The prospects for the COP28 climate summit starting at the end of this month are front and center on the third and final day of the New Economy Forum, which will feature US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry.
The first two days saw global business and political leaders discuss key economic and geopolitical issues, with China’s Vice President Han Zheng opening the forum with comments on the importance of ties with the US.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said a two-state solution is required for Israel and the Palestinian people, while former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized Chinese President Xi Jinping’s decision to hold on to power. Citadel founder Ken Griffin said the world faces higher baseline inflation that may last “for decades.”
Carney Sees COP28 Opportunity (9:30 a.m. SGT)
Mark Carney, chair and head of transition investing at Brookfield Asset Management, said upcoming annual United Nations climate talks in Dubai would be an opportunity to combine disparate initiatives, bringing together industrial policy with corporate moves to accelerate climate action.
“All the right people are there, all the right issues have been put on the table,” said Carney, who is also chair of Bloomberg Inc.’s board. “We should force the issue.”
Macquarie Group Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Shemara Wikramanayake, speaking on the same panel, pointed to the need for patience and progress at COP28, but also to the need for more climate investment opportunities with credible financial returns, to match funds already mobilized. “I would say the money we are investing is not charitable,” she said. “We have savers of the world, retirees — we have to get returns for risk. So we have to go on this journey of creating investments.”
Geopolitical Risks Should Be Priority (8:30 a.m. SGT)
Managing rising geopolitical risks should be at the forefront of the minds of business and political leaders after events in the recent years including the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the terrorist attack on Israel last month, according to Heidi Crebo-Rediker, CEO of International Capital Strategies.
“There are shocks that are geopolitical that have ramifications for energy prices, for security — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was obviously a prime example,” she told Bloomberg TV. Companies need “scenarios of what the future could look like. Because I think on October 6th there was no indication that you would have what happened on, on October 7th with Hamas’ terrorist attack.”
She said companies need to work out how to deal with the disruption in their supply chains from various risks, whether geopolitical or from changing climate and natural disasters. Some of them have been trying to mitigate risks by diversifying investments and diversifying supply chains to sources such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Mexico and Morocco.
UBS Chief Downplays Cultural Clash (7 p.m. SGT Thursday)
UBS Group AG CEO Sergio Ermotti downplayed suggestions that cultural differences between his bank and Credit Suisse are complicating the integration of the former rival.
“I don’t think that per se there is a cultural clash between the two organizations,” he said late Thursday. “We have been competing very fiercely but basically, more or less, with the same business model.”
He also said that strong demand for UBS’s hotly anticipated sale of additional tier 1 bonds is a positive sign for the market’s confidence in the bank and the Swiss financial system.
Morgan Stanley’s Paul on Outlook (5 p.m. SGT Thursday)
“Cash has become a real asset class again,” Morgan Stanley managing director and private wealth advisor Sherry Paul said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
“The conundrum is that we are continuing to face inflation,” Paul said. “The only way to leapfrog over inflation is to grow your capital over long periods of time and that requires equity exposure.”
The private banker said she sees great value in European markets, and even in Asian markets that haven’t performed as well as US stocks. Within the S&P 500, there are also plenty of opportunities in health care, she said.
The New Economy Forum is being organized by Bloomberg Media Group, a division of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.