2024 Future of Investment Festival: Sustainability and Leveraging Global Megatrends

The S&P Global Capital IQ Pro’s Investment Management team attended the Future of Investment Festival in London on June 5th. The industry event was attended by fund managers, asset managers, and pension funds, featuring a series of presentations and discussions on the possibilities and impacts of AI on investment managers and financial advisors.

The key takeaways from the presentations included:

• Exploring Global Megatrends: The 2024 agenda focused on how investors can sustainably leverage global megatrends like the energy transition, societal change, and digitalization, including AI development.
• AI's Transformative Impact: sessions delved into how AI and big data are reshaping business and society, highlighting the need for investment professionals to adapt to these changes.
• Investor Mindset and Behavior: Discussions covered the anxieties and expectations of investors, using technology and behavioral science to navigate surprises and avoid harmful investment practices.
• Future of Sustainable Investing: Panels explored the evolving landscape of ESG fund products, sustainable investment themes, and regulatory impacts, emphasizing the importance of comprehensive and innovative product offerings.

The conference began with an insightful presentation on the applications of digital twins in enterprises delivered by Daniel Hulme, Chief AI Officer at WPP, emphasizing the importance of adaptability to new technologies and innovation. The opening keynote concluded on an optimistic note, suggesting that AI had the potential to liberate humans from mundane tasks and achieve singularity.



The insights presented here were of particular interest to our team as, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence analyst estimates, commercial software and service revenue (as part of the metaverse) such as that for digital twins and remote collaboration tools is on course to grow at a 23.6% compound annual growth rate over the next five years to more than $20 billion (source: S&P Cap IQ Pro)

A particularly intriguing concept discussed was the integration of AI into decision prosthetics, enabling investment decisions devoid of emotional bias. Experts from Oxford Risk explored the benefits of behavioral investing through automated client relationship management. By utilizing robust personality assessments and overlaying them with Generative AI (Gen AI), the session demonstrated how this technology could tailor messaging, tone, and cadence of client outreach, simplifying the role of financial advisors. The idea of a hyper-personalized customer journey using financial technology fingerprints combined with existing client data, content, and action libraries was compelling, though questions remained about the model's effectiveness considering individual motivations and personal circumstances.

While the applications of Gen AI in investment management sparked considerable interest, a significant portion of the conference focused on sustainability and decarbonization, emphasizing the evolving landscape of sustainable investing and the critical role of comprehensive and innovative product offerings.

Links:

Webinar: The Tech Revolution: How Can AI Transform And Reshape Capital Markets?
Webinar: Preparing for the Future of Sustainability Reporting - Are you ready?
How top VCs are placing their growing AI bets
S&P Global Market Intelligence Foresees Rapid Expansion of Generative AI Software Market by 2028 to $52.2 Billion
Generative AI