Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast FTSE Russell Convenes

Fiona Bassett, CEO of FTSE Russell shares her unique perspective on indexing. Fiona discusses why she feels we are early in the evolution of indexing, what she sees as key challenges within the index industry today and the opportunities that are on the horizon.

How far is crypto exposure evolving beyond Bitcoin? In this episode of FTSE Russell Convenes, Inkoo Kang, Vice President, ETFs at Grayscale joins Kristen Mierzwa, Head of Digital Assets at FTSE Russell to discuss how pension plans and institutions are more easily gaining access to crypto products, and what Inkoo’s product development role involves, from the early stages of the ideation process all the way to in-market support. Inkoo also discusses the emergence of exposures in US ETF markets, his views on the story beyond Bitcoin, and why he sees Ethereum as a tech stack built for the modern world. 

In our fourth episode of FTSE Russell Convenes, Joyce Choi, Head of Institutional Product Strategy, Fixed Income ETFs at BlackRock, shares her knowledge on fixed income markets at what she sees to be a very interesting and pivotal time.

From key market drivers through to market structure and products, Joyce explains the core components of fixed income markets that have enabled investors to build portfolios with a wider number of strategies, and for dealers to more easily hedge their risk.

Greg Brown, Professor of Finance, Kenan Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, joins us for our third episode of FTSE Russell Convenes to share his knowledge on private equity markets. A ‘Van and Kay Weatherspoon Distinguished Professor of Finance’, Greg has been an academic researcher, faculty member at UNC for more than 25 years and is also the founder and research director of the Institute for Private Capital.

In his discussion with Indrani De, Head of Global Investment Research at FTSE Russell, Greg begins with the drivers of general outperformance of private equity over public equity, and sources of returns.

The conversation turns to other parts of private markets, and inherent shifts from private equity to private credit and real estate to infrastructure, delving into growth post-financial crisis in the last ten to fifteen years and the different reasons behind it.

Final questions from Indrani, addressed by Greg, include the key differences in the inflation sensitivity of public markets and private markets, and the importance of investability - specifically the differences in economies or diseconomies of scale.

In our second episode of FTSE Russell Convenes, we are joined by Daniel Reyes, Global Head of Product at Vanguard, whose career with the firm spans over 14 years.

In his discussion with Dana Moody, Manager, Index Investments Group at FTSE Russell, Dan explains how Vanguard adapts to evolving ETF market dynamics, while staying true to its investment philosophy—to offer products and exposures it believes will drive positive investment outcomes over the long term.

The conversation flows into new entrants into the ETF market, novel exposures and the many different types of ETF strategies launched over the last decade, with most coming and going with a market cycle. Digging in deeper here, Dan shares his views on thematic exposures, and when an investment strategy turns from a fad into a sound investment strategy.

Wrapping up the discussion, the focus is on market structure, specifically in the U.S., where equity market indexes and returns have become increasingly concentrated. Dan addresses how Vanguard considers this in the index construction process of its products, and the broader product lineup.

In our first episode of FTSE Russell Convenes, Season 4, we welcome Michael Brandt, Professor of Finance, Duke University at The Fuqua School of Business whose career on strategic and tactical asset allocation spans 25 years. In his discussion with Indrani De, Head of Global Investment Research at FTSE Rusell, Michael explains why asset allocators need to pay particular attention to market structure and the time frames we use to measure it.

A focus of Michael and Indrani’s conversation is asset allocation in the current market environment, in particular financial market imbalances. Michael shares his knowledge on what is leading to them and where investors should be most concerned; impact at asset class level on the time horizon; implications for optimal frequency and timing for portfolio construction; and the issue of correlated strategies—where capital flows are happening right now and their tie-in to these imbalances.

Janice Kan Pui Yoke, Co-Head of Equities and Head of Derivatives, SGX Group shares insights on the developments she has seen during her time there over the past three decades. Well-positioned to talk about its history, Janice explains how the Euro dollar futures contract transformed the face of trading in Singapore before explaining how product offerings and innovations are determined.

In this episode of FTSE Russell Convenes, Tony Campos, Head of Sustainable Investment, Index Investments Group at FTSE Russell, provides the lowdown on ESG. He begins with the three categories that institutional investment clients are broadly falling into with climate-related and green-focused investing, before providing an update on the reengineering of ESG indexing, regulation, and risk. 

Sean O'Hara, President at PacerETFs joined us for an episode of FTSE Russell Convenes at our World Investment Forum in June 2023.  He discusses the need to be innovative, disruptive and unique in light of the competitive ETF landscape, along with differentiating on distribution.  He also talks about the macro headwinds of this year, his concerns over valuations and how 'narratives' could play out in the next few months.

At the World Investment Forum in June 2023, Rob Arnott, founder and chairman of the board of Research Affiliates, shares his thoughts on Fed policy, interest rates and inflation from a historical viewpoint and where he sees them heading. He also talks us through the key findings of a RAFI research paper “Reports of Value’s death may have been greatly exaggerated” published in the FAJ in 2021. From there he explains the ‘migration effect’ on the dividend stream of the Russell Value portfolio from 2007 to 2022, the flaws in book-to-value and his thoughts on AI.

How could the explosive growth of Zero Days to Expiration (0DTE) options affect markets? While at the World Investment Forum in June 2023, Rob Hocking, Senior Vice President and Head of Product Innovation at CBOE Global talks about the biggest developments he’s seeing in the world of options, including short terms 0DTEs. Rob also discusses whether he was surprised by the VIX’s performance and reveals the products CBOE are currently working on.

Kingsley Ford, Global Head of Index Investments at LSEG joins us to talk about how ETFs evolved to become a trading suite in their own right, how attitudes towards fixed income ETFs shifted during the pandemic and why structured products are particularly ripe for innovation. Kingsley also discusses what makes an index successful and if he thinks clients will build indices focused specifically on AI in the near future.

Today, investors have endless options to choose from when tailoring their portfolios, particularly when targeting specific investment factors. But how can you create the perfect factor playlist for your portfolio? In this episode, Andrew Ang, Head of Factors, Sustainable Solutions at BlackRock discusses how factor investing has evolved to create more democratised access for investors, and which factors he thinks will perform better in the long run. Andrew also explains why we are again in an era of macro risk.

How should you allocate your assets today to set yourself up for success tomorrow? Mo Haghbin, Head of Investment Solutions at Invesco joins us to discuss his thoughts on the future of the banking system, why he believes a diversified approach to asset allocation is so important and where on the yield curve he thinks is most exciting for investing. Mo also dives deep into his thoughts on the markets today and explains why financial crises are rarely repeated. 

Could AI change how we perceive ourselves and therefore how we work? Having studied AI since the 90s when it was a more obscure term, David Sol, Head of Index Policy at LSEG joins us to share his knowledge on the developments in AI from its debated origins to the present day and its potential impact. David talks about his thoughts on the increasing intelligence of AI in recent years, how developing technology could affect the labour market and if FTSE Russell is incorporating AI. David also explains FTSE Russell’s country classification framework and how benchmarks are built to filter which companies meet the criteria for certain indices.

What is driving the rise in popularity of ETFs and will we see a slowdown? In this episode, Ravi Goutam, Managing Director at BlackRock discusses what he thinks the biggest driver for ETFs are and if he has seen a rise in liquidity. Ravi also delves into bond ETFs, BlackRock’s product innovation process today and how their customer base is evolving.

The role of indices in the markets shifted drastically during the pandemic as people’s views towards ESG changed. In 2023, how has their role changed? Arne Staal, CEO of FTSE Russell answers this pressing question and delves into current investing trends including the resurgence of fixed income. Arne also discusses if disclosure has improved since his last conversation with Jamie, his own thoughts on the current market outlook and how FTSE Russell’s product innovation process works. 

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In his interview Martin talks about what he feels to be the real drivers of major social and cultural change, and the shift he is seeing in public opinion towards business within our society today. He shares his views on how the private sector could better address societal challenges and capitalism ‘shaken up’ to get money flowing in the right directions. As part of his interview, Martin explains how Just Capital measures the progress of companies, provides incentives for businesses to partake in corporate social responsibility efforts and what companies need to do next to drive significant change.</p>

In our second episode of FTSE Russell Convenes, Indrani De, CFA, PRM, Head of Global Investment Research, FTSE Russell discusses several longer-term issues for financial markets. What will happen to the dollar? Is the US on the cusp of another technological boom, or even one in healthcare? How will the US’s current raised debt ceiling problem play out? Indrani answers these questions as well as providing insights on China and commodities, the impact of labor on inflation and investing in emerging markets.

In our first episode of Series three of FTSE Russell Convenes, Elizabeth Burton joins Jamie MacDonald to talk about the challenges and opportunities in the current market environment

During the interview she dives into the US and inflation outlook, drawing upon lessons learnt from the past, factors likely to impact a rate hike and the one piece of information she feels is ‘going to have a lot to do with where we see the Fed’. Elizabeth also provides her opinions on why she feels it’s an over simplistic view to regard commercial real estate as a bad actor, the ‘reopening of China, the commodities investment story and whether asset allocators are thinking seriously about digital assets.

Watch the interview on https://www.ftserussell.com/ftse-russell-convenes