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NEWS + INSIGHTS

Financial Comms Experts See Silver Linings in Uncertain Market

October 6, 2022

(Article has been edited for brevity)

For the third straight quarter, the S&P 500 suffered a loss, the first time that’s happened since the financial crisis of 2009.

September was a particularly ugly month, with the S&P dropping more than 9% for its worst monthly decline since March 2020, when COVID-19 shuttered parts of the North American economy. This week, the U.N. said the world is on the brink of a recession, which could be worse than both the pandemic-caused slowdown and financial crisis of 2007 to 2009.

Yet for financial PR agencies and divisions, the poor economic returns in the market aren’t all bad news for their bottom lines.

Dukas Linden Public Relations is seeing demand from both well-established companies and new ones launching “creative and innovative new investment strategies,” says the firm’s EVP, Zach Kouwe.

This includes new hedge funds and private equity value investing strategies or low-volatility investment products and strategies, as investors look to manage the inflationary environment, he says.

“Even early stage venture capital in the crypto and Web3 space is active,” adds Kouwe. “Some folks are also hoping to up their social media game, either on LinkedIn or Twitter, because they understand how important it is to connect with audiences right now.”

As for IPOs, mergers and acquisitions and other deal-making?

“Transaction-based PR will likely continue to be slow,” but it could come back strong sooner than expected, says Kouwe. “There is plenty of cash on the sidelines looking to be deployed.”