Managing the Ever Changing Dynamics in Emerging Markets

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Cybersecurity is a booming sector with plenty of implications for the FinTech industry. This webinar will look at the latest trends and emerging synergies in an increasingly complicated digital landscape.

Although it is typically discussed in reference to managing client behavior, behavioral finance can also inform the way that we manage money and construct portfolios. By understanding the most common behavioral errors, we can begin to design investment processes that are robust to these errors. They are:

Ego - the human tendency toward overconfidence
Attention - our conflation of the lurid with the probable
Emotion - our proneness to let affect drive risk perception
Conservation - our asymmetric preferences for the status quo and gains relative to change and loss

Analyzing the Combined Effects of the Business Cycle and the Policy Agenda

The purpose of this BrightTALK webinar is to examine the two biggest issues facing investors in the remainder of 2017. While the analysis cannot escape some consideration of politics, it is not partisan. I am interested in policy effects on the market, not which leaders win or lose.

Biggest Risk
The biggest risk for the market is almost always a business cycle peak, the official definition of the start of a recession. What kind of notice will we have? What are the best indicators to watch?

Some historical data will provide background. I will review the strengths and weaknesses of some popular indicators.

Biggest Upside Chance
A market-friendly policy environment would provide a healthy foundation for stocks, with plenty of upside. This should include the following:
1. Resolution of the debt limit issue
2. Key government funding decisions
3. Tax reform
4. Infrastructure improvements

These need not be specific Trump Administration policies. Market-friendly probably requires bipartisan cooperation.

Measuring the result
Bot risks and rewards will be reflected in expected corporate earnings.

The strong 2017 market performance year-to-date has caught most market observers and experts by surprise. Even as the volatility started to come back in Q3, the uptrend remains unbroken. Yet many questions remain. The Central Banks' "easy money", the geopolitical risks, the Trump economic agenda, the Brexit outcome -- and many others will likely shape the markets into Q4.

Using ETFs as proxies, we will review what worked in Q3 and where to look for opportunities in Q4.

Psigma’s Head of Investment Strategy, Rory Mcpherson, will give an overview of some of the key themes in markets.

He will discuss the current environment and share some of Psigma’s thoughts on where they believe are the best opportunities to add value at this stage in the cycle. This will include a tour of asset classes as well as some of the favoured fund picks the team are employing.

DLT has been heralded as the next great technology. But a ledger is a noun. It doesn't do anything. Libraries are full of books, but what makes a best seller? So too with DLT, the news wires are full of news on how DLT will change or markets but where are we now in terms of adoption and which use cases will get traction? Is DLT a supply chain innovation, a bit of enabling technology for cryptocurrencies or a revolution in payments and securities processing. What does it mean to Capital Markets?

Playing around with the idea of introducing Blockchain to your business? Not sure how to make it an operational part of your organisation?

Join this panel session where experts will discuss:

-Industry use cases
-Scaling opportunities for blockchain businesses
-Emerging trends in ICOs
-Common challenges with integration and how to overcome them

Mobile technology has created distributed networks that allow us to interact with one another in entirely new ways.

Blockchain brings trust and security to these networks and allows the world to connect and exchange value without intermediaries like we've never done before.

From payments to identity and infrastructure, join this webinar to learn how the worlds of mobile and blockchain meet and what it means for our future.

The title smart contracts is used to refer to a number of arrangements in which relationships are governed by a pre-determined digitalised arrangement, so that coded instructions execute on the occurrence of an event.

These often use Blockchain or distributed ledger technology to record and execute transactions. In their purest sense, the code – once agreed – becomes self-executing and self-governing and thus (it is argued) replaces the need for a wider contract or checks and balances.

Whilst their common name is arguably a misnomer (they are not necessarily contracts in the traditional legal sense), their implementation can enable transparency in supply chains and the reduction of frictional and intermediary costs.

This panel will examine how the concepts of smart contracts, utilising blockchain technology, can co-exist with existing legal concepts to include a review of:

· The distinction between traditional legal prose/code and programming code.

· Application of traditional principles (to include the three f-words: frustration, fraud and force majeure)

· The allocation of responsibility and liability.

· Practical steps and perspectives on the future.

Regulation has been considered an obstacle when it comes to the adoption of blockchain technology. But many have taken on the challenge and have actively started to take blockchain and DLT as both a challenge and an opportunity.

Join this panel where we will discuss:

-ICOs, Self regulation of ICO, status of tokens in an ICO
-How blockchain will affect existing market regulations
-Which new regulations can we expect to respond to the ecosystem that blockchain has created?
-How would the governance structure be determined?
-How can the obstacle of a cross-border environment be tackled?

Much has been written about the power and scope of Smart Ledgers and Mutual Distributed Ledgers (MDLs, aka blockchains). Amidst the rush to find new applications for this versatile, ‘trustless’ technology, people overlook the challenge of governing Smart Ledger networks. Governance provides the mechanisms required to balance accountability of the governing body and its duty of meeting the specific objectives of the organisation.

Effective governance of Smart Ledgers should answer four critical questions - How are rules created for the ledger and who oversees their application? What happens in the case of dispute? Who is allowed to change the software application and the data? How are security, risk and performance managed and reported?

One approach is to embed these questions in existing legal structures, another to try to remain outside, but a third is to explore the appropriate role of arbitration, mediation, and expert determination, as far as possible avoiding enmeshing novel identity, document, and agreement exchanges within traditional legal structures.

In this webinar, Professor Michael Mainelli will share research from the Mattereum initiative as well as Long Finance research sponsored by the Cardano Foundation. He will conclude that, while there is nothing new under the sun, Smart Ledgers may need to shift the balance of power from law, to code, to human wisdom.

Bitcoin is all the rage right now. But many question the security behind this popular cryptocurrency.

Join this session where Anupam's agenda will include:

-Brief intro
-Anonymity Vs. Pseudonymity
-Bitcoin working mechanics and cryptography involved
-Forensics
-Transaction conduct and types
-Wallets and types
-Blockchain explorer
-Bitcoin artifacts
-Conclusion

Listen to expert panellists discuss:
1. How did we get here? Security, authentication and digital identity of today.
2. What are some issues currently facing this industry?
3. How are blockchain solutions being applied?
4. What could the future of blockchain have in store?

The advent of Initial Capital Offerings has changed the landscape of Venture Capital in the Blockchain space.

This talk would cover the ICO as a new model to raise capital and compare it with the existing venture capital model, look at current trends in ICO market, what seems to be driving the explosion of ICO's and tokenisation, and also look at the possible impact on VC market.

There has been a surge in investments into the digital currency market in recent months. From beginners to those who have been in the game for a while, this webinar will go over everything you've wanted to know and will give tips to any seasoned investors looking to improve their portfolios.

The panel will discuss:

-How do you get started in digital currency investment?
-What do I need to know about blockchain technology?
-Wallets, bitcoins, alt-coins, ether
-When is the right time to invest?
-Safety concerns and how to keep make secure investments
-Which crypto currencies should you invest in?
-Initial Coin Offerings
-Predictions for 2018

Still confused about this whole Blockchain thing? Interested in investing in digital currencies, but not sure where to start? Want to get a better idea of the threats and opportunities?

David Siegel is a Blockchain, decentralization and business agility expert who has been a high-level management & strategy consultant to companies like Sony, Hewlett Packard, Amazon, NASA, Intel, and many start-ups. David has been praised for being able to explain Blockchain in the most simple and interesting way.

What you will learn:
-What is Bitcoin?
-What is the blockchain?
-What is Ethereum? What is Ether?
-What is a distributed application?
-What is a smart contract?
-What is a triple ledger?
-What about identity and security?
-What business models are at risk?
-What are the opportunities?
-What should we do?

Are we going to see digital central bank currencies in the future? Who will be the next country to introduce its own digital currency?

All these and more will be tackled by our panel, so get your questions ready.

Agenda points will include:

-Is there going to be a Bitcoin crash?
-What are some of the adoption issues for digital currencies?
-The sustainability of blockchain and cryptocurrencies for making and processing payments
-Assessment of risks
-Introducing cryptocurrencies in the mobile world

Digital transformation is increasingly becoming a major strategic issue for banks. They increasingly understand that digital is not just another distribution channel but a major change in their business models, functioning, cultures themselves with major impacts and demanding change programs across the whole business and value chains.

We will assess how these transformations are taking place, how do they impact the financial services sector, how the implementation of technologies such as blockchain are accelerating the transformation, where are the convergence and in particular how best startups and incumbents can work together.

Moderator: Jean-stephane Gourevitch
Panelists:
Alexa Fernandez, Head of FinTech Partnerships at BBVA
Christoffer Hernaes, Chief Digital Officer at Skandiabanken
Arthur Leung, Product Lead at Curve
Laurence Leyden, General Manager for Financial Services at SAP