Business
Financial CEOs are weighing in on the state of the economy
Some of America’s top financial services executives are starting to issue warnings about the economy.
Saying they’re seeing signs of “softening” or “weakening,” a slew of CEOs have been weighing in ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve decision and with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revising job numbers lower this week.
In a Wednesday CNBC interview, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said while the economy is “still chugging along,” the signals may be pointing in a different direction.
“There are number of CEOs that are talking about a softening in the economy – there’s no question,” he said. “We’ve seen some job data that indicates that there has been some softening.”
The BLS, in a preliminary report released Tuesday, revised its nonfarm payrolls data for the year prior to March 2025, showing a significant drop of 911,000 from the initial estimates. The revisions were more than 50% higher than last year’s and the biggest shift in more than 20 years, adding to growing concern over the economy.
The BLS has also come under fire from President Donald Trump, who fired the head of the bureau in early August and has criticized its data collection methods.
Solomon said he believes there’s “still more work to do” with today’s inflation and that tariffs are having an impact on growth, but that it’s difficult to quantify at this stage. As the economy heads into fall, Solomon said he expects a slight change in the policy rate, including a 25-basis point cut by the Fed next week.
Trump has also been critical of the central bank, calling for lower interest rates and bashing Fed Chair Jerome Powell. The Federal Open Market Committee last cut its benchmark interest rate in December 2024 and has held it steady since then in a target range of 4.25% to 4.5%.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon told CNBC on Tuesday that he believes the Fed will “probably” lower interest rates at its meeting next week, but that it may “not be consequential to the economy.
Dimon said he also believes the BLS report confirms that the U.S. economy is slowing down.
“I think the economy is weakening,” Dimon told CNBC’s Leslie Picker in an interview. “Whether it’s on the way to recession or just weakening, I don’t know.”
But ultimately, Dimon said the country will simply have to “wait and see” how the economy will progress given the weakening consumer.
Similarly, Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf told CNBC Wednesday that his bank is seeing lower-income Americans struggling to stay afloat, despite larger companies seemingly doing well.
“There is this big dichotomy between higher-income and lower-income consumers which continues and is a real issue,” Scharf said.
Commenting on the BLS numbers, Scharf said it’s “undeniable” that the discrepancy between American taxpayers exists and that he sees “more downside” to the U.S. economy.
Job creation in August also showed signs of weakness, as the BLS reported last week that nonfarm payrolls increased by just 22,000 for the month.
Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick told CNBC that he believes the American CEO or CFO has had to become resilient throughout the country’s recent ups and downs, including Covid and two Trump administrations.
“We’re in a place where I think some of the policy uncertainty is actually starting to get quantified,” he said.
Still, Pick said he’s seen the headwinds coming through and believes the policy uncertainty may be narrowing slightly.
“So, yes, there may be a little bit of a slowdown,” Pick said, adding that he’ll wait to see how it all plays out.
Barclays CEO C. S. Venkatakrishnan said on CNBC on Tuesday that he believes the Fed will cut on the margin, partly due to the softness in the labor market.
Traders are also expecting to see the Fed lower rates. They currently see a near certainty that the Fed will cut by at least a quarter point, according to the CME Fedwatch tool based on Fed futures trading, and some are betting that there will be an even deeper cut of 50 basis points, or a half percentage point.
Even if inflation problems haven’t tangibly presented themselves yet, Venkatakrishnan said the current economy is signaling that CEOs should have their eyes on the longer term.
“We haven’t seen them yet, but we’ve got to be worried about them,” he said.
PNC Financial Services CEO Bill Demchak also joined the wave, telling CNBC on Tuesday there’s “underlying pressures in our economy” between hiring workers, labor shortages, wage pressure and more.
Demchak said he’s seeing evidence to support the BLS’ revised report, and he believes that evidence is likely the reason that the Fed will cut rates going forward, even as consumer spending is “driving the economy.”
“There’s pressures inside of our economy that I don’t know disappear just because tariffs might get behind us at some point,” Demchak said.
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EPFO Employee Enrollment Scheme 2025 Launched: Here’s What It Means For You
On the occasion, he also unveiled EPFO’s new and improved website — www.epfo.gov.in — designed with a simpler interface, better navigation, and easier access to essential services and information for all stakeholders.
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IndusInd Promoter IIHL, Invesco Launch Asset Management Joint Venture In India
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IndusInd International Holdings Limited acquires 60 percent of Invesco Asset Management India, forming a joint venture with Invesco.
IIHL, Invesco Launch AMC Joint Venture; IIHL Holds 60% Stake
IndusInd International Holdings Limited (“IIHL”), the promoter of IndusInd Bank, and Invesco Ltd. (“Invesco”) announced today that they have completed the formation of their asset management joint venture (“JV”) following IIHL’s acquisition of a 60% ownership stake in Invesco Asset Management India (“IAMI”) following all regulatory approvals and closing conditions. With Invesco retaining the balance 40% stake, both IIHL and Invesco will hold joint sponsor status under the regulatory framework.
As of September 2025, IAMI is the 16th largest domestic asset manager in India with combined onshore and offshore (through advisory) average assets under management of INR 148,358 crores for the quarter ending September 2025 and a presence in 40 cities across the country.
Both partners contribute their respective strengths to the venture, with Invesco offering its global investment management expertise and product range, while IIHL will support, through its promoted entity and subsidiaries, a robust distribution network comprising over 11,000 touchpoints across India and serving a customer base of 45 million. IIHL will also deploy the reach of several associate entities of its global shareholders that offer synergistic business operations to widen the customer base by another 50 million.
There will be no change in IAMI’s focus on investment excellence and exceptional client service. The JV will continue to operate under the same management led by Saurabh Nanavati, with the same disciplined and research-driven investment philosophy and processes that have been central to its investment offerings since 2008, ensuring strong continuity for investors, distributors, and other stakeholders.
Mr. Ashok Hinduja, Chairman, IIHL, said, “At IIHL, we are very enthused with this JV with Invesco, to augment our para banking portfolio by including Asset Management, and be a global financial (BFSI) powerhouse by 2030. This is the most opportune time, when India, on the back of rising income levels, favourable demographics, offers enormous investment prospects to all Indians, the diaspora included. We will endeavour to reach the last home, last investor transparently and efficiently and live up to investors’ expectation that mutual fund sahi hai”
Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors acted as the exclusive financial advisor to IIHL. Crawford Bayley and AZB acted as legal advisors to IIHL & Invesco, respectively.
Founded in 1993 under the visionary leadership of the late Shri S.P. Hinduja and his three brothers, IIHL is an investment holding Company well-regulated by the Financial Services Commission, Mauritius, under a Global Business License and is governed by the Board of Directors. Its investment portfolio under various Regulatory jurisdictions comprises Banking Services (IndusInd Bank, IIHL Bank & Trust Limited- Bahamas), Capital Market Assets (Afrinex Exchange Limited, Mauritius, with a cumulative listing of $13.5bn of underlying securities). Recently, it acquired the Insurance Businesses (Life, Non-Life, and Health) along with the Securities business of Reliance Capital Ltd to augment its portfolio.
IAMI began operations in India in late 2008 with the acquisition of Lotus India Asset Management Company and has since grown to serve over 2.9. million retail investor folios and over 48,000 empanelled distributors, with over 70% of its AUM in equity and equity-oriented assets. Invesco also operates an enterprise centre in Hyderabad employing more than 1,700 staff across a range of global support functions, including information technology, investment operations, finance, compliance, and human resources.

Varun Yadav is a Sub Editor at News18 Business Digital. He writes articles on markets, personal finance, technology, and more. He completed his post-graduation diploma in English Journalism from the Indian Inst…Read More
Varun Yadav is a Sub Editor at News18 Business Digital. He writes articles on markets, personal finance, technology, and more. He completed his post-graduation diploma in English Journalism from the Indian Inst… Read More
November 02, 2025, 13:50 IST
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Business
October GST collection up 4.6% to Rs 2 Lakh-crore despite tax cuts – The Times of India
NEW DELHI: The impact of pre-GST revamp pause in sale of several products, such as automobiles and white goods, and the lower rates rolled out from Sept 22 slowed down the growth in gross GST receipts but the mop up remained close to the Rs 2 lakh crore-level, data for October showed. Official numbers released on Saturday showed GST collections in Oct for transactions in Sept totalled 1.96 lakh crore, an increase of 4.6% compared to Rs 1.87 lakh crore in October last year.This was the slowest pace of increase this fiscal. In Aug and Sept, GST collection rose 6.5% to Rs 1.86 lakh crore and at 9.1% to Rs 1.89 lakh crore. Gross domestic revenue grew 2% to Rs 1.45 lakh crore, while tax from imports rose nearly 13% to Rs 50,884 crore in October. The data showed GST refunds rose 39.6% year-on-year in Oct to Rs 26,934 crore.In Sept, GST Council had unveiled reforms to GST rate structure, which led to a sharp reduction in rates on a raft of items, bringing relief to consumers, and the latest data showed apprehensions of decline in collections have been negated.The rate cuts, effective September 22, have revived consumption demand, and experts said GST revenues for Nov are likely to show a sharp rebound.“Despite massive rate cuts effective from September 22, a slight increase in domestic GST collection is very encouraging and shows that demand is steadily increasing,” said Pratik Jain, Partner at consulting firm Price Waterhouse & Co LLP.“Consistent increase in GST refunds (domestic as well as exports) shows confidence of tax administration that GST collections would show positive trend in future as well. Next month’s data would have the full impact of GST cuts and would be keenly awaited,” added Jain.On the back of a fillip provided by a reduction in GST on 375 items, consumers had flocked to stores and car dealerships resulting in highest Navratri sales in over a decade, government officials had earlier said, citing industry data.“The GST collections, while aligning with immediate expectations, reflect a muted momentum in Sept primarily due to rate rationalisation effect in the majority part of the Sept month and the deferred consumer spending ahead of the upcoming festive season. This anticipated lag is likely to be compensated by more robust numbers in the next month, driven by seasonal buoyancy,” said Saurabh Agarwal, Tax Partner at EY India. “The impressive, high percentage growth in collections from states and UTs like Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Lakshadweep and Ladakh is a tangible indicator of holistic economic development across India,” he said.
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