Equity

Proposals to limit executive pay are flying fast and furious in the wake of public furor over retention bonuses paid to executives at American International Group Inc. But here in the capital of capitalism, business leaders and compensation consultants maintain that restricting executive pay could cause more harm than good. The best and brightest business leaders would flee, they contend. Financial results, and ultimately stock prices, would suffer.

A unit of Ambac Financial Group Inc. lost a crucial top AAA credit rating Friday, raising questions about the bond insurer's ability to win new business and possibly forcing some investors to sell billions of dollars of municipal bonds and other securities guaranteed by the company. Fitch Ratings cut Ambac Assurance Corp.'s top rating after the bond insurer, citing weak demand, scrapped plans to sell $1 billion of new equity. Ambac, the world's No.

Back when galloping appreciation created paper millionaires virtually overnight -- or so it seemed -- homeowners eagerly tapped that easy money to finance new designer kitchens, update bathrooms and add master-bedroom suites. That frenzied pace of home improvement and repairs slowed during the final quarter of last year, growing by just 1.5% from the same period in 2005, according to Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the share of consumer spending that Americans funded by extracting cash from the value of their homes doubled in the five years to 2005. The portion increased to 2.1% in 2005 from about 1% in 2000, Greenspan said in a research paper written with Fed economist James Kennedy that was released by the central bank.

The volume of U.S. private equity deals continued its recent slide in the first quarter amid rising prices for companies, increased competition from corporate buyers and a drying up of acquisition targets. While the number and total value of private equity deals worldwide rose during the quarter, U.S. deals slipped to 173 acquisitions worth $30.7 billion, according to financial data provider Dealogic. That was down from 174 acquisitions worth $30.8 billion in the year-earlier period.

A rush of multibillion-dollar corporate buyouts has catapulted the volume of private equity deals to their highest level on record, data show. Monday's deal by three private equity firms to acquire HCA Inc., the No. 1 U.S. hospital chain, for $21.3 billion helped lift the total volume of deals so far this year to $373 billion, financial data provider Dealogic said Tuesday. That's already higher than the full-year total for 2005 and higher than any other year on record.

ScanlanKemperBard Cos., a real estate private equity firm based in Portland, Ore., is expected to announce today that it will open its first office in Southern California in May. The office in Manhattan Beach will be headed by John Strockis, formerly the senior director of acquisitions for CB Richard Ellis Investors. SKB acquired nearly $600 million worth of properties in 2007.

The authors missed the obvious by focusing only on investment in green companies and not looking at green technologies. ("Green Investing 101," Your Money, Jan. 4) Companies and individuals can invest in green directly by investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy at their own facility. There is no need to play the roulette wheel of public equity markets. There are projects for every budget and returns that meet or exceed Wall Street, while giving you a lot less stress and uncertainty.

Casino operator MGM Mirage says it is teaming with an Egyptian developer to build a resort outside Cairo. The Las Vegas company said the MGM Grand New Giza would receive equity funding from New Giza for Real Estate Development and be managed by MGM. The resort, targeted to open in 2013, will house 550 rooms.

Four more private equity firms involved in a corruption scandal at New York's public pension fund have agreed to pay restitution and to stop using politically connected middlemen to win pension fund business, state Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo said. Combined, HM Capital Partners, Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, Access Capital Partners and Falconhead Capital will pay about $4.5 million to the state's common retirement fund.