BM Talks

This is an episode from our archives. 

We spoke to Kweku Adoboli, the former UBS trader who went to prison for rogue trading that was uncovered in 2011. In the summer of 2018, having served his time, he spoke to us about the mechanics of marketing making and prop trading in ETFs and other Delta One products. He explained how he used proxies for volatility to hedge positions and how this can lead to hidden leverage within the financial system. He has a unique perspective of trading through the financial crisis that he is now free to discuss as someone outside of the system. 

We asked Hugh: 

• What assets does he want to own this year ?
• What does he think about inflation?
• What was his favourite trading day? 
• Which policymaker is getting it right? 

He shares how he was once under attack by Robert Mugabe as well as waxing biblical from his Caribbean island. 

We asked: 

• Will China invade Taiwan?
• Can China meet its growth target?
• What does China think of Liz Truss?
• What is Xi Jinping's ideology?
• What are China's demographic challenges?
• And finally... what is the best programme on Chinese TV?

We asked: 

• Will there be a UK recession this year?
• Will Working From Home solve the Productivity Puzzle?
• Is Rishi Sunak doing a good job?
• Who is his favourite UK Chancellor? 
• How has business journalism changed?
• And of course... what's his favourite joke?

We asked: 

• Is Gold still an inflation hedge?
• When is Gold a safe haven?
• How does Gold fit into a portfolio?
• How does Gold compare to Crypto? 
• How liquid is the Gold market
• Have central bank holdings of Gold changed?

Former British Ambassador to the United States, Sir Christopher Meyer talks to us about the upcoming US elections, the role of China, the UK under Boris Johnson and the future of the European Union. He explains the greatest challenges he faced in his term as Ambassador, including the 9/11 terror attacks, as well as the greatest leaders he ever met.  

We asked: 

• Who will win the US mid-term elections?
• What is Joe Biden really like and will he lose to Trump in 2024?
• What relationship should the West have with China?
• Will we see a united Ireland?
• Does he actually like using Twitter? 
• What was the greatest diplomatic challenge he faced?
• Which world leader impressed him the most?

We asked:

• What happens to inflation?
• Can central banks hold their nerve?
• What does the post-pandemic economy look like?
• Do investors still need bonds in their portfolio?
• Where are the opportunities in Emerging Markets?
• What is the future of the EU?

We asked: 

• What does the future of asset management look like?
• Where do ETFs fit in?
• Can blockchain revolutionise the industry?
• How has the virtual world worked during the pandemic?
• In the search for yield, where do the opportunities lie? 
• What advice can you give someone starting out in the industry?
• What are the prospects for the Union of the United Kingdom?

We asked: 

• What can we learn from the response to the Spanish Flu?
• Are we going back to the inflation of the 1970s?
• How does the Technological Revolution compare to the Industrial Revolution?
• Are central banks and governments pursuing MMT?
• What happened to the Bond Vigilantes?

Philip Coggan writes the Bartleby column in the Economist. He started a life in journalism when they used typewriters. He has experienced seismic change in journalism, and his latest book, “More: The 10,000-Year Rise of the World Economy” provides a wide historical perspective with which to reflect on the current economic challenges

Helen asked about China, NZ approach to them, how aggressive will China be and can it drive a wedge between NZ and Australia?

NZ has always had a good relationship with China, the Five Eyes has morphed into making political statements not intelligence ones. NZ is in ANZUS, ok it’ somewhat on ice as far as NZ goes but when John  was PM he sent their SAS to Afghanistan. We, along with Britain and many others observe a one China policy, i.e. acknowledging g their territorial rights, that doesn’t mean we forget about human rights. China is emerging as a superpower, some feel threatened by that but there’s no historical precedent that they’ll apply military action. They’re building greater military power for sure, but many countries are. The recent breakdown in relations is very regrettable and it would be awful if NZ had to make a decision between her traditional allies and China as NZ needs both. Given the migration cultural ties, etc with Britain, you can see how that will pan out.

Moving onto the pandemic, governments took different approaches, will border closures at some point become a negative and would you have done it differently?

It’s actually fairly easy for us, Australia, etc to close borders quarantine, etc, much easier than for the UK where it’s impossible. It’s easier to stop something in politics than start stuff. We would have done something very similar but decisions like this are not just about closing borders, it’s combined with economic measures as well. As regards the pandemic, the UK may come out well. I like Boris even though he does look like he’s slept on the porch, but with mutations, not everyone taking the vaccine it’s hard to know what herd immunity is, it’ll be a rolling maul to use a rugby analogy.

Will the dollar be replace as a reserve currency?

There’s loads of reasons to have confidence in the dollar. Blockchain, what about that? Is crypto useful or a Casino? Getting rid of cash is logical. Alipay and the likes will be the winners.

Brexit?

I wouldn’t have voted for it but I can see why people did. I’ve Come round to the opinion that the problem is the euro, a currency is a safety valve, which Greece didn’t have and they weren’t keen moving to Frankfurt to work, not least the weather’s not great!

There’s lots, lots more in here, a summary does it little justice as he’s s great communicator.