☕️Grunt Work

Good morning.

OpenAI is paying over 100 former investment bankers to help train its AI on how to build financial models as it looks to replace the hours of grunt work performed by junior bankers across the industry.

Bloomberg reports that the AI giant is shelling out USD150 ($230.82) per hour to write prompts and build financial models for a range of transaction types, including restructurings and initial public offerings.

Despite the constant threat that AI is lurking in the background, Morgan Stanley’s vice chairman of investment banking, Luigi Rizzo, isn’t remotely concerned about how it will disrupt the space, posting on LinkedIn:

“The need for expert judgment never diminished, but the new tools let us better explore all intuitions worth exploring so we could reach better diagnoses. Oh, and one more thing: the number of junior bankers? It grew. Materially so.”

🏆 LOI Subscriber #TBD

Market movers

Shares in investment platform Hub24 surged Tuesday after the company posted $5.2 billion in net inflows for the September quarter, driving a 7.4% lift in funds under administration to $146.5 billion and moving up to sixth place by market share.

The quick sync

• Arafura welcomes rare earths deal while others urge funding only strong projects. (Capital Brief)

• Trump slammed by media union for attacks on Australian reporters. (Capital Brief)

• Australia’s critical minerals deal with the US also highlighting Albanese’s balancing act between Washington and Beijing. (Capital Brief)

• Shareholders back Geoff Wilson to remove Pengana LIC directors and reject its private credit proposal. (Capital Brief)

• Albanese’s US visit delivered clear wins but leaves Kevin Rudd exposed after Trump’s rebuke. (Capital Brief)

Trading floor

M&A

• US firm Air T will buy Rex Airlines in a deal keeping the carrier flying. (Capital Brief)

• KKR plans to sell New Zealand’s Ritchies Transport after TPG’s $4b Kinetic deal boosts market interest in electric bus operators. (The Australian)

• NZ’s Coupland’s Bakeries hired BlueMount Capital to seek a buyer. (AFR)

• Warner Bros. Discovery began a strategic review and is open to a sale. (Capital Brief)

• Allegro Funds may pursue O’Connor Beef after acquiring BE Campbell, signalling its growing appetite for agri and food industry deals. (The Australian)

• Blackstone and TPG are buying Hologic in an USD18.3b healthcare deal. (Capital Brief)

Capital Markets

• BHP stays on track with guidance but expects slower growth ahead. (Capital Brief)

• Hub24’s funds under administration rose 7.4% to $146.5b, lifting its market share to 9%. (Capital Brief)

• Vik Bansal’s LGI is raising $50m to fund growth. (AFR)

• ASIC halted TruePillars fund offers over disclosure and risk concerns. (Capital Brief)

• Blackpeak led a $7.5m raise for Melbourne’s 2cloudnine. (AFR)

• South32 kept FY26 guidance but flagged power risks for Mozal Aluminium. (Capital Brief)

• Stonepeak targets $300m ASX launch for infrastructure debt fund. (AFR)

• Iluka’s stock drops 18% amid funding worries for its mineral sands arm, despite $1.65b in government support for its rare earths refinery. (The Australian)

• Geoff Wilson blocked Pengana’s private credit plan and ousted three directors. (Capital Brief)

• Alcoa-backed Equus Energy launched a $15m IPO to revive its WA gas project. (AFR)

• Arafura praised the US-Australia rare earths deal as miners warned funds must go to viable projects. (Capital Brief)

• General Motors, General Electric, and 3M raised 2025 forecasts as tariff concerns ease. (Capital Brief)

• Westpac banker won the right to WFH full-time after the Fair Work Commission found the bank lacked reasonable grounds to refuse her flexible work request. (AFR)

• Large Bitcoin holders are using new ETF rules to move their crypto into BlackRock-managed funds, swapping blockchain wallets for brokerage accounts. (Bloomberg)

• US army asks Apollo, Carlyle, KKR, Cerberus and other PE firms to propose strategic projects to help fund a USD150bn infrastructure upgrade. (FT)

• Trump seeks USD230m payout from the DOJ over past investigations, with current officials who once defended him potentially deciding the outcome. (NYT)

• Macquarie plans to cut hundreds of smaller fund managers from its $164b super platform, sparking adviser anger and client exit threats. (AFR)

• Tanarra Capital will vote to spill Bapcor’s board unless it commits to appointing a non-executive chair, citing a $760m loss under Angus McKay’s dual leadership. (AFR)

VC 

• RecordPoint acquired Melbourne AI startup Redactive AI. (Startup Daily)

• Sydney grandparents Ken and Adelle Alexander launched a community app inspired by a health scare. (Smart Company)

People moves

• Super Retail named BCF’s Paul Bradshaw as new CEO. (Capital Brief)

• Australian Ethical hired ex-MLC exec Anthony Lane as COO. (AFR)

• Citi’s mining research head Kate McCutcheon moves to Bank of America as banks boost mining teams amid record gold prices. (The Australian)

• NAB reshuffled leaders as Sharon Cook retires and Shane Conway is promoted. (Capital Brief)

• Liza Noonan will lead Cicada Innovations as CEO from November 3. (Startup Daily)

• Cloudwerx hired Accenture MD Brendan Connolly as COO. (AFR)

• QBE appointed Chris Killourhy as new CFO. (Capital Brief)

The watercooler