Forum Fodder

Forum Fodder | Friday 04 September 2026

“AI will either be the greatest equaliser ever invented, or the worst source of injustice… Unfortunately, right now we are not preparing for it. I don’t see evidence that leaders, experts, and communities are confronting the challenges adequately.” - Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft (27 August 2026)

All the best for another week’s continuing education!
Graham

Markets

Don’t mess with markets
Intervening in financial markets is a fool’s game - yet many seem incapable of internalising that lesson. So it is with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, as he seeks to manipulate currency and bond markets.
Stephen Roach, Yale University | Read

Strategies | Markets | As seen at Strategies Summit 2026

Volatility strategies win the prize in this uncertain world
While often overlooked by investors, volatility as an asset class is driven by a genuine risk-transfer premium and is therefore intuitive, attractive and – importantly - sustainable despite these macro changes. To make portfolios more resilient while still meeting return targets and delivering investors peace-of-mind (Eyes on the Prize!), volatility is worth exploring.
Mattias Soderberg, SouthPeak Investment Management | 0.25 CE | Watch, Listen

Strategies | Markets | As seen at Strategies Summit 2026

Forget 60/40 and instead arbitrage for real alpha
The shift from low inflation and negative stock-bond correlations is structural and has rendered conventional multi-asset diversification inadequate. Practitioners must look beyond public markets and directional risk. Non-directional digital asset derivatives takes the prize, providing resilience essential for multi-asset portfolios.
Clint Maddock, Digital Asset Funds Management | 0.25 CE | Watch, Listen

Investing

Research Review: The problem of past performance
When making decisions, we all look at past outcomes as one input. This paper questions the appropriateness of the common methods of measuring investment manager performance and suggests we should focus on measures that are of more relevance to actual investor outcomes.
Ron Bird, Australian National University | 1.00 CE | Read

Strategies | Markets

Market Signals: The bottleneck has moved to capacity
The AI revolution may ultimately create abundance. The current investment regime is being defined by the scarcity encountered while building it. The next phase of the cycle will be determined by which assets own productive capacity and which assets can finance it.
Nick Schoenmaker, Portfolio Construction Forum | 0.50 CE | Read

Finology | Philosophy | * Premium *

Behavioural Finance: Investment decision-making short course
Led by behavioural finance expert, Herman Brodie, this online, on-demand course completed at your own pace will help you identify, analyse and evaluate the principal human preferences that influence decision-making in situations of uncertainty, so you can recognise and identify these preferences in others, to improve investment decision-making.
Herman Brodie | 8.00 CE (incl 1.00 ethics) | Enrol

Markets

Oil shocks are no longer so shocking
The Persian Gulf is in an unstable disequilibrium. While the economic impact has been relatively modest, recent developments do suggest that the tail risks are larger than financial markets are currently pricing in.
Nouriel Roubini, Macro Associates | Read

Investing | Finology | Philosophy | As seen at Strategies Summit 2026

The Inquisitor: Behaviour is key to alpha - Clare Flynn Levy
Behavioural analysis enables a deeper insight into fund performance and the identification of highly skilled managers capable of generating consistent investment alpha.
Robert Huebscher, Portfolio Construction Forum | 0.75 CE | Watch, Listen

Strategies | Markets

Trade finance is a portfolio diversifier
Dating back to the 13th century, trade finance - loans that provide short-term financing to support the physical flow of goods - is one of the oldest forms of credit. More investors are turning towards this asset class as a diversifier in their portfolios.
Federated Hermes | 0.25 CE | Read

Strategies | Markets

Market Signals: The AI boom has met its capital constraint
Markets experienced one of the most violent reversals of the artificial-intelligence cycle during the past week, but the most important development was not the fall itself. It was what happened next.
Nick Schoenmaker, Portfolio Construction Forum | 0.25 CE | Read

Markets

How safe are today’s blockbuster tech stocks?
Questions about the financial implications of AI and space travel have led to a veritable analogy-fest. Is this a replay of the railway boom of the 1870s? A repeat of the electrification boom of the 1890s?
Barry Eichengreen, University of California | Read

Strategies | Markets | Investing | Finology | Philosophy

Private market lessons from New York
Portfolio Construction Forum’s inaugural Private Markets International Short Course in New York could not have been more timely, as private markets moved through a structural inflection during April, May, and June, driven by rising liquidity demands, regulatory scrutiny, and the rapid funding of AI initiatives.
Nick Schoenmaker, Portfolio Construction Forum | Read

Strategies | Markets | Investing | As seen at Markets Summit 2026

It’s a whole new world of asset class opportunities (Equities)
Powerful cyclical, secular and structural changes are reshaping the outlook for asset classes and opportunities abound for those able to reorientate investment portfolios accordingly. This panel debated the outlook for global equities and liquid alternatives.
David Steinthal, Billy Leung, Suhail Shaikh | 0.75 CE | Watch, Listen

Finology | Philosophy

Research Review: How culture shapes our moral reasoning
Practitioners are increasingly in the business of navigating - and helping clients navigate - the complex moral landscape of investing. This paper explores the extent to which culture impacts on our morality.
Rob Hamshar, Portfolio Construction Forum | 1.00 CE (Ethics) | Read

Strategies | Markets

Market Signals: The market is starting to differentiate
The next phase of the cycle may not be determined by who spends the most capital. It may be determined by who earns the highest return on that capital. That is a more demanding environment. It is also a healthier one.
Nick Schoenmaker, Portfolio Construction Forum | 0.25 CE | Read

Forum CE Library - over 1,000 CE/CPD hours
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Forum CIMA CE Library - over 170 CE hours
This subset of our full CE Library features just those learning resources that are accredited for CIMA CE hours, so CIMA certificants can more easily find learning resources to meet their recertification obligation (at the same time as meeting the CE/CPD requirements of other governing bodies e.g. ASIC, APRA, Legislated (AU)/FAAA, FMA etc).
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