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In conversation with the current recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics, Esther Duflo, this session will look at the phenomenon of inequality and the way in which economics and finance can help meet the challenge for a better, more equal, world.[vc_quotes layout=”accordion” quotes=”%5B%7B%22name%22%3A%22Esther%20Duflo%22%2C%22job_role%22%3A%22Professor%20of%20Poverty%20Alleviation%20and%20Development%20Economics%2C%20MIT%3B%20current%20winner%20Nobel%20Prize%20in%20Economics%20(United%20States)%22%2C%22content%22%3A%22Esther%20Duflo%20is%20the%20Abdul%20Latif%20Jameel%20Professor%20of%20Poverty%20Alleviation%20and%20Development%20Economics%20in%20the%20Department%20of%20Economics%20at%20the%20Massachusetts%20Institute%20of%20Technology%20and%20a%20co-founder%20and%20co-director%20of%20the%20Abdul%20Latif%20Jameel%20Poverty%20Action%20Lab%20(J-PAL).%20In%20her%20research%2C%20she%20seeks%20to%20understand%20the%20economic%20lives%20of%20the%20poor%2C%20with%20the%20aim%20to%20help%20design%20and%20evaluate%20social%20policies.%20She%20has%20worked%20on%20health%2C%20education%2C%20financial%20inclusion%2C%20environment%20and%20governance.%5CnProfessor%20Esther%20Duflo%E2%80%99s%20first%20degrees%20were%20in%20history%20and%20economics%20from%20Ecole%20Normale%20Superieure%2C%20Paris.%20She%20subsequently%20received%20a%20Ph.D.%20in%20Economics%20from%20MIT%20in%201999.%20%5CnDuflo%20has%20received%20numerous%20academic%20honours%20and%20prizes%20including%202019%20Sveriges%20Riksbank%20Prize%20in%20Economic%20Sciences%20in%20Memory%20of%20Alfred%20Nobel%20(with%20co-Laureates%20Abhijit%20Banerjee%20and%20Michael%20Kremer)%2C%20the%20Princess%20of%20Asturias%20Award%20for%20Social%20Sciences%20(2015)%2C%20the%20A.SK%20Social%20Science%20Award%20(2015)%2C%20Infosys%20Prize%20(2014)%2C%20the%20David%20N.%20Kershaw%20Award%20(2011)%2C%20a%20John%20Bates%20Clark%20Medal%20(2010)%2C%20and%20a%20MacArthur%20%E2%80%9CGenius%20Grant%E2%80%9D%20Fellowship%20(2009).%20%20With%20Abhijit%20Banerjee%2C%20she%20wrote%20Poor%20Economics%3A%20A%20Radical%20Rethinking%20of%20the%20Way%20to%20Fight%20Global%20Poverty%2C%20which%20won%20the%20Financial%20Times%20and%20Goldman%20Sachs%20Business%20Book%20of%20the%20Year%20Award%20in%202011%20and%20has%20been%20translated%20into%20more%20than%2017%20languages%2C%20and%20the%20recently%20released%20Good%20Economics%20for%20Hard%20Times.%5CnDuflo%20is%20the%20editor%20of%20the%20American%20Economic%20Review%2C%20a%20member%20of%20the%20National%20Academy%20of%20Sciences%20and%20a%20Corresponding%20Fellow%20of%20the%20British%20Academy.%5Cn%22%2C%22image%22%3A%2231867%22%2C%22linkedin%22%3A%22%22%7D%5D” title=”Speaker” el_class=””][vc_quotes layout=”accordion” quotes=”%5B%7B%22name%22%3A%22Amanda%20White%22%2C%22job_role%22%3A%22Director%20of%20institutional%20content%2C%20Conexus%20Financial%20(Australia)%22%2C%22content%22%3A%22Amanda%20White%20is%20responsible%20for%20the%20content%20across%20all%20Conexus%20Financial%E2%80%99s%20institutional%20media%20and%20events.%20In%20addition%20to%20being%20the%20editor%20of%20Top1000funds.com%2C%20she%20is%20responsible%20for%20directing%20the%20global%20bi-annual%20Fiduciary%20Investors%20Symposium%20which%20challenges%20global%20investors%20on%20investment%20best%20practice%20and%20aims%20to%20place%20the%20responsibilities%20of%20investors%20in%20wider%20societal%2C%20and%20political%20contexts.%20She%20holds%20a%20Bachelor%20of%20Economics%20and%20a%20Masters%20of%20Art%20in%20Journalism%20and%20has%20been%20an%20investment%20journalist%20for%20more%20than%2025%20years.%20She%20is%20currently%20a%20fellow%20in%20the%20Finance%20Leaders%20Fellowship%20at%20the%20Aspen%20Institute.%20The%20two-year%20program%20seeks%20to%20develop%20the%20next%20generation%20of%20responsible%2C%20community-spirited%20leaders%20in%20the%20global%20finance%20industry.%22%2C%22image%22%3A%2231870%22%2C%22linkedin%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Famanda-white-101a7515%2F%22%7D%5D” title=”Moderator” el_class=””][vc_empty_space height=”10px”]
Key takeaways
COVID-19 is not the great leveller – there are huge differences between how the virus is impacting the rich and the poor within the US for example.
Developing countries are less well equipped to weather uncertainties in these times. However, even within the US inequality has been growing for decades and is now clearly unsustainable.
We need to trust developing countries enough to help them drag themselves out of poverty.
We need to spread out global supply chains to reduce geographic concentration risk and simultaneously provide income across the world. This will require collaboration and the deprioritisation of commercial self-interest.
We need to create wealth for the poor, not just take wealth from the rich. To reduce poverty incrementally, we need to focus on the simple things that work, for example providing cash incentives for sending children to school.
Let’s not forget, we have made huge progress in alleviating poverty, but that is not full credit to the World Bank, it is credit to the people of the developing nations.
If you invest responsibly as an institutional investor, you are by default helping to alleviate poverty.
‘Impact washing’ is the new greenwashing and it’s very concerning. How do you really select the investments that truly drive social impact? We should apply the same rigour to impact assessment as investment assessment.
The Florida State Board of Administration has made some strategic moves to take advantage of opportunities in the dislocation, including in private equity, distressed debt and active listed equities.. But CIO, Ash Williams, is concerned about the underlying real economy.
The Responsible Asset Allocator Initiative finds that 25 leading public pension and sovereign wealth funds, with assets of $6 trillion, are investing tens of billions of dollars in COVID-19 solutions and in funds to support stricken companies. Here they look at what the leading asset allocators around the world are doing to respond to the pandemic.
Global economic activities will not be back to pre-COVID levels until 2022 according to CPP Investments’ outlook, with the giant Canadian investor expecting the situation to get worse before it gets better.
The coronavirus pandemic sparked a surge of volatility across global financial markets. In this paper, MSCI looks at five key lessons for investors from the crisis, including that managing factors was more critical than picking stocks.
New research looking at the impact of COVID-19 under different scenarios – from opening of economies to no vaccine – suggests the economic consequences of COVID-19 under all scenarios is substantial and the ongoing economic adjustment is far from over.
Meticulous planning for the next market crash, and an eye on liquidity, meant IMCO was well positioned to invest, particularly in credit, when the opportunity arose. The fund continues to use its agility to its advantage and is now looking for opportunities in private markets.
It is critical to analyse how much COVID-19 could impact the US economy and stock markets but most of the traditional factors or economic indicators will lag the market movement. Therefore, alternative datasets other than the financial data show their explanation power to provide insights into the pandemic. This article, by academics at Tsinghua University, University of Illinois and Carnegie Mellon University, looks at the pattern of the market fluctuation from the perspective of alternative data.
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