John Fawcett: Disrupting the secretive world of quants

I chat with John, the founder of Quantopian, on how he got started in quantitative finance, where he sees the industry evolving and how he created a global community of intrinsically motivated coders to create unique solutions to the greatest intellectual game on earth.

Nothing on this podcast is to be considered investment advice or a recommendation. No investment decision or activity should be undertaken without first seeking qualified and professional advice.

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Border to Coast hunts strategic partners as private markets set to surge

Border to Coast hunts strategic partners as private markets set to surge

The UK’s LGPS pool, £120 billion ($161 billion) Border to Coast, is hunting for strategic relationships with asset managers and global asset owners as it prepares to invest £40 billion in private markets. Chief executive Rachel Elwell speaks to Top1000funds.com about the fund's approach to finding long-term partnerships in the market.

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Clearing the climate obstacles

In the wake of the Climate Action 100+ annual progress report, CEO of the PRI, Fiona Reynolds calls on corporate boards to step up. And the first action item is to either transform the industry associations they belong to that undermine climate action, or resign from them.

OTPP bucks trend, keeps buying bonds

Just as some of the world’s largest pensions funds sell down their fixed income holdings in favour of equities and private assets, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has been buying more in 2019 as it seeks to rebalance the portfolio in the event of an economic downturn.

Healthcare’s multiple opportunities

William Haseltine had a long career at Harvard Medical School, educating a generation of doctors, and designing the strategy to develop the first treatment for HIV/AIDS. He addressed the Fiduciary Investors Symposium about important topics in medicine and health development.

Threats to equity bond correlation

A full-blown trade war, and changes in monetary policy triggered by a loss of credibility in the Federal Reserve and other global policy institutions, could result in a return of the positive correlation between bonds and stocks, and investors need to be aware of the risk, warned Luis Viceira, George E. Bates Professor in the Finance Unit and Senior Associate Dean for Executive Education at Harvard Business School, at the Fiduciary Investors’ Symposium at Harvard University.

Inequality risk equal to climate change

Rebecca Henderson, the John and Natty McArthur University Professor at Harvard University who co-teaches Reimagining Capitalism at HBS, says inequality is equal to climate risk in its potential impact. She told delegates at the Fiduciary Investors Symposium at Harvard University when a system no longer generates freedom and prosperity it must be changed. Change is possible because we have the resources and technology to do it. A first move is decent jobs for people at the “bottom”.

We are going to live longer; prepare now

Understanding the economic implications of changing demographics is essential for investors, said Aubrey de Grey, a biomedical gerontologist speaking at the Fiduciary Investors' Symposium at Harvard University He said the technology exists today so that the ageing process can be combated and people will live much longer in the future than what they do today, so really “longevity is a side effect of health”. He urged investors to think about how people living longer will affect consumer behaviour and investee companies.

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