Federated Hermes, based in Pittsburgh, is an asset management holding company with about $783 billion in AUM as of June 30, 2024. It offers equity, fixed-income and money-market funds. The company's clients include high-net-worth individuals, registered investment advisors, pension funds, charities, and government organizations. Federated Hermes takes a relatively conservative, long-term approach to investing.

For a second week, we have a bearish pop in the insider-sentiment data from Vickers Stock Research. The short-term data was particularly bearish on the NYSE, with the Vickers NYSE One-Week Sell/Buy Ratio coming in at 11.87, up from 8.68 last week and representing its highest one-week reading since February 2023. Meanwhile, transaction volume remains very low because of earnings-season restrictions and stock indices are still in the area of all-time highs. But volatility is on the upswing (the VIX has moved higher by about 30% in the past few weeks), with political thunderbolts, technology meltdowns, ongoing military conflicts, non-stop interest-rate drama, and now August just ahead (the slowest trading month of the year, but when illiquid markets can add to volatility). Who can blame any investor -- an insider or a 'normal' trader - from taking a cautious stance? But we will keep an eye on the now two-week bearish burst from insiders, with particular interest in how the trend develops/diminishes as earnings season moves towards completion. On a sector basis, selling by insiders last week was greatest in Financials, with shares valued at $837 million sold versus less than $5 million bought, followed by Healthcare ($30 million sold). Selling was also evident in Industrials, Energy, and Real Estate. Meanwhile, buying outpaced selling in Consumer Staples and Information Technology. This week, analysts at Vickers highlighted insider transactions of interest at Schlumberger Limited (NYSE: SLB) and Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC).

Federated provides asset management services for institutional and individual investors. The firm had $778.7 billion in managed assets at the end of March 2024, composed of equity (10%), multi-asset (less than 1%), fixed-income (12%), alternative (3%), and money market (74%) funds. That said, the firm's cash-management operations are expected to generate around 47% of Federated's revenue this year, compared with 29%, 13%, and 11%, respectively, for the firm's equity, fixed-income, and alternatives/multi-asset operations. From a channel perspective, the company's products are distributed via trust banks, wealth managers and retail broker/dealers (64% of AUM), institutional investors (28%), and international clients (8%).

Federated provides asset management services for institutional and individual investors. The firm had $778.7 billion in managed assets at the end of March 2024, composed of equity (10%), multi-asset (less than 1%), fixed-income (12%), alternative (3%), and money market (74%) funds. That said, the firm's cash-management operations are expected to generate around 47% of Federated's revenue this year, compared with 29%, 13%, and 11%, respectively, for the firm's equity, fixed-income, and alternatives/multi-asset operations. From a channel perspective, the company's products are distributed via trust banks, wealth managers and retail broker/dealers (64% of AUM), institutional investors (28%), and international clients (8%).