[vc_empty_space height=”10px”]
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”]
‘I think sustainability is the most important word of the 21st 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)
One of the most important, upcoming challenges at CalSTRS is how the fund should evaluate Chinese investments from a human capital and environmental standpoint, says Chris Ailman, chief investment officer at the giant pension fund.
Last Thursday, March 12 the US Senate Democrats’ Special Committee on the Climate Crisis heard from industry experts, including Bob Litterman and Frederic Samama, on the economic risks of climate change. They all pushed for a price on carbon and for action, now.
Being passively invested shouldn’t mean being passive with regard to responsibilities says the Church of England Pension Board which has developed a new climate transition index with FTSE Russell, LSE and TPI that is the first to incorporate forward-looking climate data.
Designing a 1.5°C asset portfolio to mobilise capital for a sustainable future requires some big thinking and intensive collaboration, not to mention transformational change that extends way beyond the borders of the investment industry. So what role do investors play?
The largest pension fund in Europe, the €450 billion Dutch ABP, set out its sustainability and responsible investment plan for 2025 last month. The plan sets out long-term objectives – in line with the goal of a climate-neutral economy by 2050 – as well as the short-term steps to achieve that.
The UK’s £30 billion Brunel Pension Partnership is taking investing in a carbon zero future to a whole new level. It has just published a far-reaching Climate Change Policy filled with actions and deadlines linked to the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Login