FTSE Russell Convenes

How could the explosive growth of Zero Days to Expiration (0DTE) options affect markets? While at the World Investment Forum in June 2023, Rob Hocking, Senior Vice President and Head of Product Innovation at CBOE Global talks about the biggest developments he’s seeing in the world of options, including short terms 0DTEs. Rob also discusses whether he was surprised by the VIX’s performance and reveals the products CBOE are currently working on.

Kingsley Ford, Global Head of Index Investments at LSEG joins us to talk about how ETFs evolved to become a trading suite in their own right, how attitudes towards fixed income ETFs shifted during the pandemic and why structured products are particularly ripe for innovation. Kingsley also discusses what makes an index successful and if he thinks clients will build indices focused specifically on AI in the near future.

Today, investors have endless options to choose from when tailoring their portfolios, particularly when targeting specific investment factors. But how can you create the perfect factor playlist for your portfolio? In this episode, Andrew Ang, Head of Factors, Sustainable Solutions at BlackRock discusses how factor investing has evolved to create more democratised access for investors, and which factors he thinks will perform better in the long run. Andrew also explains why we are again in an era of macro risk.

How should you allocate your assets today to set yourself up for success tomorrow? Mo Haghbin, Head of Investment Solutions at Invesco joins us to discuss his thoughts on the future of the banking system, why he believes a diversified approach to asset allocation is so important and where on the yield curve he thinks is most exciting for investing. Mo also dives deep into his thoughts on the markets today and explains why financial crises are rarely repeated. 

Could AI change how we perceive ourselves and therefore how we work? Having studied AI since the 90s when it was a more obscure term, David Sol, Head of Index Policy at LSEG joins us to share his knowledge on the developments in AI from its debated origins to the present day and its potential impact. David talks about his thoughts on the increasing intelligence of AI in recent years, how developing technology could affect the labour market and if FTSE Russell is incorporating AI. David also explains FTSE Russell’s country classification framework and how benchmarks are built to filter which companies meet the criteria for certain indices.

What is driving the rise in popularity of ETFs and will we see a slowdown? In this episode, Ravi Goutam, Managing Director at BlackRock discusses what he thinks the biggest driver for ETFs are and if he has seen a rise in liquidity. Ravi also delves into bond ETFs, BlackRock’s product innovation process today and how their customer base is evolving.

The role of indices in the markets shifted drastically during the pandemic as people’s views towards ESG changed. In 2023, how has their role changed? Arne Staal, CEO of FTSE Russell answers this pressing question and delves into current investing trends including the resurgence of fixed income. Arne also discusses if disclosure has improved since his last conversation with Jamie, his own thoughts on the current market outlook and how FTSE Russell’s product innovation process works. 

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In his interview Martin talks about what he feels to be the real drivers of major social and cultural change, and the shift he is seeing in public opinion towards business within our society today. He shares his views on how the private sector could better address societal challenges and capitalism ‘shaken up’ to get money flowing in the right directions. As part of his interview, Martin explains how Just Capital measures the progress of companies, provides incentives for businesses to partake in corporate social responsibility efforts and what companies need to do next to drive significant change.

In our second episode of FTSE Russell Convenes, Indrani De, CFA, PRM, Head of Global Investment Research, FTSE Russell discusses several longer-term issues for financial markets. What will happen to the dollar? Is the US on the cusp of another technological boom, or even one in healthcare? How will the US’s current raised debt ceiling problem play out? Indrani answers these questions as well as providing insights on China and commodities, the impact of labor on inflation and investing in emerging markets.

In our first episode of Series three of FTSE Russell Convenes, Elizabeth Burton joins Jamie MacDonald to talk about the challenges and opportunities in the current market environment

During the interview she dives into the US and inflation outlook, drawing upon lessons learnt from the past, factors likely to impact a rate hike and the one piece of information she feels is ‘going to have a lot to do with where we see the Fed’. Elizabeth also provides her opinions on why she feels it’s an over simplistic view to regard commercial real estate as a bad actor, the ‘reopening of China, the commodities investment story and whether asset allocators are thinking seriously about digital assets.

Watch the interview on https://www.ftserussell.com/ftse-russell-convenes