ETFs and portfolio management in a robo world

The Global Economy at the beginning of this year was hit by arguably two black swan events. The collapse of OPEC-Russia cooperation on oil production has triggered a financial market shock. This event was however dwarfed by a coronavirus-induced growth shock on an unprecedented scale. Theoretically, we should have been prepared.

We live in an era of rapidly changing global landscapes and local environments. Viruses with RNA as their genetic material can quickly adapt to and exploit these varying conditions” – This and similar quotes, which were warning us even more explicitly about a potential pandemic, we could have read in books published already five or even 10 years ago. And indeed the risk – the “spread of infectious diseases” - featured as second on the World Economic Forum’s Global Risk by impact register in 2015. Yet, just a year later it went down to 8th position and has featured even lower than that (in 10th place) in the last 3 years. 'Climate action failure' and 'weapons of mass distraction' risks took over the prominent positions on the risk register.

But how are companies preparing for and hedging against low probability, high impact risks?

Should black swans events be hedged against or is this an ‘opportunity’ to re-design business models?

Can these risks be hedged and/or insured? At what cost (if at all)?

Who ‘owns’ these risks in the organisation and how can Boards add the most value?

Are issues like Climate Preparedness put aside or are they take on a new meaning?



These and many more aspects we will be discussing with our excellent panel:

Andrew Gates – CEO – Macquarie Bank Europe
Ioannis Ioannou – Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship – London Business School
John Coley – Head of Risk Consulting Practice for EMEA – Norton Rose Fulbright
Nazim Osmancik – Chief Risk Officer, Energy Trading - Centrica
Moderated by Dana Hanby – Managing Director – ESG Nexus

In the late 1990s, the internet was just emerging as the place to sell things, the video rental market was a $3 Billion dollar market, and the DVD was only used by fringe film enthusiasts. In this environment, Marc Randolph, supplied with startup funding from friends (including Reed Hastings) & family, began building Netflix the company that exploited the convergence of these forces and has become a driving force in our cultural lexicon.

In this interview, Ryan Ross will interview Marc Randolph about starting & growing a lasting company, from inception to IPO.

How to recruit for something that doesn't exist yet
The difference & similarity between starting a company in 2000 and 2020
Marketing concepts consumers don't understand
The right way to brainstorm ideas
How to figure out where the puck is going
How to deal with the emotional burden of responsibility
How to look at failure productively
When to cede power to people with other skill sets
Identifying the important metrics to focus on - even if they are vanity metrics.

Link to "That Will Never Work": https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07QRVWBX2/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

As markets react to COVID-19, this panel brings together leading real estate professionals from to discuss the outlook for the global real estate market.