CFA Institute and CFA Society of the UK Host Seventh Annual European Investment Conference

CFA Institute and CFA Society of the UK hosted the seventh annual European Investment Conference in London this week, with attendees joining the event from across Europe, around the world and online. The Conference brought into sharp focus the challenges still facing the financial services industry in Europe. Participants engaged in robust discussions about how processes, practices and mindsets must change in order to shape the future of the investment industry.

Leading practitioners, academics, and economists presented on topics as diverse as “the New Cold War,” the complexity of supply chains, and the stock market investments of John Maynard Keynes. 

In his opening keynote address on Thursday morning, Lord Adair Turner, Senior Fellow at the Institute for New Economic Thinking, spoke to an audience of more than 300 attendees about the shortcomings of “too big to fail” fixes and how governments, central banks and regulators can work together to escape the debt that continues to depress global economic growth. Turner warned against excessive leverage, “real estate lending” and property price inflation, and suggested: 

“If excessive private debt results in crisis, post-crisis debt overhang and deflation, we need to design policies which can in future lean against excessive credit growth, and in particular against the growth of those forms of credit which cause most harm.”

The Conference was chaired by James Mackintosh, Investment Editor of the Financial Times and the line-up of over twenty speakers included Elroy Dimson, Emeritus Professor of Finance and Co-Director for the Centre for Endowment Asset Management at London Business School; Elizabeth Corley, CEO, Allianz Global Investors; and Philippa Malmgren, President and Founder, DRPM Group. 

Nitin Mehta, CFA, managing director of CFA Institute in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, commented: “Against a backdrop of gyrating markets, conference delegates decided to take time away from their screens and focus instead on some of the secular forces reshaping our world. Leading thinkers and speakers presented alternative perspectives for finding new investment opportunities and mitigating emerging challenges. I think the attendees left with many new ideas to consider.” 

Post-conference content is available on the European Investment Conference website and via the following channels: 

• Watch again: Live-streamed sessions 
• Read: the conference blog and download speaker presentations
• Follow: the conference @CFAemea