The future of capitalism

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A fireside chat with the founder of one of the most successful investment management firms in the world on how capitalism is broken, and importantly how it can be fixed.[vc_quotes layout=”accordion” quotes=”%5B%7B%22name%22%3A%22Ray%20Dalio%22%2C%22job_role%22%3A%22Founder%20of%20Bridgewater%20(United%20States)%22%2C%22content%22%3A%22Ray%20Dalio%20is%20founder%2C%20co-chair%20and%20co-chief%20investment%20officer%20of%20Bridgewater%20Associates.%20He%20started%20Bridgewater%20out%20of%20his%20two-bedroom%20apartment%20in%20New%20York%20in%201975%20and%20under%20his%20leadership%2C%20the%20firm%20has%20grown%20into%20the%20fifth%20most%20important%20private%20company%20in%20the%20US%20according%20to%20Fortune%20Magazine.%5CnFor%20his%20and%20Bridgewater’s%20industry-changing%20innovations%20as%20well%20as%20his%20work%20advising%20policymakers%20around%20the%20world%2C%20Dalio%20has%20been%20called%20the%20%E2%80%9CSteve%20Jobs%20of%20Investing%E2%80%9D%20by%20aiCIO%20Magazine%20and%20Wired%20Magazine%2C%20and%20named%20one%20of%20the%20100%20Most%20Influential%20People%20by%20TIME%20Magazine.%5CnHe%20is%20also%20the%20author%20of%20The%20New%20York%20Times%20%231%20Bestseller%20Principles%2C%20which%20outlines%20his%20work%20and%20life%20principles%2C%20the%20foundation%20of%20Bridgewater%E2%80%99s%20distinctive%20culture%20and%20the%20cornerstone%20of%20his%20and%20Bridgewater%E2%80%99s%20success.%20Dalio%20and%20Bridgewater%20also%20recently%20published%20Principles%20for%20Navigating%20Big%20Debt%20Crises%2C%20the%20first%20public%20dissemination%20of%20their%20research%20on%20these%20economic%20events%2C%20which%20enabled%20them%20to%20anticipate%20the%202008%20Financial%20Crisis.%20He%20is%20currently%20working%20on%20his%20third%20book%2C%20which%20will%20outline%20his%20investment%20principles.%5CnDalio%20holds%20a%20Bachelor%20of%20Science%20degree%20in%20Finance%20from%20C.W.%20Post%20College%20and%20an%20MBA%20degree%20from%20Harvard%20Business%20School.%20He%20has%20been%20married%20to%20his%20wife%2C%20Barbara%2C%20for%20over%2040%20years%20and%20has%20four%20grown%20sons.%20He%20is%20an%20avid%20philanthropist%20with%20a%20special%20interest%20in%20ocean%20exploration%20and%20conservation.%5Cn%22%2C%22image%22%3A%2233586%22%2C%22linkedin%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fraydalio%2F%22%7D%5D” title=”Speaker” el_class=””][vc_quotes layout=”accordion” quotes=”%5B%7B%22name%22%3A%22Colin%20Tate%22%2C%22job_role%22%3A%22Chief%20executive%2C%20Conexus%20Financial%20(Australia)%22%2C%22content%22%3A%22Tate%20has%20been%20an%20investment%20industry%20media%20publisher%20and%20conference%20producer%20since%201996.%20In%20his%20media%20career%2C%20Tate%20has%20launched%20and%20overseen%20dozens%20of%20print%20and%5Cnelectronic%20publications.%20He%20is%20the%20chief%20executive%20and%20major%20shareholder%20of%20Conexus%20Financial%2C%20which%20was%20formed%20in%202005%2C%20and%20is%20headquartered%20in%20Sydney%2C%20Australia.%5CnThe%20company%20stages%20more%20than%2020%20conferences%20and%20events%20each%20year%20%E2%80%93%5Cnin%20cities%20which%20have%20included%20London%2C%20New%20York%2C%20San%20Francisco%2C%20Los%20Angeles%2C%20Amsterdam%2C%20Beijing%2C%20Sydney%20and%20Melbourne%20%E2%80%93%20and%20publishes%20three%20media%20brands%2C%5Cnincluding%20the%20global%20website%20and%20strategy%20newsletter%20for%20global%5Cninstitutional%20investors%20conexust1f.flywheelstaging.com.%20One%20of%20the%20company%E2%80%99s%20signature%20events%20is%20the%20bi-annual%20Fiduciary%20Investors%20Symposium.%20Conexus%20Financial%E2%80%99s%5Cnevents%20aim%20to%20place%20the%20responsibilities%20of%20investors%20in%20wider%20societal%2C%20and%20political%20contexts%2C%20as%20well%20as%20promote%20the%20long-term%20stability%20of%20markets%20and%20sustainable%5Cnretirement%20incomes.%20Tate%20served%20for%20seven%20years%20on%20the%20board%20of%20Australia%E2%80%99s%20most%20high%20profile%20homeless%20charity%2C%20The%20Wayside%20Chapel%3B%20and%20he%20has%20underwritten%20the%5Cnwelfare%20of%2060%2C000%20people%20in%2028%20villages%20throughout%20Uganda%20via%20The%20Hunger%20Project.%22%2C%22image%22%3A%2233547%22%2C%22linkedin%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Famanda-white-101a7515%2F%3ForiginalSubdomain%3Dau%22%7D%5D” title=”Moderator” el_class=””][vc_empty_space height=”10px”]

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Our Macro Approach to ESG Integration[vc_empty_space height=”10px”]

Key takeaways

• ‘I think sustainability is the most important word of the 21^st It’s the most important force.’
• For a society to be great, you need to increase productivity and then divide it well. COVID has made productivity difficult but it has also highlighted inequalities. For example, the top 40 per cent of the US population spends 5 times more on the education of their children than the bottom 60 per cent. This mismatch creates a fundamental inequality and unfairness. The US economic mechanism is not meeting its goals of fairness or equality. Inequality is not just unfair its damaging. Populism, for example, has arisen because of unfairness.
• The problems of civility, poverty and guns are American problems. I’m a mechanic. I don’t approach this moralistically. I want us to consider what we want to be as a nation and how we engineer for it.
• The system that we need is a bipartisan system, otherwise we will constantly be at one another’s throats battling over contradictory positions. We need to produce win-win outcomes, not lose-lose outcomes, to avoid social and political conflict. We need leaders to create harmony so we can work together to generate efficiencies.
• I am a realist. The curse of every generation is to not acknowledge the lessons from prior generations.
• The children of today will need skills to navigate the risks, uncertainties and opportunities of the future world.
• Regardless of who wins the US election, there will be significant stimulus.
• Impact investment is easier to measure than philanthropy, but it is still difficult.
• Oceans are the greatest asset in the world.
• Three issues currently exist that last occurred in the turbulent 1930s period:
  • Extreme debt levels
  • The values and political gap
  • A rising power (China) challenging a historical power (USA)