The Internal Revenue Service has announced the following inflation-adjusted retirement plan limits for 2023 Many of these limits rose triggered by an increase in the cost-of-living index However the index increase did not trigger all limits to rise as some have higher statutory thresholds  , 2023 Limit, 2022 Limit, 2021 Limit, 2020 Limit, Annual Elective Deferrals,    401(k plans 402(g(1 $22500 $20500 $19500 $19500, Annual Age 50 Catch-Up Contributions,    401(k plans §414(v(2(B(i $7500 $6500 $6500 $6500, Qualified Retirement Plans,    Annual compensation limit §401(a(17/404(l $330000 $305000 $290000 $285000, Defined Benefit Plans,    Annual benefit limit §415(b(1(A $265000 $245000 $230000 $230000, Defined Contribution Plans,    Annual contribution limit §415(c(1(A $66000 $61000 $58000 $57000, HCE Definition,    Compensation threshold §414(q(1(B $150000 $135000 $130000 $130000, Top Heavy Plan – Key Employees,    Officer compensation threshold §416(i(1(A(i $215000 $200000 $185000 $185000, Social Security,    Taxable wage base (OASDI only $160200 $14000 $142800 $137700, HSA Contribution,    Health Savings Account $3850 (single   $7750 (family $3600 (single   $7300 (family $3600 (single   $7300 (family $3500 (single   $7000 (family, HSA Catch-up Contributions ,    (age 55 or older $1000 $1000 $1000 $1000 Source Internal Revenue Service Some information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable but is not necessarily complete and its accuracy cannot be guaranteed It is not a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any security or instrument or to participate in any trading strategy Any opinions expressed are subject to…

In our 2022 Year-End Update we highlighted the slowing deal activity in the second half of 2022 for Aerospace & Defense (A&D deals launched to market Throughout 2023 that trend persisted In fact 2023 was one of the slowest years for M&A activity in the past decade and the A&D sector was not exception to that slowdown Moreover stubborn fundamental challenges persist throughout the…

2023 Review Overview of M&A and private market performance, The overall M&A market in 2023 was negatively impacted by many factors including lingering inflation interest rate uncertainty and cloudy economic visibility These factors caused both strategic and financial buyers to carefully evaluate where they spent their acquisition efforts and also forced buyers to refine their views on valuation and transaction structuring Consequently total…

Although peaking in 2022 global inflation remained a dominant factor in FX markets in 2023 as central banks grappled with high levels remaining above targets Following a strong move up on the back of hawkish Fed policy the US Dollar Index dropped in 2023 marking only its fourth downward year since 2009 As the Russia-Ukraine crisis remains unresolved and the Israel-Hamas conflict raises concerns…, Inflation – Declining while maintaining high levels, With high inflation spanning the globe over the past few years consumers welcomed falling levels in 2023 as CPI levels dropped globally with only a few emerging and frontier countries experiencing a higher inflation rate now vs a year prior (Chart 1 Chart 1 CPI YoY BY COUNTRY JANUARY 2023 VS JANUARY 2024 Source Bloomberg Mesirow Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results…

2024 Recap, In 2024 M&A activity across the specialty distribution sector surpassed the total annual volume recorded in 2023 and 2022 The increase in completed deals was driven by several key factors including strong public equity market performance easing inflation an improved financing environment and a substantial amount of private equity capital under significant deployment pressure The distribution…

The TM&IA sector continued to outperform the broader market, Valuations in the Test & Measurement and Industrial Automation (TM&IA sector have rebounded along with the broader market since the Liberation Day sell off However each of the indices are trading below the three-year average EV/EBTIDA multiple by approximately 05x compared to +17x for the S&P 500  The TM&IA sector has held its own from a valuation standpoint Chart 1 Valuation…