Wharton on the Markets

Program Experience

In Wharton on the Markets speaker series, you will:

• Understand the impact of the latest news in terms of the impact on your financial portfolio
• Better interpret economic data on unemployment, retail, and disease conditions, and extract actionable insights
• Learn about the current state of key sectors including private equity, real estate, energy, and pensions
• Explore macro-trends such as the anticipated multi-trillion-dollar deficit and its long-run consequences for the economy
• Benefit from the real-time perspectives of Wharton’s world-class finance experts

With the global pandemic and today’s swiftly changing financial conditions, “investing as usual” is no longer an option. Professional investors need to find a new path forward. This is a time to look to experts and researchers with decades of experience studying financial catastrophes and downturns, who can help interpret the ever-growing stream of data with model-based insights.

Wharton on the Markets invites you to spend time virtually with some of the world’s top financial and economic experts so you can make more strategic, confident investment decisions in the midst of this crisis. After this program, when you read the latest financial news, disease statistics, or economic data, you will more fully understand the implications for the various pieces of the portfolio you supervise or for the investors you serve.

The series will be conducted by a group of award-winning Wharton scholars led by Professor Nikolai Roussanov and will feature conversations with distinguished speakers Mohamed El-Erian and Jeremy Siegel.

Each week a rotating lineup of faculty speakers will discuss a different topic, addressing key questions on the minds of investors. For example, as factor investing in equity markets has become democratized, did it serve to protect investors from outsize losses at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and does it have a viable future? With the gap between the valuations of the leading tech names and much of the rest of the stock market widening even further, is value investing dead? As the U.S. government action to contain the economic damage from the pandemic results in a projected four-trillion-dollar deficit, what does this unprecedented fiscal expansion mean for the U.S. government debt going forward? How does How have retirement systems fared in the wake of the COVID shock, and how can they be made more resilient going forward?

The faculty will also bring you a close-in view of what’s happening in specific segments of the economy, both those most visibly affected, such as energy markets, and those that are more opaque, such as private equity. Finally, the experts will bring you the big picture, tying it all together: the pandemic’s path, the markets, and the macro-economy. They will answer audience questions as well.

In this unprecedented time, conventional investing wisdom is no longer sufficient. Look to Wharton on the Markets for unparalleled, cutting-edge insights and perspectives you need now.

Session topics include:

• Dynamics of the pandemic, and simulating the consequences of re-opening the economy
• Distressed asset investing
• ESG investing in today’s market
• Factor investing in the current environment: Is value investing dead?
• The end of LIBOR: fixed income markets in transition
• Macro news and monetary policy
• The current state of affairs in:
  • Private equity
  • Real estate
  • Energy
  • Pensions
  • Other key sectors

Listen to the Faculty Interview

Professor Nikolai Roussanov talks about Wharton on the Markets on Wharton Business Radio, SiriusXM.