FTSE Russell Convenes

Our FTSE Russell Convenes series brings you video episodes from experts. Discover insights on the opportunities and challenges facing the financial markets.

  1. Overview
  2. Geopolitical series
  3. Season 4
  4. Season 3
  5. Season 2
  6. Season 1
  7. ASEAN series

The FTSE Russell Convenes series brings independent and unvarnished insights and opinion from experts at our World Investment Forum, including practitioners, investors, and academics. The conversations dive deep into the market environment and critical trends including AI and emerging technology, the macroeconomy, digital assets, fixed income, private assets, sustainable investing and ETFs.

Geopolitical series

Signposts in 2025's risk roadmap

Tina Fordham, Founder of Fordham Global Foresight joins us for the conclusion of our geopolitical mini-series. Tina delves into her concept of "geopolitical denialism" and shares her expert analysis on a range of pressing issues: the potential impact of Trump 2.0's first 100 days, the latest developments in Syria and South Korea, the upcoming 2025 elections in Germany, and other critical events on the 2025 risk map.

U.S. elections: a very different story from 2016

In the second episode of our new three-part FTSE Russell Convenes ‘geopolitical’ series, we are joined again by Tina Fordham, Founder of Fordham Global Foresight. Tina shares her views post-election, what she sees to be a very different outcome for President Trump and its potential impact on global markets.

U.S. elections: ripping up the old playbook

In the first episode of our new three-part FTSE Russell Convenes ‘geopolitical’ series, Tina Fordham, Founder of Fordham Global Foresight, independent global political strategist and advisor to senior leaders, shares her views on the upcoming U.S. Presidential elections and the acceleration in, and impact of, drivers of geopolitical risk.

Season 4

Russell Indexes: Evolving and innovating for 40 years

Concluding this season of FTSE Russell Convenes, in the 40th anniversary year of the FTSE Russell US Indexes, we shine the spotlight on the evolution of FTSE Russell’s indices and how client input is key to their success.

Using all available information in sustainable investment

Johannes Lee, Investor of Builders Vision - the family office and impact platform created by the grandson of Walmart founders - discusses the organisation’s mission, investment strategy and recent work in stewardship and engagement.
Walter Kress: Fixed Income - Looking more broadly for the opportunity set

Fixed Income: Looking more broadly for the opportunity set

Walter Kress, Chief Investment Officer of Ernst & Young, LLP discusses the ‘large playground’ of fixed income and how individual components of the fixed income market are significantly different to two years ago.
Alberto Rossi - Separating stock market signals from noise

Separating stock market signals from noise

Alberto Rossi, Professor of Finance, at Georgetown University McDonough School of Business explains how the right balance of human and algorithmic engagement empowers investors to become more effective.
Fiona Bassett looks back at her first 12 months at the helm of FTSE Russell

Fiona Bassett's first 12 months at FTSE Russell

Fiona Bassett, CEO of FTSE Russell shares her unique perspective on indexing. Fiona discusses why she feels we are early in the evolution of indexing, what she sees as key challenges within the index industry today and the opportunities that are on the horizon.

Looking at digital assets beyond Bitcoin

Inkoo Kang, Vice President, ETFs at Grayscale joins Kristen Mierzwa, Head of Digital Assets at FTSE Russell to discuss how pension plans and institutions are more easily gaining access to crypto products, and what Inkoo’s product development role involves, from the early stages of the ideation process all the way to in-market support.

The landscape of modernisation in fixed income

Joyce Choi, Head of Institutional Product Strategy, Fixed Income ETFs at BlackRock discusses fixed income markets at what she sees to be a remarkably interesting and pivotal time.

Where does private equity performance come from?

Is private equity performance down to leverage, operational improvements or changes in company governance? Greg Brown, Professor of Finance, Kenan Flagler Business School, at the University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill discusses the sources of private equity returns.

Vanguard’s approach to the >$11 trillion US ETF market

Daniel Reyes, Global Head of Product at Vanguard talks about adapting to evolving ETF market dynamics, while staying true to a long-term investment philosophy - to offer products and exposures Vanguard believes will drive positive investment outcomes over the long term.
Michael Brandt, Professor of Finance, Fuqua School of Business at Duke University explains why asset allocators need to pay particular attention to market structure and the time frames we use to measure it.

The macro and the micro of market structure

Michael Brandt, Professor of Finance, Duke University, Fuqua School of Business explains why asset allocators need to pay particular attention to market structure and the time frames we use to measure it.

Season 3

FTSE Russell Convenes

Putting Singapore on the map

Janice Kan Pui Yoke, Co-Head of Equities and Head of Derivatives, SGX Group, shares insights on the developments she has witnessed over the past three decades.

FTSE Russell Convenes

How are investors approaching sustainable investment?

Tony Campos, Head of Sustainable Investment, Index Investments Group at FTSE Russell, provides the lowdown on ESG.

FTSE Russell Convenes

Differentiation through innovation, disruption and distribution

Sean O'Hara, President at Pacer ETFs, discusses the need to be innovative, disruptive and unique in light of the competitive ETF landscape.

FTSE Russell Convenes

Value's U-turn

In this episode, Rob Arnott focuses on value, paying particular attention to how it should be valued, not only in terms of market valuation, but also in terms of factor inputs.

FTSE Russell Convenes

Distinguishing deflation

Rob Arnott, Founder and Chairman of the board of Research Affiliates, shares his thoughts on Fed policy, interest rates and inflation from a historical viewpoint.

FTSE Russell Convenes

How are Zero Days to Expiration options changing markets?

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.

FTSE Russell Convenes

Breaking traditions with ETFs

Kingsley Ford, Global Head of Index Investments Group, talks about how ETFs have evolved to become a trading suite in their own right and how attitudes towards fixed income ETFs shifted during the pandemic.

FTSE Russell Convenes

Creating the best playlist for your portfolio

Andrew Ang, Managing Director, Head of Factors, Sustainable and Solutions at BlackRock Systematic explains the importance of investing in a balanced portfolio and how factors can help inform the basis of a core portfolio holding.

FTSE Russell Convenes

A deeper dive into asset allocation

Mo Haghbin, Head of Investment Solutions at Invesco discusses opportunities in today’s challenging markets and why he believes a balanced, diversified long-term approach to asset allocation is so important.

FTSE Russell Convenes

AI and Indices: What's next?

David Sol, Head of Index Policy and Governance at FTSE Russell joins us to share his knowledge on the developments in AI from its debated origins to the present day.

FTSE Russell Convenes

The continuous rise of ETFs

What is driving the rise in popularity of ETFs and are we likely to see a slowdown? Ravi Goutam, Managing Director at BlackRock, answers these key questions and delves into the increased appetite for bond ETFs.

FTSE Russell Convenes

The role of indices in today’s capital markets

Arne Staal, Head of Product and Research at FTSE Russell, delves into current investing trends including the resurgence of fixed income.

FTSE Russell Convenes

Can capitalism be just?

Martin Whittaker, CEO, JUST Capital, 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.

FTSE Russell Convenes

The longer view for financial markets

Indrani De, 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?

FTSE Russell Convenes

Finding opportunities in a challenging macro-outlook

During her interview Elizabeth Burton, Managing Director and Client Investment Strategist at Goldman Sachs dives into the US and inflation outlook, drawing upon lessons learnt from the past.

Season 2

FTSE Russell Convenes

Value investing is back

When markets are turbulent and difficult to predict, often what’s needed is some wise words from someone who has been through many calm and stormy waters. Someone who fits that description: Rob Arnott, founder and chairman of the board at Research Affiliates. Rob founded Research Affiliates in 2002, which now develops investment strategies for over $160bn of assets under management.

FTSE Russell Convenes

The Monetary Dilemma

The Financial Times named him one of the six “Gurus of the Future”, Jon Stewart described him as “Eliot Ness meets Milton Friedman”, and he sat in the President’s cabinet under President Obama who, of course, became President during the Financial Crisis. It’s fair to say that Austan Goolsbee knows what he’s talking about. In this insightful interview, Austan discusses in detail the difficult dilemma the Fed is in and how he sees the US economy today.

FTSE Russell Convenes

Where to invest now

Charles VanVleet is no stranger to difficult markets, having spent his entire career in the banking and asset management world. Now, as CIO of Textron, he imparts decades of wisdom on how to navigate the choppy waters we find ourselves in today. Charles talks about his outlook on equities, the niche area of fixed income he finds very attractive right now and which digital assets he thinks are a zero versus those that are really here to stay.

Season 1

FTSE Russell Convenes

Digital Assets: The intersection of markets and policy

Professor of finance at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business, Dr. Reena Aggarwal, predicts an explosion in digital assets as more countries move and adopt central bank digital currencies.

FTSE Russell Convenes

Big Tech vs the Central Bank: The race for digital currency

MIT’s Media Lab Director of the Digital Currency Initiative, Neha Narula, shares her thoughts on how the advancing technologies around cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum is placing pressure on central banks.

FTSE Russell Convenes

Digital Gold: Picking the winners and losers through diversified index like exposure

Craig Salm of Grayscale Investments, holders of the world's largest bitcoin trust, expands on decentralised exchanges, yield farming, governance, lending platforms, payment gateways and much more.

FTSE Russell Convenes

CryptoDad: Restoring a generation’s lost trust in money

Chris Giancarlo, popularly known as “Crypto Dad,” a former Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair, believes that today’s youth turn towards an online digital tokenised-based money system having lost faith in the centralised banking system. But Chris warns that the importance of money is far too great to be left solely to the central banks.

FTSE Russell Convenes

The evolution of corporate culture

A strong corporate culture maybe linked to firms outperforming their peers, explains Professor of Finance at the UBC Sauder School Business, Dr. Kai Li. Charging how ESG moving forward will be an important part of organisational culture.

FTSE Russell Convenes

Machine Learning: The evolution of governance through AI

In the latest segment of the series FTSE Russell Convenes, we talk to Professor Isil Erel, the David A. Rismiller Chair in Finance at the Fisher College of Business of the Ohio State University, about corporate governance and how AI can help augment human judgement to identify diverse boards and management by avoiding biases.

FTSE Russell Convenes

Evolving market trends: The effect of global warming on our financial system

Chairman of the Risk Committee and Founding Partner, Kepos Capital Robert "Bob" Litterman explains the lack of appreciation in the diversity of incentives to reduce emissions across the globe. In this discussion, Litterman highlights the importance of placing a price on climate risk on carbon emissions and how it would be a considerable move in the right direction for the US.

FTSE Russell Convenes

The ghosts of sustainable investing's past, present and future

Twenty years ago, investors mocked the launch of the first ESG focused index called FTSE4Good. But two decades later, interest in ESG indices is driving some of the biggest allocations of capital today. FTSE Russell Americas Head of Sustainable Investment Tony Campos discusses what has changed since then, what’s driving markets’ and companies’ need for certainty and what the world of sustainable investing might look like in 2026.

FTSE Russell Convenes

FTSE Russell CEO on climate and sustainable investing: 'Time is running out'

Our new FTSE Russell Convenes series brings together experts across finance, academia and government to discuss big trends like sustainable finance, digital assets and the evolution of investing. In this inaugural episode, FTSE Russell CEO Arne Staal explains what it will take for sustainable investing to matter at scale, why transparency is key and his concerns about greenwashing.

ASEAN series

FTSE Russell Convenes - Iman Rachman

New growth opportunities for Indonesia in 2023

With the Indonesian economy expanding more than 5% in 2022 despite a period of global economic downturn, Indonesia’s potential for further growth in 2023 is evident.

FTSE Russell Convenes - Ramon Monzon

A Bullish Market for the Philippines in 2023

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is seeing new opportunities to attract investors with the emergence of the Philippine-China Stock Connect initiative as well as their partnership with finance app GCash.

FTSE Russell Convenes - Pakorn Peetathawatchai

Is the Thai Market Thriving?

The Thai market is growing in 2023, with its GDP as well as number of investors overtaking pre-pandemic levels. With over 40 Thai listed companies appearing on our FTSE4Good Index Series, ESG is also proving to be a promising area for growth in the Thai market.

FTSE Russell Convenes - Boon Chye Loh

Exciting Developments in Singapore Markets

Following a difficult year for the global financial markets in 2022, what is the outlook for Singapore in 2023, and how are exchanges providing support through this period of uncertainty?

FTSE Russell Convenes

How will ASEAN Indexes Evolve?

Susan Quintin, Head of Business Management, Investment & Wealth Solutions at LSEG, tells us about FTSE Russell’s long history with the ASEAN region and introduces some of the ASEAN focused indexes at FTSE Russell.

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