Highlights from the UBS Asian Investment Conference 2024

Today’s agrifood industry produces enough calories to feed the global population but it creates negative externalities across the climate, nature and health sectors. Global sustainability goals have changed what crops the agrifood industry grows and how. Such dynamics leave the sector structurally unprepared to deliver on these goals. However, deploying mature, high-impact investable solutions in the short term that strengthen innovation could be a boon to the industry. The UBS Sustainability and Impact Institute report analyses promising solutions and outlines the role of capital markets and investors in facilitating their development and deployment. We discuss this with William Nicolle, ESG analyst in the UBS Sustainability and Impact Institute.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The director of Art Basel in Basel, Maike Cruse, joins us to reveal how the fair is celebrating 30 years of collaboration with global lead partner UBS. Together they commissioned artist Petrit Halilaj who has created a special installation for the façade of the former Hotel Merian. Plus: UBS Group CMO John McDonald explains why the bank’s partnership with Art Basel continues to make an impact after 30 years.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This special edition recorded at the UBS Asian Investment Conference in Hong Kong features a selection of fascinating conversations and insights we recorded at our Monocle pop-up studio at the Four Seasons. Featuring Professor Paul Romer, Naomi Schiff, Vivian Siu, Dr Jordan Nguyen, Dr Amy Kruse, Martin Yule and Richard Schellbach. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 2024 edition of the annual GFO report was compiled entirely in-house for the fifth year and provides the world’s largest and most comprehensive study of single family offices. UBS surveyed 320 clients globally in the first quarter and the online survey methodology was distributed to over 30 markets worldwide. So what did UBS discover this year? Here to tell us is Maximilian Kunkel, chief investment officer for global family and institutional wealth at UBS Global Wealth Management.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Renewables account for the majority of energy capacity additions globally, and governments worldwide have recently committed to triple renewables by 2030. Our UBS panellists explain how private infrastructure offers an attractive opportunity for investment as an effective portfolio diversifier and a stable source of income and returns. With Antonia Sariyska and Antoinette Zuidweg. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cutting-edge medical technology, advances in AI and a sharper focus on healthier living mean that reaching the age of 100 could one day be the norm. But can our financial health survive just as long? UBS CIO equity strategist Wen Ching joins the show from Singapore to explain how smart portfolio planning can ensure that investors can live well for longer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The latest instalment in our ElectionWatch series, based on reports published by the CIO of UBS Global Wealth Management. The reports look ahead to November’s potentially seismic general election in the US and consider its impact across sectors, themes and geographies. In today’s edition, Dean Turner and Thomas Wacker consider the implications of this election for Europe. As the vote draws nearer, there are potentially two key issues coming to the fore for European investors, businesses and politicians alike: trade and defence.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Professor Geoffrey Hinton, the British-Canadian computer scientist known as the “godfather of AI”, discusses the future of artificial intelligence with his former collaborator De Kai in a special edition of the programme recorded at the UBS Greater China Conference earlier this year. Does the rise of “artificial general intelligence” threaten the future of humanity? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Blended finance is a strategy that’s gaining momentum and visibility. In the past decade, it has mobilised more than $200bn (€188bn) in capital toward sustainable development in developing countries. Dhun Davar, head of social finance at the UBS Optimus Foundation, joins us to explain how this helps funding reach high-impact social and environmental projects that might otherwise be overlooked by mainstream markets. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is the UBS Wealth Management CIO’s outlook for the second quarter of 2024? Our panellists explain why buoyant equity markets, a soft landing in the US, continued central-bank rate-cutting and the ongoing adoption of artificial intelligence have prompted their focus on technology, durable income and risk management. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.