A Storied Career
How is asset management evolving? What forces are re-shaping the financial industry? And what lessons were learned over the career path of one financial wizard? On June 23, 2025, the CFA Institute released the video of a far-reaching interview with Kenneth Blay, Head of Research, Global Thought Leadership at investment management company Invesco. “I started ‘in the dregs’ as a stockbroker,” Blay reminisced, “cold calling and pitching stocks before moving into research.” He noticed he was giving different recommendations for portfolios than his colleagues were, and he wondered why that wasn’t explored more systematically. Later, with Nobel laureate Harry Markowitz, Blay did […]
Global Energy Transition
What’s changing in relation to global energy supply and production? What are the latest trends in demand? And what do the changes mean for investment opportunity and risk? These and other questions were addressed by David von Eiff, Director, Global Industry Standards at CFA Institute during a webinar on April 22, 2025, titled “Global Energy Transition: Investment Opportunity and Risks.” Since the day marked the 55th anniversary of Earth Day celebrations, he began with a review of the goals of the zero emissions agreement. “There are health benefits to renewable energy and economic benefits.” “In the U.S., renewables-based electrical generation […]
The Future of Financial Advisors
How have investor expectations and behaviors evolved under the new U.S. administration? With recent strides in artificial intelligence, how is the role of the financial advisor changing? These and other questions were discussed by experts in behavioral finance during a webinar on April 16, 2025, titled “The Future of the Investment Professional: Mastering the Psychology of Investor Behavior.” The panelists touched on issues that will be discussed more fully at the upcoming conference, CFA Institute LIVE 2025 to be held in Chicago, 4-7 May, 2025. The panel moderator, Peter Lazaroff [Photo, RHS], is Chief Investment Officer at Plancorp Private Wealth […]
A Defining Moment
Investing in emerging markets amid today’s complex global landscape presents both opportunities and risks. Can investors identify markets with a strong potential for risk-adjusted returns? Can they avoid the worst of the pitfalls? In a webinar on March 19, 2025, three experts in the field presented a round-table discussion titled “Capital Flows, Tariffs & Trade: A Defining Moment for Emerging Markets Investors.” They touched on issues as wide-ranging as exchange rates, geopolitical risk, and trade barriers that will be discussed more fully at the upcoming conference, CFA Institute LIVE 2025 to be held in Chicago, 4-7 May, 2025. The panel […]
Geopolitical Risks
Many conflicts and potential conflicts disturb various parts of the world in the post-pandemic era. For those who must manage various sources of risk in a portfolio, what are the biggest threats on the horizon? Is there a common thread among several sources of conflict? The Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) provides a series of podcasts featuring specialists discussing their area of risk and we at TextMedic enjoy listening in. This is the first podcast we have summarized in our blog, and for starters we delve into country risk. On April 14, 2024, Daniel Wagner, CEO of Country Risk […]
California Perspective
Imagine feeling shut out from important decisions in your community. Imagine feeling you were always the last choice when it came to hiring for the good jobs. If social studies showed this was always due to systemic bias, wouldn’t you want to work for change—if not for yourself, at least for the generation to come? This is the motivation behind the movement for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). What are the fundamental principles to accelerate change around DEI? Can financial institutions adapt to DEI—and can their regulatory body, CFA Institute, lead the way? To showcase thriving financial institutions that have […]
Why Don’t ESG Ratings Agree?
ESG (environmental, social, and governance) investing has become a popular choice for many investors. But how reliable are the ratings of the agencies that evaluate stocks for their ESG performance? What kind of discrepancies or “ESG noise” is found among such ratings, and can this be reduced? On October 5, 2023, Roberto Rigobon, assistant professor at the Sloan School of Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), posed these questions during a webinar was part of the series of talks sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (FRBSF), titled the Virtual Seminar on Climate Economics. His webinar was […]
Green Stocks vs. Brown
Comparing the stock prices of climate-friendly (“green”) companies versus non-climate-friendly (“brown”) companies, which type will give better performance? Has this prediction been changing over the past decade—and why? And what are the recent pressures? On March 23, 2023, Michael Bauer, professor of economics at the University of Hamburg, delivered a webinar on green vs. brown stocks as part of the series of talks sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (FRBSF), titled the Virtual Seminar on Climate Economics. He reported results from a recent paper co-authored with three other economists appearing in the Journal of Climate Finance. Bauer […]
E-Growth in Emerging Markets
What is happening in emerging markets? Are there areas where an informed investor can make a profit? What are the pitfalls to avoid? On November 22, 2022, the CFA Society of Toronto hosted a virtual webinar, “Rethinking Emerging Markets: The Case for Growth & How to Capture It.” The speaker was Kevin T. Carter, the founder and Chief Investment Officer of EMQQ Global. Carter began by providing his background. “I pray toward Omaha,” he quipped, because he considers himself an active “value” investor first and foremost, along the lines of “the oracle of Omaha,” Warren Buffett. Carter has collaborated with […]
But What About Inflation?
Now that the worst of the Covid pandemic appears to be over for North America, inflation has kicked in and investors everywhere are on guard. Is the inflationary trend here for the long term? What, really, lies at the root of this particular instance of inflation? Moreover, what is the best hedge against inflation? On April 4, 2022, James Montier, a member of the Asset Allocation Committee of the CFA Society of Toronto, gave a one-hour webinar on “Hedging Inflationary Risk.” He is the author of three market-leading books: Behavioral Finance: Insights into Irrational Minds and Markets, Behavioral Investing: A […]