Looking Back and Looking Forward to 2022 – A New Year with New Opportunities

By Laureen DeBuono

As we all know, 2021 has been a challenging year for so many, and on so many fronts.  The continued pandemic, business disruptions, employee turnover, demand and supply imbalances, supply chain hiccups, creeping inflation, and ever-changing politics.   You name it, it’s happened somewhere, sometime over the past year.  But somehow, we have persevered. We have particularly been impressed with how our FLG clients have navigated these rough waters.  From restructuring to creative financing and keeping remote work teams motivated, we’ve seen innovation and resilience across the board.

At FLG, we have been very fortunate this year. We’ve welcomed several new partners to the firm, our revenue increased over 60% from the previous year, and we have been operating at close to 100% capacity – handling private financings, IPOs, SPAC and de-SPAC transactions, M&A and strategic CFO work for our clients.  Lastly, our geographic expansion to Los Angeles and New York continues, as we build our footprint in key markets of opportunity.

Looking forward, we are cautiously optimistic about what 2022 will bring:

• Despite the advent of new variants such as Omicron, we believe that in the U.S., vaccine expansion and new COVID-19 therapies will ultimately be a game changer, at least in the U.S. in the near term, leading to reduced hospitalizations, shifting COVID-19 to become an endemic disease, and helping the economy to further stabilize.   This should also lead to a return to work with hybrid structures at workplaces in the US., as well as investment by VC and PE firms in workforce management software deals.
• With Build Back Better and other imminent (hopefully!) legislation, and the Fed providing further clarity around inflation-focused moves, we should see robust infrastructure projects, as well as investment by VC and PE firms in construction, construction management software, and building companies.
• Supply chain disruptions should begin to settle out and with better forecasting and fine-tuning, many businesses may be better able to sync inventory production and management to demand from customers.

We continue to track a number of international developments which could impact the broader context geopolitically, the global economy and the financial and capital markets:

• Ongoing strategic competition between the U.S. and China, and China’s moves with respect to Taiwan
• Russia and its border with Ukraine
• Cyberattacks on critical infrastructure and corporate ransomware attacks
• Cryptocurrencies and their “domestication” as global regulators tighten rules, and what this means for the future of finance

At FLG, we are committed to giving our clients the insights, tools and strategies to successfully manage through the impacts of different business cycles, including what will come in 2022. We believe setting the right vision, having clear priorities, partnering with the right networks, carefully managing growth and capital and strategic investments, and always keeping an eye on cash and its uses – will keep us all healthy and successful in the coming year.

Happy Holidays from all of us at FLG Partners,

 

 

Laureen DeBuono, Managing Partner