This acceleration in the pace of accumulation could mean that inventories had finally gotten too lean and that firms wanted to re-stock, or it could mean only that businesses were startled by the unexpectedly weak pace of demand for their products and that inventories piled up unintentionally.
Ownership and investment patterns of insurance companies are also diverse and there is an increasing incidence of conglomerates combining a wide range of financial service offerings, sometimes alongside other products. This increasing global interconnectedness of diverse financial entities sets the stage for a rise in cross-border mergers and acquisitions, necessitating closer collaboration among regulators in different territories.