Nuveen to Buy Schroders in Near £10 Billion Deal | The Opening Trade 2/12/2026
Watch on YouTube ↗  |  February 12, 2026 at 12:27 UTC  |  1:36:03  |  Bloomberg Markets
Speakers
Tom Mackenzie — Anchor, Bloomberg
Guy Johnson — Anchor, Bloomberg
Anna Edwards — Anchor, Bloomberg
Austin Lally — CEO, Verisure
Mark Cudmore — Executive Editor, Bloomberg Live / Macro Strategist
Kristine Li — FX Strategist
Dan Tomlinson — UK Treasury Secretary / Labour MP
Gerry Fowler — Chief Strategist, UBS Investment Bank
Richard Oldfield — CEO, Schroders
William Wilkes — Reporter, Bloomberg
Roland Busch — CEO, Siemens

Summary

  • M&A Resurgence: Nuveen is acquiring UK asset manager Schroders for nearly £10 billion, signaling deep value in UK assets and a consolidation trend in active management to fund AI/tech investments.
  • Macro Disconnect: Despite a "blowout" US jobs number, the US Dollar and yields did not rip higher. Strategists suggest the market is structurally over-positioned in USD and is looking to sell into rallies.
  • The "German Split": A massive divergence is occurring in the German economy. Industrial/Software giants (Siemens) are booming due to AI/Data Center demand, while Legacy Autos (Mercedes, BMW) are crashing due to Chinese competition and tariff fears.
  • Contrarian Cycle Call: UBS argues the market is mispricing the current environment as "Early Cycle" (buying junk/small caps). They believe it is "Late Cycle," meaning investors should fade the small-cap rally and stick to High Quality/Software.
Trade Ideas
Ticker Direction Speaker Thesis Time
JPY
SHORT Mark Cudmore
Executive Editor, Bloomberg Live / Macro Strategist
The Japanese Yen rallied post-election due to political certainty (Takaichi trade unwinding). This rally is a "buy the rumor, sell the fact" event. The fundamental backdrop (negative real yields, slow growth) hasn't changed. The market will eventually resume the carry trade against the Yen. SHORT JPY (expecting USD/JPY to rise after this temporary dip). The BOJ aggressively hikes rates faster than expected.
AVOID Chloe (Reporter) Adyen stock down ~19% after missing revenue estimates in Europe and North America. The payments space is highly competitive. A growth miss of this magnitude suggests structural headwinds or market share loss, breaking the "growth at any price" thesis. AVOID / SHORT. Oversold bounce if management clarifies one-off issues.
SHORT William Wilkes
Reporter, Bloomberg
Siemens raised its outlook and is seeing strong demand from data centers/automation. Conversely, Mercedes stock dropped ~4% on margin pressure, citing tariff uncertainty and fierce Chinese competition. This is a pair trade within the German economy. Siemens has successfully pivoted to industrial software (high margin, AI-linked), while automakers are trapped in a capital-intensive, low-margin war with China that they are losing. LONG the Industrial Software winner (Siemens); SHORT the Legacy Auto losers. A surprise removal of tariff threats or a sudden recovery in Chinese luxury auto demand. 48:02
SDR
LONG Richard Oldfield
Chairman, Oldfield Partners
Nuveen is acquiring Schroders for nearly £10 billion (approx. 30% premium). The deal is agreed. This is an arbitrage/event-driven situation. The premium validates the undervaluation of UK asset managers. LONG (if spread exists) or WATCH for sympathy plays in other UK Asset Managers. Regulatory hurdles blocking the deal (low probability given friendly nature). 34:46
LONG Guy Johnson
Anchor, Bloomberg
Lenovo and Cisco are down because "memory prices are up," squeezing their margins. ASML is seeing strong orders for AI glass. If hardware makers (Lenovo) are getting squeezed by component costs, the component makers (SK Hynix/Samsung) have pricing power. UBS notes semi margins remain extremely high (40%+) and the AI hardware trade is not over. LONG the Memory/Semi supply chain. Oversupply in memory chips later in the year. 0:56
SHORT Mark Cudmore
Executive Editor, Bloomberg Live / Macro Strategist
Strong US payroll data failed to push the Dollar significantly higher. The market's non-reaction to good news suggests the "pain trade" is lower. The world is structurally overexposed to the USD and looking to hedge/diversify. Li notes structural employment slowdowns relative to the Euro area. SHORT US DOLLAR (sell into rallies). A resurgence of US inflation forcing the Fed to hike or hold rates much longer than priced. 0:22
UL
LONG Tom Mackenzie
Anchor, Bloomberg
Unilever stock up ~8% on a Q4 sales beat and a €1.5bn share buyback. In a volatile macro environment (tariffs/AI churn), capital is rotating into defensive Consumer Staples that demonstrate pricing power and shareholder returns. LONG Unilever. Input cost inflation returning. 7:08
SHORT Gerry Fowler
Chief Strategist, UBS Investment Bank
The market has been rotating into "low quality" and Small Caps, behaving as if the economy is in an "Early Cycle" phase due to expected fiscal boosts. Credit and labor markets indicate we are actually "Late Cycle." The rotation into low-quality/small-cap stocks is a head-fake. In a late-cycle environment with high tariffs and inflation risks, pricing power and high margins matter most. LONG High Quality (specifically Software/Microsoft) and SHORT/FADE the Small Cap rally. If fiscal stimulus actually resets the cycle to "Early," Small Caps will continue to rip. 51:19