Moody's Talks - Focus on Finance

We discuss European banks’ ability to withstand a severe commercial real estate downturn, and how current property market weakness in APAC and China affects banks and insurers.

Speakers: Kathleen Gamper, AVP-Analyst, Moody’s Ratings; Joseph Lin, VP-Senior Analyst, Moody’s Ratings; Qian Zhu, VP-Senior Credit Officer, Moody’s Ratings

Hosts: Danielle Reed, VP – Senior Research Writer, Moody’s Ratings; Jun Yang, AVP- Research Writer, Moody’s Ratings

We talk to QuantCube Technology co-founder and CEO Thanh-Long Huynh about how machine learning and alternative data combined can identify financial trends far ahead of official data.

Speakers: Thanh-Long Huynh, co-founder and CEO of QuantCube Technology; Vincent Gusdorf, AMD, Digital Finance and AI Analytics, Moody’s Ratings

Hosts: Danielle Reed, VP – Senior Research Writer, Moody’s Ratings

Related research:

• Digital Transformation – Global: Alternative data's timely insights can enhance conventional data, not replace it
• Digital Transformation – Global: 2024 AI Outlook - Swift progress likely but rapid roll-out will bring risks

Strong prices, tight policy terms and higher investment yields drive a positive outlook for the global reinsurance sector.

Speaker: Brandan Holmes, VP – Senior Credit Officer, Moody’s Ratings

Hosts: Danielle Reed, VP – Senior Research Writer, Moody’s Ratings

Related Research:

• Reinsurance – Global: Outlook shifts to positive as improvement in risk/return dynamics gathers momentum

We talk to Alphaledger co-founder and CEO Manish Dutta about his firm’s quest to rebuild the fixed income market’s financial infrastructure, using blockchain.

Speakers: Manish Dutta, co-founder and CEO, Alphaledger; Gregory Sobel, AVP-Analyst, Moody’s Ratings

Hosts: Danielle Reed, VP – Senior Research Writer, Moody’s Ratings

Related Research:

• Local Government – US: Blockchain offers prospects for efficiencies, financial benefits in public finance

Cyber and climate risk are also high on the agenda at Moody’s summer 2024 insurance conferences in New York and London.

Speakers: Audio excerpts from Sarah Williams, Chief Risk Officer, Guardian Life; Brandan Holmes, VP  Senior Credit Officer FIG, Moody’s Ratings; Heather Lavallee, CEO, Voya; Joe Brandon, CEO, Allegheny; Sarah Hibler, Associate Managing Director FIG, Moody’s Ratings; Ari Moskowitz, Chief Risk Officer, Everest Group; James Eck, VP Senior Credit Officer FIG, Moody’s Ratings.

Hosts: Marc Pinto, MD Financial Institutions FIG, Moody’s Ratings, Myles Neligan – Senior Research Writer, Moody’s Ratings

Related Research:

• Property & Casualty Personal Insurance – US: 2024 outlook changed to stable on rate increases, improved profitability
• Property & Casualty Insurance – US: Homeowners insurers aim to boost profits as weather-related losses, inflation take toll
• Insurers’ growing private credit investment brings more benefits than risks
• Commercial real estate risks still abound for US life insurers
• Life Insurance – Global: 2024 Outlook - Stable as higher rates offset weaker revenue, rising asset risk

Matthew White, CEO of Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), explains how the regulator is trying to make it safer for financial institutions to expand into digital finance in the region.

Speakers: Matthew White, CEO of VARA; Rajeev Barma, SVP and Head of Strategy, Digital Economy, Moody’s Ratings 

Host: Danielle Reed, VP – Senior Research Writer, Moody’s Ratings

Related Research:

• Decentralized Finance and Digital Assets – Global: 2024 Outlook: Digital finance slowly, steadily moves toward interoperability, standardization
• Digital Economy – Global: Islamic finance's adoption of blockchain could be beneficial, but faces crucial barriers

Our analysts discuss which segments and loan types pose the largest risks to US banks and life insurers, and zero in on concentration risks in asset portfolios.

Speakers: Evelyn Ocas Salazar, AVP-Analyst, Moody’s Ratings; Darrell Wheeler, VP-Senior Credit Officer, Moody’s Ratings; Stephen Lynch, VP-Senior Credit Officer, Moody’s Ratings, 

Hosts: Danielle Reed, VP – Senior Research Writer, Moody’s Ratings; Michael Porta, VP – Senior Research Writer, Moody’s Ratings

Related Research:

• Banks – US: CRE survey loan-level analysis shows solid underwriting, high concentration risk
• Banks – US: Retained capital, strong liquidity are key credit buffers for CRE-concentrated banks
• Life Insurance — US: Commercial real estate risks still abound, especially in the office sector

Yuval Rooz, CEO of Digital Asset, shares his thoughts on the present and future use cases of blockchain technology at global financial institutions.

Speakers: Cristiano Ventricelli, VP – Senior Analyst, Moody’s Ratings; Yuval Rooz, CEO, Digital Asset

Host: Danielle Reed, VP – Senior Research Writer, Moody’s Ratings

We discuss how differences in regional regulatory regimes and market structures affect life insurers’ allocations to private credit investments, and lay out those investments’ benefits and risks.

Speakers: Benjamin Serra, Senior Vice President, Moody’s Ratings; Will Keen-Tomlinson, VP-Senior Analyst, Moody’s Ratings

Host: Danielle Reed, VP – Senior Research Writer, Moody’s Ratings

Related research:

Life Insurance – Cross Region: Regulation contributes to material differences in private credit allocation

Insurance-Global: Insurers’ growing private credit investment brings more benefits than risks

Moody’s Ratings analysts explain why Japan’s regional banks are vulnerable to yield-curve steepening and predict strong loan growth, and higher funding costs, for India’s non-bank finance companies.

Speakers: Kensuke Ogawa, Analyst, Moody’s Ratings;  C.J. Wong, AVP- Analyst, Moody’s Ratings

Host: Danielle Reed, VP – Senior Research Writer, Moody’s Ratings

Related Research:

• Regional banks – Japan: Strong liquidity will mitigate increasing risks from rising rates
• Non-bank finance companies – India: Credit fundamentals improving backed by strong economy amid rising funding costs