariffs, investment in China markets, investors taking shelter in credit markets and where he sees “massive opportunity” for private equity. Arougheti spoke with Sonali Basak on the sidelines of The Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California.

Also, Michael Arougheti joins CNBC's 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss macro outlooks, growth expectations for Ares, and more.

Lastly, Blackstone President Jon Gray says he expects some countries will strike trade deals with the US “fairly soon,” and the effective tariff rate will be around 10%. Gray says the uncertainty around a trade war is likely to slow down GDP growth. He also talks about the AI revolution, real estate and inflation in the US. He speaks to Bloomberg's Sonali Basak at the Milken Conference. 

All great interviews, worth listening to their views.

CDPQ's Executive Vice-President and Head of CDPQ Global and Global Head of Sustainability, Marc-André Blanchard, received the 2025 Testimonial Dinner Award on April 24 in Toronto. 

In his acceptance speech, Mr. Blanchard reflected on the urgent need for engagement, trust and partnership in solving the most pressing challenges of our time.

The former diplomat shared insights from his time at the United Nations, and called for public institutions to refocus on results, for silos to be broken across sectors and for trust to be rebuilt — drop by drop — through collaboration and engaged action:

I want to begin with just one word — gratitude, but gratitude in three parts. First, the five distinguished Canadians with whom I have the privilege of being honored tonight, they each inspire me.

Anil Arora. Anil is a legend amongst the global statistician community, I saw it with my own eyes at the UN.

The honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, a life dedicated to building and strengthening resilient local communities in Canada and around the world.

Chief Crystal Smith, your focus on economic reconciliation and building innovative partnerships is exactly what we need, not only for our national reconciliation, but also globally, for a more sustainable world.

Steve Paikin, last week’s debate reminded us how lucky we have been to have had you as a pillar in journalism and in our country for so long.

And Alfred, well, your optimism and generosity and focus on action will bring all of us somewhere else.

Second, gratitude to this room, to this community, to the Public Policy Forum. And allow me a special thanks, that’s never easy to do, to my wife Monique, merci.

Our sons, Adrian and Laurent, who are here tonight. This is my family. (In French: I would never have been here without you. You are my north star.) Thanks also to all of my friends here and my former colleagues, whether from McCarthy or from the public service or at CDPQ, or all of the organizations, my alma mater. Thank you. I’ve been so lucky in my life that my life has crossed your paths, and thank you for being here.

And third, I’m grateful for the opportunity to share some of my thoughts. And don’t worry, they’re not that long. It’s a gift, and I’m deeply thankful to all of you for giving me the reason and the space to pause, reflect and share.

The first thing I recognize is this — despite our deeply troubling times, like most of you, I’m certain I stand before you as someone who remains deeply, deeply hopeful in our future. To state the obvious, the challenges that brought me into public policy and public service, the kind that shaped my purpose, are today even more complex, more urgent and more intertwined than ever before. Never has the distance between our ideals and our actions been so radically exposed, so consequential, and so necessary to bridge.

Well, I happen to know a thing or two about idealism. You know, after all, I served in the halls of the United Nations for nearly five years. And when I arrived in the spring of 2016 there was so much hope. The world had just adopted the sustainable development goals and the Paris Accord, the world would finally get to work on two of its biggest and most pressing challenges — inequality and climate change. Then, within a few months, Brexit, President Trump, a few years later, the pandemic, Syria, Ukraine.

So, I’ve lived through the great declarations and stirring speeches. I’ve also lived through the disappointments left by our institutions’ inability to deliver what is being promised to citizens. This disappointment is felt in Canada and almost everywhere else in the world. Throughout the world, it has eroded the trust in our democratic institutions. And globally, the multilateral institutions so dear to Canada are being sidestepped without much reaction by the populations.

A friend of mine, Baroness Valerie Amos, the Master of University College of Oxford, recently said people need to see the difference that institutions make in their lives, and they need to have a mechanism that enables them to have an influence on those institutions. So how do we get our institutions to deliver for the people on the ground? How do we get from our idealism and our values to results?

Well, to me, a big part of the answer is about engagement. We need results. To get results, we need people invested in the kind of change they want to see. I can think of three rules of engagement that if applied, would deliver results faster, and of scale.

First, as I mentioned, engagement must be focused on results. Populism is not an anomaly. It’s a symptom, a warning sign of deeper democratic fatigue. Populism can only thrive in the void left by a lack of real results, in the absence of meaningful, visible change in people’s lives. To succeed in delivering faster, we need to remember that excellence in public policy does not require perfection. It requires progress, delivery and results.

Engagement, therefore, must be redefined, not as dialog alone, or even worse, a process, but as a deliberate, measurable pursuit of relentless impact.

Second, engagement must break down the silos and lead to innovative partnerships of the kind we heard just before. Well, this is tougher than it sounds. And to my dear friends of the public sector, my public sector colleagues, let me tell you a well-kept secret of the private sector. The private sector has silos, too.

In today’s world, with this climate, this economy, this global uncertainty, the real breakthroughs, the ones that will shape the next generation, will come when both sectors, public and private, start truly collaborating.

Well, let me brag a little bit. So I promise, I’ve been a citizen of Toronto, I promise not to make any explicit comparison with the Eglinton line here in Toronto. But I can offer no better example than the REM (Réseau express métropolitain) in Montreal, a very innovative partnership between CDPQ and three levels of government, various Crown corporations and the private sector, involved in delivering in a very short time — started the construction in 2018, first line going up in 2023 at reasonable cost — 67 kilometers of light rail train. If there had been no trust, there would have been no REM.

Which leads me to my third and final rule. Engagement must be built and rebuilt on trust. They say that trust is earned in drops and lost in buckets. And in recent years, here at home and around the world, we’ve watched too many of those buckets spill over. There is no shortcut to trust. There is only the steady, honest, often uncelebrated, work of listening, of engaging with people who disagree with us, not thinking we know better, of standing in someone else’s shoes, of doing the right thing and the right thing is often not theoretical perfection, but a good old Canadian compromise, even when it’s hard. Drip by drip. Act by act.

As we look to the future, please remember this. Every grand plan, every vision to reinvigorate our democracy, to renew our economy or realign our world will demand deep collaboration and even deeper trust. Without that trust, we’re left with talk, with the illusion of progress and none of the results. The reality is that listening builds trust and relationships. Trust and relationships accelerate action. And engagement leads to impact.

So thank you from the bottom of my heart for this honour, really. And let’s never forget that there is no challenge that we cannot overcome. After all, together we’ve built the best country in the world.

Vive le Canada et merci beaucoup.

Great speech by Marc-André Blanchard, eloquent, short, optimistic, striking the right balance between idealism and realism.

He brings the example of the REM where three levels of government were involved and nothing would have gotten done if there was no trust. 

He correctly notes:

“In today’s world, with this climate, this economy, this global uncertainty, the real breakthroughs, the ones that will shape the next generation, will come when both sectors, public and private, start truly collaborating.” 

And ends on this note:

As we look to the future, please remember this. Every grand plan, every vision to reinvigorate our democracy, to renew our economy or realign our world will demand deep collaboration and even deeper trust. Without that trust, we’re left with talk, with the illusion of progress and none of the results. The reality is that listening builds trust and relationships. Trust and relationships accelerate action. And engagement leads to impact.

Well, Marc-André Blanchard and his team at CDPQ are certainly doing their part to engage and lead to impact on responsible investing.

I recently covered CDPQ's 2024 Sustainable Investing Report where they exceeded their targets here.

Below, Marc-André Blanchard accepts the 2025 Testimonial Dinner Award. Great speech, well done.

Acknowledgments: This blog post would not have been possible without the intellectual contribution and data analysis conducted by Joanna LeFebvre and Katja Krieger.

All children deserve to attend welcoming and well-funded schools where they can learn and grow, regardless of race, disability, or income. But funding for public schools, where nearly 90% of all U.S. students learn, is at a near crisis point. The Trump administration’s goals, which are taken right out of Project 2025, seem to be to defund public education to the point that it doesn’t work, then offer private school vouchers as a solution to a manufactured problem. In this post, we highlight five ways public education is on fire in the United States and the damage this will do to students’ abilities to learn and thrive. Instead of cutting funds, lawmakers should invest in public schools, one of the best tools we still have to build a prosperous, equitable country.

Alarm level 1: COVID-19 relief funding for public schools is winding down. In some cases, the administration is ending it prematurely

This academic year (2024–2025) marks the end of the financial support schools were receiving to address the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, the Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief III funds (ESSER III). The COVID-19 pandemic, and the changing learning environments that ensued, meant that schools needed funds to address the significant academic, social, emotional, physical, and mental health needs of their students. This funding was distributed in recent years with the last distribution, ESSER III, worth a total of $122 billion allocated to districts around the country. Many students, especially those living in poverty, have not recovered from pandemic-related learning loss. The end of this funding means that districts will now have fewer resources to help students get back on track. Rigorous research has demonstrated that this federal aid to public schools was highly successful, with measurable improvements to student outcomes in states and districts where more aid was spent. Taking the educational challenges imposed by the pandemic seriously would mean recognizing the high value this aid has provided.

However, in late March, the Trump administration canceled extensions that had been granted to states to spend remaining ESSER funds. Effectively, districts are losing out on the funding allocated to them in the form of COVID-19 relief funds. Canceled extensions represent almost $3 billion in lost funding that had already been committed to tutoring services, reading interventions, building improvements, and more. Clawing back these funds jeopardizes improved academic outcomes for many students and their ability to learn in healthy and safe environments. The administration’s refusal to reimburse school districts for funding that has already been spent could force them to cut teaching and other staff positions to make up the cost, ultimately harming students.

Alarm level 2: The administration is lawlessly dismantling the Department of Education and attacking inclusive schools

The winding down and clawing back of ESSER funding are simultaneously occurring at a time when President Trump signed executive orders to (1) dismantle the Department of Education and “return the funding to the states” and (2) regulate curriculum taught in the more than 13,000 public schools in the country.

One order directed Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to shut down several functions of the Department of Education (ED) and send them back to the states. Prior to this order, the White House had directed the ED to lay off 1,300 employees, a directive that is currently in litigation. The other order resulted in a “Dear Colleague letter” from Secretary McMahon demanding that states certify that they will not engage in “illegal DEI practices” as a condition of receiving the federal funds (This order is also currently in litigation.). As it stands, much of the Department of Education funding goes directly to state and local school systems. The ED provides targeted funding to public schools for special education through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and supports high-poverty districts through Title I grants. These grants make up for shortfalls in funding that high-poverty districts experience when they get funding from local sources.

To be clear, closing the Department of Education, and reappropriating major funding programs requires an act of Congress, and it is local school districts who have control over what is taught in schools—not federal regulators. Thus, while these executive orders have the potential to inflict a lot of damage, it’s unclear whether these orders can proceed without running afoul of federal laws. If these orders result in delays in funding distributions or outright cuts, students could experience declines in academic achievement, exacerbating existing racial and income disparities and limiting students’ long-term opportunities. If President Trump acts outside of his authority to slash the agencies’ work, the guardrails will essentially be pulled off this funding, which is extremely effective at redistributing funds based on district need. President Trump says he’ll return money to states for them to distribute it, potentially creating a situation where states have to compete for funds. This would create a patchwork in public funding for public schools, one in which some districts risk falling even further behind.

Alarm level 3: Lawmakers are pushing a mounting wave of voucher programs, an increasingly large cost to state-funded education

While many school districts struggle to maintain basic education funding, school privatization efforts are continuing throughout the country, and states like Arizona, Florida, and Ohio are notorious for the budget-breaking cost of universal voucher programs.

Figure A shows the current cost of voucher programs as a share of K–12 education funding in states where over 5% of the budget is currently going to school voucher programs. In the current school year (fiscal year 2025), voucher costs make up anywhere from 5% for states with early voucher programs to upwards of 25% of the entire public education budget for states with mature programs.

Figure A

Because statewide private school voucher programs are funded with state dollars, voucher spending is shown as a proportion of state education funding rather than state and local funding. On average, about 46% of funding for K–12 schools comes from state revenue sources. In states with voucher programs, private schools divert state dollars that could otherwise be available to public schools. For now, local funding for public schools is protected from diversion to voucher programs, although some states with voucher programs are also threatening this source of public school funding by cutting or eliminating property taxes.

Vouchers degrade the quality of education for students who use them

Time and time again research has shown that vouchers harm academic outcomes. Causal studies across three states and Washington, D.C., demonstrate negative effects on test scores for students who use a voucher to switch from public to private school. These test score declines can persist over two years or more and are comparable or worse than declines due to COVID-19 and Hurricane Katrina. Meanwhile, students who leave private schools and return to public schools have experienced increased academic achievement. While some may argue that test scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress indicate that private school students fare better academically than their public school peers, this is more a reflection of the parents’ socioeconomic status and education level than the impact of private schooling on students. Research also suggests vouchers do not reliably improve high school graduation and college attendance rates. Because of these reasons, lawmakers looking to improve student outcomes should not pursue vouchers.

School vouchers have costs for students who remain in public school

In addition to the direct costs that the state incurs for school vouchers, school districts experience an additional cost when they lose students to private school: the cost of providing the same level of education for fewer students in public education. This cost is entirely borne by the students who remain in public education, even though they affirmatively did not make the choice to take up vouchers. When students leave public schools with a voucher, the school districts must still pay the same amount for costs that can’t immediately adjust to declines in enrollment, such as cooling/heating and utilities. These required payments for a district’s fixed costs mean that districts will have even less to spend on the costs that can adjust due to changes in enrollment. What this means is that public school students who remain in public school will have less funding allocated to them for adjustable costs like teaching, curriculum development, and pupil support services due to other students taking up voucher programs. (To calculate this cost for your district, see EPI’s fiscal externality calculator).

Alarm level 4: National voucher proposals threaten public schools throughout the country

Beyond state voucher programs, Congress is considering national voucher proposals. This would enlarge the scope of vouchers beyond Republican-controlled states. The Educational Choice for Children Act, or ECCA, (H.R. 817, S.292) is a proposal to create a national voucher program. The program would divert over $10 billion per year in tax dollars to private schools and families who homeschool. The bill would do this by establishing a new dollar-for-dollar tax credit for individuals and corporations that make charitable contributions to organizations that give scholarships— or vouchers—for students to attend private schools. Donors who give corporate stocks would receive more back in tax cuts than the after-tax value of the stocks if they had sold them. 

Beyond vouchers harming student educational outcomes, the program itself would be extremely expensive. The bill proposes that Congress allocate $10 billion in tax credits for the voucher programs. But that doesn’t even account for the cost of voucher programs to public schools. The sponsors of the bill estimate that ECCA would provide vouchers for 2 million students. Given that at least two-thirds of students who take up vouchers previously attended private school, we can estimate that 666,667 voucher recipients will come from public school, which is about 1.4% of total public school students. Using our fiscal externality calculator, we estimate that students who remain in public schools would lose an average of $151 per pupil, and public school systems would lose a total of $6.225 billion dollars due to a national voucher scheme.

Alarm level 5: Tax cuts reduce available revenue for public schools

Many states are following a recent trend of reducing revenue available for schools through sweeping tax cuts. Corporate and personal income tax revenue represents about half of state tax revenue, which, in turn, funds about half of K–12 education budgets. From 2021 through 2024, 28 states passed personal or corporate income tax cuts, which will result in hundreds of billions of dollars in lost revenue by 2028, and more states are considering or have passed income tax cuts in 2025. At the same time, some states are cutting and attempting to eliminate property taxes, which account for over a third of revenue for K–12 education on average. States that want to invest in opportunity and long-term economic prosperity and to help their students continue recovering from pandemic-related learning loss should reverse this harmful trend.

Conclusion: What would happen if we boosted public school funding instead?

Given the real and damaging threats to public school funding, we conclude by asking what students actually need to succeed. Growing evidence over the last decade shows that public schooling in the United States simply needs more resources to deliver even better student achievement—not some radical disruption in how it is delivered and by what institutions.

For example, research has shown that school finance reforms between 1972 and 2010 led to a 10% increase in school spending for 12 years, which increased high school graduation rates, wages and family incomes in adulthood for children from districts with the spending increase. Others have similarly found that a $1,000 increase in per-pupil spending for low-income districts would reduce the test score gap between low- and high-income school districts within a state by nearly 40% of the baseline gap.

Increasing funding, rather than withholding federal aid or using public dollars to pay for private schooling, is the path forward for public schools. Public schools have fallen short in many communities because of lawmakers’ choices to underfund them. But the only education system that can fulfill the promise of equal opportunity for all children, regardless of race, disability, or income, is a fully funded system of public schools. Lawmakers interested in building prosperous communities should invest in public schools rather than defunding and privatizing them.

 

Sean Conlon and Hakyung Kim of CNBC report Dow jumps 500 points, S&P 500 posts longest win streak in 20 years as stocks claw back tariff losses:

Stocks rose on Friday as Wall Street digested a better-than-expected nonfarm payrolls report for April, which eased recession fears and lifted the S&P 500 for its longest winning streak in just over two decades.

The S&P 500 advanced 1.47% and closed at 5,686.67. This marked the broad market index’s ninth consecutive day of gains and its longest winning run since November 2004. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 564.47 points, or 1.39%, to end at 41,317.43. The Nasdaq Composite gained 1.51% and settled at 17,977.73.

With Friday’s surge, the S&P 500 has now recovered its losses since April 2, when President Donald Trump announced his “reciprocal” tariffs. This comes a day after the tech-heavy Nasdaq accomplished the same feat.

Payrolls grew by 177,000 in April, above the 133,000 that economists polled by Dow Jones had anticipated. That figure was still down sharply from the 228,000 added in March but much better than feared after recession worries ramped up last month. The unemployment rate stood at 4.2%, in line with expectations.

“Markets breathed a sigh of relief this morning as the jobs data came in better than expected,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Northlight Asset Management. “While recession fears are still simmering on the back burner, the buy-the-dip dynamic can continue – at least until the tariff pause runs out.”

Investors were already upbeat prior to the strong jobs report after China said that it is evaluating the possibility of starting trade negotiations with the U.S. Still, Chinese authorities reaffirmed their belief that the U.S. should remove all unilateral tariffs, saying in a statement that “if the U.S. wants to talk, it should show its sincerity and be prepared to correct its wrong practices and cancel the unilateral tariffs.” Later in the day, a report from The Wall Street Journal suggested that Beijing is open to trade talks.

The Street was also mulling over earnings reports from two “Magnificent Seven” members. Apple slid 3.7% after posting fiscal second-quarter revenue from its services division that fell short against analyst estimates. Additionally, the iPhone maker said it expects to add $900 million in costs in the current quarter due to tariffs. Amazon shares, meanwhile, were marginally lower after the company issued light guidance, highlighting “tariffs and trade policies” as factors.

“We’ve already seen how financial markets will react if the administration moves forward with their initial tariff plan, so unless they take a different tack in July when the 90-day pause expires, we will see market action similar to the first week of April,” Zaccarelli also said.

Stocks have made an incredible comeback since Trump announced last month that’s he’s temporarily reducing his new tariff rates for most countries to 10% for 90 days. The market has especially picked up steam lately, leading to the S&P 500′s winning streak, as solid earnings have come out.

All three major averages posted their second positive week in a row. The S&P 500 added 2.9%, sitting more than 7% below its February high after at one point being down nearly 20%. The Dow posted a 3% advance on the week, while the Nasdaq added 3.4%.

‘We’ve passed peak tariff tantrum,’ InfraCap’s Jay Hatfield says

The recent sell-off spurred by worries around President Donald Trump’s tariff plans may be over, said Jay Hatfield of Infrastructure Capital Advisors.

“We think we’ve passed peak tariff tantrum,” the firm’s chief executive said in an interview with CNBC, adding that he has a year-end target on the S&P 500 of 6,600. That implies nearly 18% upside from Thursday’s close.

Hatfield also thinks there’s going to be a summer rally once the market gets through a “seasonally weak” May-to-June period. That said, he doesn’t believe the S&P 500 will rally past the 6,000 level until most concerns among investors have been resolved.

“We think there’s three areas of uncertainties, not just tariffs but also Fed policy and tax policy,” he added. “We don’t think we’re going to bust significantly above 6,000 until we get at least two of those three pretty well defined.”

It was a very strong week in the stock market led by mega cap tech stocks like Microsoft and Meta which posted solid earnings:

 

But the real story again this year is Palantir which was up over 300% last year and is flying high once again this year:

Incredibly, Palantir shares hit a low of $66 on April 7th and have since ripped higher and are right on the cusp of making a new 52-week high.

All this action spurred the Nasdaq higher this week but it's still off its 52-week high:

 

Nonetheless., all the talk of tariffs, recession, the end of American exceptionalism looks silly when you look at the S&P 500 which has now recovered all its losses since Liberation Day (April 2nd). 

However, the US dollar remains weak and some claim there's more downside to go (I'm not in that camp and believe the selloff in the US dollar was way overdone):

More worrisome, long maturity US Treasuries are also struggling to rally as investors weigh the real possibility of stagflation ahead: 

Also, despite the recent selloff which I foresaw, gold shares remain in a solid uptrend:

Not surprisingly, when you look at the top performing US large cap stocks, gold shares figure prominently (a few Canadian gold companies there) but it's a mixed bag with Palantir and biotechs I track closely like Verona Pharma, Summit therapeutics and TG Therapeutics. 

 

Apart from a few stocks however, biotech shares remain well off their 52-week high even after rallying massively the last couple of weeks:

Still, I see a few great opportunities in biotech as long as RISK ON markets gain traction but you really need to dig deep, pick your spots and know the companies and risks very well.

The big question that still persists is whether there is a slowdown in the US economy and are we in a recession.

This week, the US economy contracted for first time since 2022 as imports surged but today's US jobs report showed defied expectations as nonfarm payrolls increased a seasonally adjusted 177,000 for the month, slightly below the downwardly revised 185,000 in March but above the Dow Jones estimate for 133,000. 

The unemployment rate, however, stayed at 4.2%, as expected, indicating that the labor market is holding relatively stable.

The jury is still out in terms of recession but some indicators like housing activity are already pointing to one and I would encourage my institutional readers to listen to Francois Trahan's latest conference call entitled "It's Different This Time...Legitimately!".

Francois thinks all roads lead to stagflation and things will come to fruition in the second half of the year. 

Alright, let me wrap this up and post some great interviews below.

First, Nicolai Tangen, the head of Norway’s $1.8 trillion sovereign wealth fund, discusses the outlook for global markets amid recent trade policy upheaval and what that means for the fund's US investments. He talks with Bloomberg's Francine Lacqua in Oslo.

Tangen also spoke to CNBC International discussing investments in the US at the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund's annual investment conference.

Third, Mike Wilson, Morgan Stanley, joined 'Closing Bell' on Thursday to discuss what markets need to see to indicate a more sustained recovery from April's lows, if the equity rally is sustainable, and much more.

Fourth, Adam Parker, Trivariate Research founder, joins 'Closing Bell' to discuss the most recent news that sticks out to Parker the most, investor's attitude towards equity markets, and much more.

Fifth, David Zervos, Jefferies chief market strategist, joins CNBC's 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss outlooks on tech.

Sixth, Bob Elliott, Unlimited CEO and Adam Kobeissi, The Kobeissi Letter editor-in-chief, join 'Closing Bell: Overtime' to discuss market rally, their outlook for stocks and Fed day.

Seventh, Jeremy Siegel, Wharton School professor of finance, joins CNBC's 'Closing Bell' to discuss market outlooks.

Lastly, Bill Smead, Smead Capital Management, joins 'The Exchange' to discuss the mood in Omaha ahead of Berkshire Hathaway's annual investor meeting, the market opportunities, and much more.