By: CFA Institute Contributor

These are articles written by professionals for investment professionals. They are contributions from external subject matter experts who do not work for CFA Institute, but may be a CFA charterholder as well as a member of a CFA Society. All are experts in their field and strive to deliver useful insights that help investment professionals make better decisions.

DeFi-ing the rules: five opportunities and five risks of decentralised finance

City Talk

In the Star Wars universe, the Force is a mystic energy field generated by living beings that binds the galaxy together. The ability to wield the Force gives Jedi Knights their superhuman abilities, making them peacekeepers of the galaxy. But how powerful would the Jedi be if every ‘transaction’ that used the Force had to [...]
Nuclear conflict: why we must consider the risks

City Talk

In the wake of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the risks of nuclear conflict have become clearer both inside and outside the world of finance. Yet many market watchers have simply thrown up their hands under the mistaken assumption that when it comes to nuclear weapons, nothing they do will matter. Such a philosophy is inadequate on [...]
Extremely successful? Extremely lucky!

City Talk

People who are extremely successful in business or investing tend to think of themselves as more skilled and hard working than the average person. No doubt they are on some level, but the more extreme their success, the greater the role luck plays in achieving it. Luck is so critical to extreme success, in fact, [...]

Closing the gap: gender lens investing and the future of finance

May 31, 2022

Public perception of gender equality issues runs in a repetitive cycle. We’ve all seen it. A scandal breaks out, or a study discovers yet another damaging disparity. Think pieces are written, hands are wrung, and companies promise to do better. Then the public’s attention moves on until another cycle starts. Actual change comes very slowly, [...]
Geopolitical shock: regime change in inflation and monetary policy

May 24, 2022

Globalisation is besieged on multiple fronts. Two years after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and amid growing geopolitical unrest, the decades-long disinflationary headwind has reversed. Many multinationals have taken steps to address the disruptions to their ultimately brittle global value chains. These companies are re-orienting to prioritise availability over cost-optimisation. This process manifests in [...]
Crypto tokens and crypto coins: what drives performance?

May 18, 2022

Much of the crypto world is, by definition, cryptic and difficult to understand. But two crypto trends are crystal clear: both talent and money are flooding into the digital currency market. Almost every day brings a fresh announcement about software developers from Google or financiers from JPMorgan joining crypto start-ups. Indeed, while the total market [...]
Crypto mania, financial contagion and the ‘Goldilocks Zone’

May 3, 2022

From the gold fever of the 1840s and 1850s and the bicycle bubbles of the 1890s to the bowling manias of the1960s and the dot-com boom of the 1990s and early 2000s, our animal spirits are forever in search of greener pastures. In recent times, the financial herd has stampeded into the field of cryptocurrency. [...]
How technology is transforming and unlocking real-estate asset classes

April 27, 2022

The line between technology and real estate is blurring, bringing new opportunities and asset classes, particularly in residential, office and biotech, says Samantha Kempe, co-founder and chief investment officer of IMMO Capital. The sheer size of the real estate sector – the global figure reached a record $326.5 trillion (about £251.1 trillion) in 2021, according [...]
Alternative investments: predictable uncertainty in private markets

April 19, 2022

With experience, investment professionals acquire a better understanding of markets, become more confident of their abilities and conclude that they can interpret the world more precisely. The philosopher Karl Popper offered his take on the main issue with such determinism during a 1965 lecture titled ‘Of Clouds and Clocks: An Approach to the Problem of Rationality [...]
How long can Russia withstand the sanctions?

April 12, 2022

In response to its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been targeted with severe economic sanctions. How impactful will they be? We have yet to see a serious, data-driven analysis. Some predict the embargo will initiate a Russian financial collapse very quickly, while others expect it will constitute more of a long and slow drag on [...]

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