Hi there,
 

Here is this week in charts. 

Feeling exposed. Global equity funds have reduced their exposure to China and Hong Kong, according to an analysis of 381 funds. Average exposure has dropped from 5.1% in January to 3.8% in September, as China’s regulatory crackdown on its tech sector hits industries like e-commerce, gaming, and education. Investors have instead upped their US holdings, which tracks with our analysis of venture investment trends.

Happy shopping. Distressed retail bonds and loans have declined 98%, from $60B in March 2020 to approximately $1.1B today. The pandemic accelerated the fall of many brick-and-mortar retailers, with dozens declaring bankruptcy in 2020. Since then, several retailers have emerged from bankruptcy with a reduced debt load and a smaller store footprint. The resurging economy combined with a rise in government spending have also helped surviving stores regain their footing.  

Telehealth checkup. Telehealth usage was 78x higher in April 2020 than in February 2020, growth that has since stabilized at around 38x pre-pandemic levels. A range of telehealth platforms are capitalizing on the new normal, as forecasts predict that as much as $250B in healthcare services will permanently shift to virtual.

Remote network effects. Company-wide remote work reduces collaboration among workers, with their networks becoming “more static and siloed,” according to a study of over 61,000 US Microsoft employees. Researchers also observed that synchronous communication decreased while asynchronous communication increased. Overall, the effects of switching to firm-wide remote work may make information acquisition and sharing across company networks more difficult. 

Your people are a tire. For some reason, consultants like bikes when developing frameworks. They’re usually hot garbage and this one doesn’t disappoint. I do think it’s strange that you put your arse on leadership.

I love you.

Anand

@asanwal

P.S. Join us for our webinar on September 23 to ask our senior lead retail analyst your questions about what’s next for retail tech. Register here.