All tagged archegos

Risk Mismanagement

Since closing at an all-time high share price of $100.28 on March 22nd, 2021, shares of Viacom CBS (VIACA) ripped down to an intraday low of $40.78 on March 26th. Similarly, after reaching a 52-week high of $78.14 on March 19th, Discovery (DISCA) shares shaved off nearly 27%, reaching an intraday low of $41.90 on March 26th. Chinese-domiciled companies trading in the US markets such as Baidu (BIDU) and Tencent (TME) wiped off 33.5% and 48.5% on March 26th, respectively. With the unusual share price action in otherwise strong corporations in a recently smooth-sailing capital market environment, reports quickly swirled. Most of the discussion linked to large amounts of block trades placed on each of the aforementioned equities by Archegos Capital Management, a former hedge-fund turned family office run by Bill Hwang. (#1Davies et al., 2021). Initially, the propensity and velocity in the price moves of the stocks were alarming. However, $10 Billion total in losses, the wiping out of a global investment banks risk division, and an ultimate mismanagement of risk are the most alarming aspects in the Archegos Capital Management scandal. This has led the shareholders of banks involved to question why the trades blew up, and how to ensure a situation like this does not unfold in the future.