Wealth in the news
Financial Times 12/16/2008
The severity of this year's collapse in global financial markets has ended the spending boom that more than doubled the size of the global luxury goods market during the past decade. Consultancy Bain & Company, which recently completed a study of the luxury market, said global sales of luxury goods would slow sharply this year, rising just 3 per cent to ?175bn ($221bn). In 2006 and 2007, sales growth was 9 per cent and 6.5 per cent, respectively.
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Mideast likely to buck luxury sales recession
Arabian Business 12/16/2008
by Andy Sambidge
The worldwide luxury goods market, once thought immune to the ebbs and flows of economic fluctuations, is likely to enter a recession in 2009, according to the results of the 7th edition of Bain & Company's Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study. But the Middle East region is expected to buck the downward trend and is predicted to show 15 percent growth over next five years. The report reveals that $4.6 billion was spent on luxury goods in the region in 2007.
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Consulting and financial firms paying attention to new group of students
The Harvard Crimson 12/16/2008
by Rachel A. Stark
On a Monday night in September, about two dozen Harvard students gathered at the Harvard Square hot spot Red Line, to be wined and dined by recruiters from the consulting firms Bain & Company and the Bridgespan Group. This event hosted by Bain and Bridgespan was just one in a series of efforts from a variety of firms across the country to target LGBT students interested in a future in finance.
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Broadcasting gloom
Economist.com 12/11/2008
The Super Bowl is one of the biggest events on the advertising calendar, as companies vie to produce the most memorable and innovative ads. The battle for the National Football League's ultimate prize attracts more viewers than anything else on American television and provides a "symbolic pulse-taking" for the advertising industry every February, says John Frelinghuysen, a Partner at Bain & Company, a consultancy.
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Haute Coupure? Luxury buyers scent bargains
Reuters 12/10/2008
by Astrid Wendlandt and Marie-Louise Gumuchian
From Paris to Milan and New York to London, a strong pick-up in promotional sales of recent weeks has come to include even luxury brands. In retail generally, the season can account for about 40 percent of annual sales, so the stakes are high. Consultants at Bain & Company say global luxury sales could drop as much as 7 percent next year while analysts at Bernstein are forecasting a 5 percent decline.
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