Peter Frerichs

Welcome! My name is Peter Frerichs, and I am a contract writer and nonprofit consultant, working primarily with U.S. and Latin American entities on fundraising, managing grant cycles, and providing strategic program direction. Current and past client areas of work include supportive housing, access to financial services, mental health, programming for formerly incarcerated teens, education, and public policy.


I additionally provide writing services to companies operating across the finance and banking, energy, trade, and transportation sectors. I hold a Master's degree in Public Administration/Public Policy from the University of Southern California and have overseas living and working experience in Latin America.


Rates are determined per project, and I always provide an initial skeleton/draft and even some sample writing for first-time clients (free of charge, of course).


Click on the friendly menu icon (three vertical dash lines) at the top left and have a look around.


Also, be sure to check out Featured Work, and you may schedule a check-in call here.

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Crystal Capital Partners •

Current State of Humanoid Robotics

At the end of March 2025, OpenAI, the California-based behemoth behind ChatGPT, closed a record $40 billion in corporate venture capital (CVC) funding. The first quarter of 2025 absolutely dwarfed previous Q1s, including Q1 2023 that had raised an impressive (at the time) $70.35 billion. While the overall numbers were notable, the “industrial” category, which includes drones and robotics, registered the largest percentage change in start-up deals of any of its sub-sectors.
Global Trade Magazine •

Israel’s Motives, Iran’s Options, and the U.S.’s Role

Israel has repeatedly stated that a nuclear Iran is an unacceptable proposition. It’s safe to speculate that Iran’s nuclear capabilities will be set back years, if not decades, after Israel concludes its offensive. Regime change, however, does not come without its costs. While many Israelis believe regime change would be beneficial, a potential outcome could be a more hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-led government, potentially leading to an increasingly intense and perpetual conflict.
Global Trade Magazine •

Could Iran Blockade the Strait of Hormuz?

Any action to block the strait would likely trigger further retaliation and could cause a spike in oil prices, initiating backlash from China, Iran’s largest oil customer. China purchases three-quarters of Iran’s oil exports and would exert significant economic influence to prevent any disruption. Second, Iran has a history of threatening to close the Hormuz waterway, but has never taken action. The last major threat came in 2018 when the U.S. withdrew from nuclear negotiations and reimposed sanctions.
Crystal Capital Partners •

Portfolio Diversification Strategies in Uneasy Times

While portfolio diversification strategies aimed at dedicating 45% to alternatives is not for every individual 401(k) holder, somewhere between 10 and 20% is reasonable. Empower is the second-largest provider of US workplace retirement plans. Earlier in May, the company announced a multi-partner deal with the private investing behemoths Partners Group and Apollo Global Management among others to begin allowing private equity, credit, and real estate in some of the accounts Empower manages. 401(k) plans typically hold public stocks and bonds, and many employers have been reticent to wade into private investments due to liquidity constraints and the valuation learning curve. Portfolio diversification strategies, however, are leading the change with five companies already signed on with Empower.
Crystal Capital Partners •

President Trump's First 100 Days

The S&P 500 plummeted more than 10% over the subsequent three days, and at its lows, the index was down 19% from February record highs. Investor anxiety was through the roof, as retirees watched their relatively secure portfolios get hammered. The President quickly shifted, announced the 90-day pause, and the rollercoaster shifted in the opposite direction. The market has recovered with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 now positive for the year. A constructive trade deal with the United Kingdom and advanced conversations with China on lowering tariffs have also bolstered investor confidence. But it would behoove the President to take into consideration the long-term effects of elevated tariffs. His base support is seeking economic security.
Global Trade Magazine •

The Value of an MBA is Slipping

Some have posited cyclical factors, such as the post-pandemic slowdown in consulting and the tech sector’s boom-and-bust nature. But others warn of more profound issues at play. The traditional pipeline to consulting and finance, which absorbed the majority of MBA graduates, is weakening. The number of graduates landing jobs at major consulting firms dropped by a quarter in 2024 compared to the preceding three years. Simultaneously, the tech industry’s hiring of MBAs has more than halved from its peak between 2018 and 2022.
Crystal Capital Partners •

Stargate, DeepSeek, Grok: Who’s Now Winning the AI Arms Race?

With the AI arms race heating up, Stargate is slated to begin construction in Texas with a 1 million-square-foot facility. The announcement was a proclamation to the world, but China specifically, that the US will take the offensive posture to dominate the larger AI landscape moving forward. DeepSeek, however, has now moved Stargate and US AI players into a defensive posture, which are unchartered waters in the tech world. There’s a multitude of directions President Trump could now take, but two stand out:
Global Trade Magazine •

Trade War Tariffs Hit U.S. Pacific Ports

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested that the trade war with China is unsustainable and de-escalation may be coming soon. The vessel drop coincides with increased canceled sailings from ocean carriers on Pacific routes. Several alliances between shipping companies have reported cancellation rates, with the Gemini alliance having the highest rate. Ocean carriers are trying to balance the pullback in orders due to tariffs and trade war tensions, with a number of blank or canceled sailings out of China.
Crystal Capital Partners •

Sports Betting Parlays Are a Hit with Fans and the House

Flutter Entertainment, the parent company of FanDuel, introduced the sports betting parlay concept in the US in 2016. Originally based on “multis,” a popular parlay model in Australia, engineers got to work on what would be extremely difficult algorithms for US-based sports. In football, for example, how a quarterback is throwing the ball directly affects the number of potentially good receptions a wide receiver can expect. The knock-on effects of player performances become extremely complicated, but machine learning and AI models can now analyze historical patterns and spit out reasonably reliable odds that are then coupled with on-the-ground research.
Crystal Capital Partners •

What’s Behind the Stock Market Volatility?

The Fed is “trapped” at the moment, reluctant to make any significant policy moves until they can gauge the true effects of President Trump’s policies. During the Fed’s most recent March 18-19 meeting briefing, Fed Chair Jerome Powell cited a form of the word “uncertainty” a worrisome 18 times. The target range for the federal-funds rate remains at 4.25% to 4.5%, and Fed officials are projecting stagflation – lower growth and potentially higher inflation – for the year.
Global Trade Magazine •

US Interest in Greenland - A Shipping and Reserves Case

Over the past two decades, a loss of older, thick ice has created new channels. Before 2018 there were virtually no bulk carriers or gas tankers in the Polar Code area, but the Yamal Gas project and the Mary River Mine in Nunavut have contributed to a swell in activity. Chinese President Xi stated in a visit to Moscow in 2023 that stronger diplomatic relations with Russia were vital to counteract, “a long campaign by the United States to hobble China’s ascent.”
Crystal Capital Partners •

College Tuition Costs – Is College Worth It?

A July 2023 survey found that 72% of respondents felt an online degree was more reputable than five years prior. The biggest perceptual shift was among Generation Z participants, a data point that was somewhat surprising. Online degree growth typically came from working students or non-traditional students who had taken time off and returned to school. Yet, the fact that a younger cohort was now coming around to pursue a higher degree online was completely new.
Crystal Capital Partners •

The Experiment in Argentina - Javier Milei Wins and Work to Do

Also known as “shock therapy,” outside observers predicted this campaign fulfillment would result in a rise in poverty. No surprises here but rates this high do risk derailing what could be the region’s biggest turnaround story in decades. Milei and his supporters rightly point out that since Q3, there has been an emerging rise in real wages.6 This has contributed to greater economic activity and some analysts believe the recession likely ended in Q2 2024.7 The President was fully transparent with the electorate during his campaign, communicating frequently that there would be short-term pain and a recession. While some critical welfare programs have been cut, Milei has in parallel expanded the Universal Child Allowance and a popular Food Card program providing support to families in need.
Global Trade Magazine •

Onboarding New Hires with Generative AI

Gen AI can take company content – video, audio, and text – and distill and deliver the content in e-learning modules. For example, bringing a new warehouse manager up to speed with everything from company culture to day-to-day responsibilities can sometimes take three weeks to a month. With Gen AI, however, one can feed the language model the employee manual coupled with company video and audio that address specific areas of the job. Within minutes, the employee can follow a handful of modules in collaboration with a human being to guide the process.
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