ICMA Podcast

Cyrus Ardalan, Former Chairman of ICMA, Chairman of Citigroup Global Markets and Chairman of Oaknorth Bank, discusses the work of the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm), which he also chairs, in raising funding for Gavi, the Global Alliance for Vaccination and Immunisation. Gavi is a major force in vaccinating children in the world’s poorest countries. IFFIm’s Vaccine Bonds (which are aligned with ICMA’s Social Bond Principles) provide investors with a unique opportunity to realise both a secure rate of return and diversify their portfolios while helping save young lives. IFFIm has been instrumental in providing Gavi with funding which has helped to vaccinate more than 760 million children in the 2000–2019 period.

ICMA Chief Executive Martin Scheck and Irina Fan, Head of Insurance Market Analysis at the Swiss Re Institute, discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the insurance and re-insurance industry, resilience in the worldwide economy now compared to the period before the global financial crisis and prospects for global growth.

Andy Hill, Senior Director of ICMA, discusses the dynamics currently shaping the repo and securities lending markets, namely the reporting requirements of SFTR, the pressure for intermediaries to create greater balance sheet efficiencies, the growing importance of collateral management, and the future implications of the CSDR settlement discipline.

Nicholas Pfaff, Head of Sustainable Finance at ICMA, Secretary to the Green Bond Principles and member of the EU Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance (TEG), talks about the EU Green Bond Standard, the EU Taxonomy and potential implications for the green bond and wider financial markets in and outside Europe.

ICMA Future Leaders: Rebekah Bray, Vice Chair of the ICMA Future Leaders Committee speaks to Mads Thomsen, Former Head of Talent Development at Nordea who shares his insights on how to be recognised as a talent and as a future leader, as well as how to stay relevant in the financial industry, particularly during this time with the challenges we face with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Robert Parker reviews the market events of the last week, with specific focus on the IMF's growth forecasts for 2020 and 2021 and the additional actions recently taken by the Federal reserve to support credit and the market for high-yield corporate debt.

Daniel Mirea, an expert in Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy with over 30 years’ experience in the field of psychotherapy, speaks to ICMA and provides his tips on what we can do to look after our mental health in the current COVID-19 pandemic, including the impact of a lockdown as well as working from home.

Robert Parker reviews the market events of the last week, with specific focus on recent economic indicators, implementation of monetary and fiscal stimulus across the globe and the perception by investors of the latest COVID-19 news.

An ICMA Education podcast, David Oakes, course director of ICMA’s Fixed Income Certificate Programme, explains how COVID-19 is affecting liquidity and causing volatility in both the equity and fixed income markets globally as well as the monetary and fiscal responses from authorities and central banks.

ICMA Future Leaders podcast: Cecilia Poullain, Senior Structurer, Ostrum Asset Management (and spare time actress, writer and singer)  talks to ICMA about how to be a confident public speaker and how it can impact the way we see ourselves, as well as advancing our careers. The emphasis is on the importance of creativity, story telling and practicing often!