Pacific Investment Management Co. is warning that the “credit loss cycle is upon us” as heavy spending on artificial intelligence could widen economic outcomes and hit lower-quality borrowers. Pimco’s Richard Clarida, Andrew Balls and Daniel Ivascyn said in the firm’s latest annual secular outlook report that “the default cycle is reasserting itself, and we expect significantly higher losses in lower-quality credit such as leveraged and private direct lending.”

Pimco, which manages $2.3 trillion in assets, said the AI buildout could widen the range of economic outcomes over the next five years while leaving weaker and more heavily leveraged borrowers more exposed. High-grade credit spreads — the extra yield investors demand over US Treasuries to hold highly rated corporate debt — remain near their lowest levels in three decades. Demand for riskier debt has also held up despite a recent global bond selloff, as higher yields draw buyers. Pimco said that backdrop clashes with “elevated secular uncertainty,” and “we interpret this as complacency rather than strength.”

The firm also pointed to “increased instances of maturity extensions and payment-in-kind structures that allow borrowers to repay debt with more debt.”

The General Services Administration (GSA) on Wednesday announced the sale of the Old Post Office Building located at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.

The building was previously the Trump International Hotel from 2016 to 2022 until the Trump family firm sold the leasing rights for $375 million. The hotel reopened later in 2022 as the Waldorf Astoria Washington D.C., under the management of Hilton.

GSA said that its sale of the building included terms that “permanently secured public access to the iconic clock tower while establishing strong protections for the building’s architectural heritage through a binding preservation covenant.”

The deal also includes a dedicated fine arts covenant that will retain the American public’s ownership of artwork within the facility, including Robert Irwin’s “48 Shadow Planes” and a historic Benjamin Franklin Statue.

TRUMP REVEALS NEW WHCA DINNER VENUE AFTER SHOOTING CHAOS DERAILED GALA

GSA’s sale is moving forward under the terms of the existing ground lease, which gives BDT MSD Partners, a merchant bank, the right of first offer. 

The Wall Street Journal reported that BDT & MSD Partners acquired the building and land for $80 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The report noted the bank is discussing selling the property for a total of $400 million.

Hilton currently has a long-term agreement in place with the hotel to operate it as the Waldorf Astoria, and that arrangement would continue with a new leaseholder, the Journal reported.

TRUMP ORGANIZATION CLOSES $375M SALE OF DC HOTEL THAT WILL BECOME A WALDORF ASTORIA

The Old Post Office Building was completed in 1899 and originally served as the headquarters for the U.S. Post Office Department and the post office for Washington, D.C.

It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and its Romanesque Revival architecture makes it one of the most recognizable buildings on Pennsylvania Avenue, featuring a prominent clock tower and atrium. The facility is also located near the White House and other Washington, D.C. landmarks.

THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION EYES DEAL TO CONVERT DC WALDORF-ASTORIA BACK INTO TRUMP INTERNATIONAL HOTEL: REPORT

According to GSA’s announcement, before the property was redeveloped into a hotel, taxpayers were absorbing about $6 million a year in losses on the building. 

Since then, there has been over $250 million in private sector capital invested in the property and taxpayer revenues in the last decade, including the current sale, are expected to exceed $110 million.

GSA has listed dozens of other federally-owned properties for sale since early last year as the Trump administration looks to reduce federal spending on underutilized office space and real estate.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

David Herzog

Ladies and gentlemen, my name is David Herzog, and I am the Chair of the Board of Directors of Aegon Limited. On behalf of Aegon, I welcome you to Aegon’s 2026 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. I hereby open the meeting. I’m pleased to welcome our shareholders participating in this meeting today.

Let me introduce the people present with me here at the table. Mark Ellman, Chair of the Compensation and Human Resource Committee; Lard Friese, Executive Director and CEO; Duncan Russell, our Chief Financial Officer; and Bieke Debruyne, Company Secretary. The other members of the Board of Directors as well as Director nominee, Ms. Leni Boeren are present here as well.

Also present here today, Onno Van Klinken, our General Counsel; Yves Cormier, Head of Investor Relations; and [Sonya Natia], the principal representative of the company. I hereby appoint Bieke as Secretary of this general meeting. She will keep minutes of today’s meeting. Before we continue, I would like to make a few remarks. Shareholders who have been registered through the e-voting portal prior to the start of the meeting and who are participating in a virtual manner have been directed automatically to the Lumi environment, in which they can vote and ask questions. To accommodate live voting and keeping in mind a short delay in the live stream, the voting is now open and will remain open until the last voting item on the agenda.

Voting results will be shown at the end of the meeting. To ensure a constructive dialogue with all