"The Future of Finance" - EDHEC Speaker Series
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EDHEC Speaker Series - The Future of Finance
The EDHEC Speaker Series: The Future of Finance connects the next generation of financial leaders with today’s most influential voices in the industry. Through a series of dynamic discussions, this platform offers EDHEC students exclusive access to the insights, challenges, and innovations shaping the future of finance.
Launched by Professor Emmanuel Jurczenko, this initiative reflects EDHEC’s commitment to bridging the gap between academia and real-world finance. The series brings together top industry experts, policymakers, and thought leaders to foster dialogue around financial transformation, sustainability, fintech, regulation, and the evolving role of capital markets.
Topic: Greenwashing
Date: Tuesday, April 1st, 2025
Time: 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Paris Time
How does the salience of greenwashing in the media influence investors' trading of green assets? Elise Gourier, Professor in Finance at ESSEC Business School, will describe in this talk how allusions to greenwashing can be identified in the news, using state-of-the art Natural Language Processing techniques. Elise and her coauthor Hélène Mathurin (ESSEC) build a greenwashing salience index, and show that this index has recently been driven by skepticism towards the financial sector, specifically ESG funds, ESG ratings and green bonds. Elise will discuss the link between greenwashing salience, the ESG backlash, and the flows into green funds.
Elise Gourier
Professor of Finance, ESSEC Business School
Moderators are:
Gianfranco Gianfrate
Professor of Finance, EDHEC Business School
Emmanuel Jurczenko
Executive Director of Graduate Finance Programmes, EDHEC Business School
Topic: Financial Machine Learning
Date: Tuesday, March 18th, 2025
Time: 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Paris Time
Dacheng Xiu, Professor of Econometrics and Statistics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, will examine how machine learning methods can learn from weak signals — a common challenge in financial and economic prediction. Drawing on theoretical insights, he will explain why Ridge regression effectively exploits weak signals and consistently outperforms the benchmark. Using evidence from financial datasets, Dacheng will argue that weak signals are often the key obstacle for sparsity-oriented methods in economic prediction.
Dacheng Xiu
Professor of Econometrics and Statistics, University of Chicago Booth School of Businesss
Moderators are:
O'Kane Dominic
Professor of Finance, EDHEC Business School
Emmanuel Jurczenko
Executive Director of Graduate Finance Programmes, EDHEC Business School
Topic: Quantitative Investing
Date: Tuesday, February 25th, 2025
Time: 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Paris Time
The Quantitative Portfolio Strategy group at Barclays has produced research on quantitative investing in the credit, rates, and equity markets for more than two decades for the benefit of the largest asset managers and asset owners. We will hear from Hugues Langlois describe the multi-faceted nature of systematic investing, with topics ranging from alpha signals, risk measures, portfolio construction, and liquidity and trading costs management.
Hugues Langlois
Quantitative Portfolio Strategist, Barclays
Moderators are:
Lioui Abraham
Professor of Finance, EDHEC Business School
Emmanuel Jurczenko
Executive Director of Graduate Finance Programmes, EDHEC Business School
Topic: Non-Linear Factors
Date: Tuesday, January 28th, 2025
Time: 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Paris Tme
The portfolio implications of non-linear factor returns are significant and multifaceted. In this session Harindra de Silva will examine non-linear return-to-characteristic relationships within the U.S. equity market for five factors: Value, Momentum, Small Size, Low Beta, and Profitability and discuss the implications of non-linear factor portfolio returns for investors and portfolio managers.
Harindra de Silva
Portfolio Manager, Allspring Global Investments
Moderators are:
Lionel Martellini
Professor of Finance, EDHEC Business School
Emmanuel Jurczenko
Executive Director of Graduate Finance Programmes, EDHEC Business School
Topic: Blockchain Currency Markets
Date: Tuesday, January 14th, 2025
Time: 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Paris Time
Join us for an engaging session with Professor Angelo Ranaldo as he explores the emerging dynamics of blockchain currencies and stablecoins traded on decentralized exchanges. Professor Ranaldo will present key findings from his comprehensive study, shedding light on the efficiency of blockchain markets, where prices and trading volumes often align with those of traditional assets.
The research highlights blockchain-specific frictions, such as gas fees and Ether volatility, which influence market behavior. Professor Ranaldo will also discuss how macroeconomic fundamentals and order flow shape blockchain prices. By analyzing transaction-level data, he will demonstrate how traders with significant market share and primary market access can drive pricing dynamics, leveraging informational advantages.
Angelo Ranaldo
Professor of Finance and Financial Economics, Chair of Finance and Financial Economics, University of Basel
Moderators are:
Laurent Deville
Professor of Finance, Academic Director - Masters in Finance, EDHEC Business School
Emmanuel Jurczenko
Executive Director of Graduate Finance Programmes, EDHEC Business School
Topic: Scale, Scope, and Speed in Private Capital Funds
Date: Tuesday, December 3rd, 2024
Time: 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Paris Time
The substantial growth in both size and scope of the private fund industry has resulted in much discussion about the effects of this growth on performance. Prof. Brown will discuss how a range of size and growth characteristics are related to market-adjusted fund performance.
More specifically, he will present results using the MSCI-Burgiss data that investigate how private fund performance is related to total capital committed to an investment strategy, fund size, and fund size growth from the previous fund, among other factors. The analysis is the most comprehensive to date and utilizes a global sample of 10,276 buyout, venture capital, credit, infrastructure & natural resource, and real estate funds representing 8.7 trillion USD in committed capital.
Gregory Brown
Professor of Finance, Research Director of IPC, University of North Carolina
Moderators are:
Hamid Boustanifar
Professor of Finance, Academic Director of MSc in Corporate Finance, EDHEC Business School
Emmanuel Jurczenko
Executive Director of Graduate Finance Programmes, EDHEC Business School
Fehd Rehioui
MSc Corporate & Finance student, EDHEC Business School
Topic: Climate Finance
Date: Tuesday, November 12th, 2024
Time: 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Paris Time
Join us on November 12, 2024, for an insightful session with Professor Marcin Kacperczyk as he delves into the emerging field of climate finance and its growing impact on global markets. Through his pioneering research, Professor Kacperczyk will explore Net-zero portfolios (NZP), which aim to bring carbon footprint exposure to zero by a target date. These portfolios are increasingly popular for aligning investor incentives with climate goals and exerting pressure on carbon-emitting companies.
The research will introduce a novel, forward-looking metric, “distance-to-exit” (DTE), which measures the projected years until a company may be excluded from NZP. Firms with a longer DTE tend to have higher valuation ratios and lower expected returns, suggesting that DTE could serve as a valuable indicator of carbon-transition risk, capturing the uncertain pressures for institutional decarbonization.
Marcin Kacperczyk
Professor of Finance, Imperial College London
Moderators are:
Riccardo Rebonato
Professor of Finance, EDHEC Business School, Scientific Director, EDHEC-Risk Climate Impact Institute
Emmanuel Jurczenko
Executive Director of Graduate Finance Programmes, EDHEC Business School
Alexandre Martin
MSc Climate Change and Sustainable Finance student, EDHEC Business School
Topic: Biodiversity Risk
Date: Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Time: 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Paris Time
Join us on October 15, 2024, for an insightful session led by Professor Stefano Giglio, as he delves into the pressing issue of biodiversity risk and its impact on financial markets and economic activities. Professor Giglio will explore the effects of physical and regulatory risks related to biodiversity loss on economic activity and financial asset prices. By introducing innovative textual-based measures of biodiversity risk, his analysis reveals the increasing role biodiversity plays in equity pricing and economic decision-making. This event promises to shed light on the growing financial materiality of biodiversity risks and the evolving landscape for investors, policymakers, and industry leaders alike. Don’t miss this chance to engage with cutting-edge research that links environmental health to financial stability.
Stefano Giglio
Professor of Finance, Yale School of Management
Moderators are:
Sophie Clot
Professor & Scientific Director of MSc in Climate Change and Sustainable Finance, EDHEC Business School
Emmanuel Jurczenko
Executive Director of Graduate Finance Programmes, EDHEC Business School
Catherine Elkhoury
MSc Climate Change and Sustainable Finance student, EDHEC Business School
Topic: Long Term Investing
Date: Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Time: 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Paris Time
Join us on September 10, 2024, for an engaging session led by Professor Elroy Dimson, renowned for his research in finance and asset management at Cambridge Judge Business School. Professor Dimson will delve into the intricacies of long-term investing, highlighting key trends and historical data that showcase the power of patience in the financial markets. By examining asset class performance over extended periods, he will uncover insights into risk, return, and the resilience of equity markets through economic cycles. This session offers a valuable perspective on how investors can benefit from a long-term approach amidst market volatility and uncertainty. Don’t miss this chance to gain insights from one of the leading experts in finance.
Elroy Dimson
Professor of Finance and Chairman, Center for Endowment Asset Management, Cambridge Judge Business School
Moderators are:
Professor of Finance, EDHEC Business School
Emmanuel Jurczenko
Executive Director of Graduate Finance Programmes, EDHEC Business School
Previous Speakers
Topic: Corporate Asset Pricing
Date: Tuesday, April 23rd
Time: 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Paris Time
What must the world be like for asset pricing anomalies to be possible? Rather than a machine in equilibrium, the world is a system of open, adaptive systems in evolution. The consumption CAPM, behavioral finance, and the investment CAPM explain autonomous (but interdependent) layers of reality: macro finance, household finance, and micro finance, respectively. Rather than investors, corporate actors are the primary causal powers of their own asset prices. Most important, systems theory, not equilibrium theory, emerges as a “theory of everything” in finance.
Lu Zhang
Professor of Finance, The Ohio State University
Moderators are:
Professor of Finance, EDHEC Business School
Executive Director of Graduate Finance Programmes, EDHEC Business School
Topic: Net-Zero Investing
Date: Tuesday, March 12th
Time: 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Paris Time
Thierry Roncalli will discuss the implementation of net-zero policies at the portfolio level and within a strategic asset allocation framework. In particular, he will discuss the main methodologies: the integrated approach and the core-satellite approach. He will show that net-zero investing is not only a carbon footprint issue, but also a green footprint issue.
Head of Quant Portfolio Strategy, Amundi Investment Institute
Amundi Asset Management
Moderators are:
Director, EDHEC-Risk Climate Impact Institute
Executive Director of Graduate Finance Programmes, EDHEC Business School
Topic: Can Financial Engineering Save the Planet?
Date: Tuesday, February 27th
Join us for an insightful presentation by Bob Litterman, founding partner and Chairman of Climate Policy at Kepos Capital, as he delves into the critical topic of carbon pricing.
Carbon pricing has a pivotal role in addressing carbon emissions and climate change, and accurately pricing it is intimately linked to risk management. Additionally, Bob will introduce carbon-linked bonds, exploring how this financial instrument allows governments to signal their carbon pricing intentions and provides motivation for governments to act on their climate commitments.
Bob Litterman
Founding Partner and Chairman of Climate Policy
Kepos Capital
Moderators are:
Professor, Scientific Director, EDHEC Risk Climate Impact Institute
Executive Director of Graduate Finance Programmes, EDHEC Business School
Topic: Private Capital: Past, Present and Future
Date: Tuesday, January 30th
Time: 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Paris Time
We will hear from Steve Kaplan, Neubauer Family Professor at Chicago Booth, about private capital. Private capital and private equity make up an increasing fraction of the world’s capital markets. Professor Kaplan will discuss what we know about the results for private capital at the company and fund level. He will then discuss what we can expect to see going forward.
Steven Kaplan
Neubauer Family Professor
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Moderators are:
Enrique Schroth
Professor of Finance, EDHEC Business School
Emmanuel Jurczenko
Executive Director of Graduate Finance Programmes, EDHEC Business School
Topic: Harnessing the power of ChatGPT and AI in Finance
Date: Tuesday, December 12th
Time: 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Paris Time
We will hear from Alejandro Lopez-Lira, Assistant Professor of Finance at the University of Florida, about the growing capabilities of chatbots like ChatGPT and other AI systems for financial analysis and decision making. He will discuss how advanced natural language processing can automatically synthesize and interpret textual data like news, earnings calls, and regulatory filings to generate insights for investment research and trading strategies. However, these AI systems have limitations in reasoning and grounded judgment that require human oversight. Professor Lopez-Lira will explore implications for utilizing ChatGPT and similar technologies in portfolio management, risk modeling, fintech innovations, and new directions for financial AI research. The talk will focus on practical applications rather than technical details, providing an overview of harnessing the power of AI chatbots and language models in finance.
Alejandro Lopez Lira
University of Florida
Moderators are:
Dominic O'Kane
Professor of Finance, EDHEC Business School
Emmanuel Jurczenko
Executive Director of Graduate Finance Programmes, EDHEC Business School
Topic: Sustainable Bond Investing
Date: Tuesday, Nov 14th, 2023
Time: 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Paris Time
We will hear from Alejandro Lopez-Lira, Assistant Professor of Finance at the University of Florida, about the growing capabilities of chatbots like ChatGPT and other AI systems for financial analysis and decision making. He will discuss how advanced natural language processing can automatically synthesize and interpret textual data like news, earnings calls, and regulatory filings to generate insights for investment research and trading strategies. However, these AI systems have limitations in reasoning and grounded judgment that require human oversight. Professor Lopez-Lira will explore implications for utilizing ChatGPT and similar technologies in portfolio management, risk modeling, fintech innovations, and new directions for financial AI research. The talk will focus on practical applications rather than technical details, providing an overview of harnessing the power of AI chatbots and language models in finance.
Laurens Swinkels
Executive Director, Associate Professor
Robeco & Erasmus University Rotterdam
Moderators are:
Teodor Dyakov
Professor of Finance, EDHEC Business School
Emmanuel Jurczenko
Executive Director of Graduate Finance Programmes, EDHEC Business School
Topic: Impact Investing
Date: Tuesday, October 10th, 2023
Time: 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Paris Time
Join us for a talk by Professor Jules van Binsbergen, a leading expert in financial economics, investment management, and impact investing, and the Nippon Life Professor in Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In his talk, Professor Van Binsbergen will comment on the likelihood of divestment strategies achieving their intended purpose and the alternatives available to investors wishing to contribute to social objectives. He will also discuss the power of financial innovation in measuring and addressing ESG-related concerns.
Jules van Binsbergen
Lauder Professor, The University of Pennsylvania
Moderators are:
Teodor Dyakov
Professor of Finance, EDHEC Business School
Emmanuel Jurczenko
Executive Director of Graduate Finance Programmes, EDHEC Business School
Topic: Investing in Adverse and Interesting Times
Date: Tuesday, September 19th, 2023
Time: 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Paris Time
Decades of falling real yields pushed most assets’ valuations to record highs and starting yields to record lows. The discount rate shock of 2022 cheapened mainly bonds and left private asset valuations especially vulnerable. Besides still-low expected returns on risky assets, tighter financing conditions, and inflation concerns, adverse conditions are compounded by higher macro volatility and rising stock-bond correlation.
After a period that was exceptionally benign for long asset classes (but difficult for many diversifiers and contrarian strategies), the year 2022—and perhaps the rest of the 2020s—looks very different. Risk-mitigating strategies, such as Trend, Macro, and Value and Quality stock selection styles, can come to the rescue just when investors’ core portfolios are challenged. Meanwhile, many investors look in the rearview mirror and favor illiquid private assets rather than long/short diversifiers. May you live in interesting times.
Antti Ilmanen
Global Co-head of the Portfolio Solutions Group, AQR Capital Management
Moderators are:
Abraham Lioui
Professor of Finance, EDHEC Business School
Emmanuel Jurczenko
Executive Director of Graduate Finance Programmes, EDHEC Business School