The Outthinking Investor with Daleep Singh – Details, episodes & analysis

Cities have faced a host of challenges over the course of history, such as affordable housing, transportation, public safety and economic opportunities. In today’s rapidly changing global economy, these challenges are becoming increasingly complex, with cities needing to adapt to technological advancements, climate risks, and fluctuating fiscal policies. The most successful cities are dynamic and adapt to changing circumstances. Consider Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as a prime example. Once known for its manufacturing might, Pittsburgh had to reinvent itself after the collapse of the steel industry in the 1980s. The Steel City successfully mounted a turnaround by becoming an innovation hub, thanks to a strong academic presence and low cost of living that attracted technology and healthcare employers. What lessons can cities draw from urban transformations of the past? 

This episode of The Outthinking Investor explores the role investors will play in solving many of the challenges that cities face. With opportunities emerging across real estate, infrastructure, technology and more, institutional investors are already providing much of the capital needed to fund urban development. Edward Glaeser, economics professor at Harvard University and co-author of “Survival of the City: Living and Thriving in an Age of Isolation”; Jeff Speck, partner at the urban planning and design firm Speck Dempsey; and Cathy Marcus, Co-CEO and Global COO of PGIM Real Estate, discuss the evolution of cities, the challenges they must overcome, and emerging opportunities for investors. 

To hear more from PGIM, tune into our new podcast, Speaking of Alternatives, hosted by Eric Adler, President and CEO of PGIM Private Alternatives. Speaking of Alternatives is available on Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music, and other podcast platforms. Explore our entire collection of podcasts at PGIM.com. 

In the middle of the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt spearheaded the creation of Social Security, forever changing the US retirement system and how Americans think about long-term savings. Only a few pensions existed at the time, and Social Security was the first government-backed program to provide for the basic welfare of all seniors. The retirement landscape in the US—and around the world—has no doubt undergone massive change since the days of FDR. DC plans have significantly improved the retirement outlook, and an estimated 54.3% of American families now participate in some form of retirement plan such as a 401(k) or IRA, according to a 2022 survey by the Federal Reserve. Meanwhile, seniors still rely on Social Security payments, yet the Congressional Budget Office has forecast that Social Security’s Old-Age and Survivors’ Insurance Trust Fund will be depleted in 2033.

Building retirement security for generations to come will require not only a solution to the Social Security funding crisis, but continued support for the broader retirement savings system. How can policymakers address Social Security’s challenges without weakening private retirement savings?

In this episode, The Outthinking Investor speaks to three experts about retirement readiness, how governments and employers alike help workers save for retirement, and policy prescriptions for the challenges that lie ahead. Our guests are Dennis Simmons, Executive Director of the Committee on Investment of Employee Benefits Assets (CIEBA); Andrew Biggs, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and former Deputy Commissioner of the Social Security Administration; and Mike Miller, Head of PGIM DC Solutions.

To cultivate rich conversations around complex investment topics, The Outthinking Investor features speakers with diverse points of view. Participating on the podcast does not imply endorsement of other speaker's opinions, nor does PGIM necessarily endorse the opinions of its external guests.

To hear more from PGIM, tune into our new podcast, Speaking of Alternatives, hosted by Eric Adler, President and CEO of PGIM Private Alternatives. Speaking of Alternatives is available on Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music, and other podcast platforms. Explore our entire collection of podcasts at PGIM.com.

In one of Rembrandt’s famous paintings, Storm on the Sea of Galilee, a ship’s crew struggles to navigate through an epic storm thrashing the ship. But toward the stern, Jesus sits calmly. This image graced the cover of Peter Bernstein’s classic book, Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk. So what can investors take away from a classic piece of Renaissance art? Market shocks can emerge suddenly and in unexpected ways. Mitigating the impact of these risks is no doubt challenging when they are difficult to predict. Still, investors need a gameplan.

This episode of PGIM’s The OUTThinking Investor delivers fresh perspectives on potential risks to financial markets and explores strategies that agile investors can employ to protect their portfolios against the known and unknown. Joining us to discuss this topic are Scott Patterson, Wall Street Journal reporter and author of Chaos Kings: How Wall Street Traders Make Billions in the New Age of Crisis; and Ethan Wu, Financial Times reporter and host of the Unhedged podcast.

Fans of the long-running game show Jeopardy will remember that one famous contestant stood out from the rest. IBM’s supercomputer, named Watson, beat two human opponents in a 2011 competition that brought artificial intelligence into the spotlight. More than a decade later, AI has taken a giant leap forward. Generative AI, made popular by the launch of ChatGPT, has already made its impact felt on the investment world, and it appears poised to shake up the modern economy as businesses find new ways of utilizing the technology. The next generation of AI presents new possibilities for the way people live, work and invest.

This episode of PGIM’s The OUTThinking Investor explores a future reimagined by generative AI, from its business applications and social impact to the investment opportunities and risks across sectors. Guests David Ferrucci, the former project lead for Watson and founder of Elemental Cognition; Gillian Tett, US editor-at-large for the Financial Times; and Erika Klauer, portfolio manager of the technology fund at Jennison Associates, bring their unique perspectives to the topic of AI and how investors can prepare for what is to come.

Ever since the oil crisis of the 1970s and the creation of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the United States has held millions of barrels of oil in a stockpile to safeguard the country—and its economy—from future supply shocks. Just as oil has kept the world’s economic engine running, a new critical component has emerged: the microchip. Everything from satellites and missiles to cars and toasters are powered by chips, making the semiconductor industry a linchpin of both the global economy and national security. The recent chip shortage affected virtually every industry, revealing a new vulnerability that businesses and policymakers are scrambling to address.

Chris Miller, associate professor at Tufts University and author of Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology, and Dennis Lockhart, former president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, join this episode of The OUTThinking Investor to examine the global competition to fortify supplies of semiconductors. They discuss the role of geopolitics in chip production, how artificial intelligence is driving innovation and demand, and macroeconomic implications for investors to consider.

For more on the near-shoring of strategic industries, visit PGIM’s OUTFront report, A New Era: From Deglobalization to Regionalization.

From growing rice on Mars to developing new farming techniques here on Earth, the future of food is rapidly evolving. The global food system—spanning farms, factories, grocery stores and more—is a complex network that has far-reaching economic implications. It is also inefficient and increasingly unfit for purpose, encouraging innovation across the value chain that will give rise to attractive investment opportunities.

In the newest episode of PGIM’s The OUTThinking Investor, we take a deep dive into the world of food and its portfolio implications—whether seeking opportunities or mitigating hidden risks. Three experts provide unique perspectives on technological efforts to make food production more sustainable and efficient, the impact of inflation and recent shocks to the food system, China’s role in the supply chain, and how a growing population is driving demand. Joining us are agricultural and development economist Chris Barrett from Cornell University, Council on Foreign Relations fellow Zoe Zongyuan Liu, and PGIM Head of Thematic Research Shehriyar Antia.

For more on this topic, explore PGIM’s Megatrends research, Food for Thought, at www.pgim.com/food.

Watch the video version of this episode by visiting www.pgim.com/david-rubenstein.

Private markets represent a fast-growing asset class with unique opportunities for investors. The growth of private equity in particular has transformed the investment landscape over the last several decades. Private equity assets more than doubled over the course of a decade to reach $11.5 trillion by 2021.

David Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group, has played a prominent role in the evolution of private equity. His work beyond Carlyle is just as monumental—from advocating for broader investor and civic education to preserving historical treasures and landmarks. In this episode, Rubenstein joins David Hunt, PGIM’s President and CEO, for a wide-ranging conversation about private equity and alternative investing, inflation and the probability of a recession, the future of globalization, and philanthropy. They also discuss traits that great investors share, including a propensity to go against conventional wisdom.

This is the final installment of a two-part episode in which we further examine what sparked the latest bank crisis and whether it was a canary in the coal mine. Robert Armstrong, US financial commentator and writer of Unhedged for the Financial Times, and John Cochrane, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and author of The Fiscal Theory of the Price Level, join us to discuss the implications of banking fragilities, keeping a long-term investment horizon amid market volatility, and how swelling government debts could set the stage for new market risks.

For more on this topic, visit our bank crisis hub to explore views from across PGIM.

Like a lighthouse surveying the waters for signs of distress, investors are challenged to shield their portfolios from potential turmoil in financial markets. But uncovering risks before they reveal themselves is a monumental task—even for the most savvy investors. Fault lines lurking in the banking sector came into view in the aftermath of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse. As a consequence of the pivot from years of ultra-low rates to the sudden tightening of monetary policy, investors must be on the lookout for new cracks that may form.

In the first installment of a two-part episode, we take a closer look at the fallout from the bank crisis and where other risks could arise. Rob Kaplan, former President of the Dallas Fed, and George Patterson, Chief Investment Officer of PGIM Quantitative Solutions, discuss lessons learned from banking turmoil, the difficult path ahead for central banks, and where investors can find longer-term opportunities amid an uncertain environment.

The Hotel Lafayette in downtown Buffalo, New York, was the site of the first-ever meeting of the Optimist Club, which gathered during a tumultuous period for financial markets following the panic of 1910. Research has shown that optimism provides a sense of control. As uncertainty hovers over markets today, investors might seek to harness the power of optimism to overcome financial stress and make better decisions for their portfolios. Can investors remain optimistic while also surveilling markets for downside risks?

Economist Brad DeLong, author of Slouching Towards Utopia, and the CFA Institute Research Foundation’s Laurence Siegel, author of Fewer, Richer, Greener, join PGIM Fixed Income’s Robert Tipp, Chief Investment Strategist and Head of Global Bonds, to discuss reasons for investors to be optimistic about the future, particularly as opportunities emerge in the bond market.