Event Brief
Fiona Zhou (president of GIFP) started the webinar off by introducing the complexity and mobility of the market in 2020 and the first month of 2021, compounded by the pressure of vaccine distribution on global supply chain, and uncertain geopolitical relations. The importance of risk management strategies stands out more than ever and therefore, GIFP is uniquely suitable to build a platform for this kind of conversation. Then, Fiona introduced the panelists, engaged audience with a well-designed poll to understand anticipated risks and set up the stage for discussion.
Robert (Bob) C. Doll (Senior Portfolio Manager and Chief Equity Strategist at Nuveen) shared the current market risk in portfolio management from a practical standing point. He first gave an overview of the outlook of the market and then the risks attendant to that, anticipating 2021 to be a great year for economy and earnings, and a good year for the stock market, as the accumulated consumer savings are likely to drive consumption if we can handle the risks related to COVID and the vaccine properly. He also mentioned the potential rise in the interest rate and inflation that has already been seen to some extent, as well as a potential stimulus bill, taxes, and geopolitical risks.
Celia Kapsomera (Principal of CSK Insurance, Lecturer at Columbia University) started with solid statistics emphasizing the importance of strategic risks to shareholder value and then shared her views on what companies can do to play a more offensive role in the post-COVID global economy. Technology innovation and experimentation are increasingly widely used and are related to increased incidence of cyber risk. Climate risks are becoming more significant and frequent. It’s important for companies to understand these emerging risks on their products and services.
Earl Carr (Adjunct Instructor at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs) introduced the outlook for U.S. China relationship under the new administration, China as a haven for U.S. investors who want to deploy the assets if they have a more nuanced understanding of risks and volatility related to investing in China, and a welcome-but-verify attitude towards Chinese companies listing on the New York stock exchange.
George R Lovas Jr. (Chair of GIFP, CRO at Innovating Capital) explained his experience in using historical data to produce models for future quantitative risk and its constraints in predicting unexpected events like the COVID. This increased volatility has also been an opportunity for a lot of hedge funds, which have been utilizing convertible arbitrage. This is a good opportunity in terms of developing different portfolios and analysis, but also riskier.
Our moderator Fiona also brought up and discussed questions from the audience with panelists, selected topics and quotes including:
Bob Doll: “The surprise to me has not been the GameStop happened, the surprise to me is it didn’t happen sooner. I mean think about the conditions, we have a fed that seems to have more money than they know what to do with and
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