Industry conferences: Innovation is also about taking a different perspective

I have just returned from a short Summer break. Disconnecting from my emails and app notifications, even for only a few days, has given me the space to look at a few things with a slightly different perspective. After all, this is the bedrock of new discoveries and the innovation we profess and encourage at Reseo. I am taking this approach to think about the Investment Management conferences I have attended this year and reflect on a nagging feeling that something is missing in the conversations held by and with my peers.

Secular and cyclical topics

On that basis, I perused through the agendas of several conferences and observed that most conversations in our industry evolve around two main pillars, one that I would call the industry “core” or secular concerns, and the other one, the more cyclical questions. “Core” or secular concerns include a review of the fundamentals affecting the industry; investment trends; product development; macroeconomic and geopolitical issues; and of course, the ongoing regulatory updates. On the other hand, cyclical questions – at least for the most recent conferences – include conversations about private markets (and “retailisation” of thereof) and alternative asset classes; anything and everything technology, innovation, blockchain and AI; and of course, anything ESG[1] (with a marked decrease in the volume of conversations on this topic lately). Besides these secular and cyclical topics, space is made for a few conversations on governance and leadership, and more sporadically on people and talent.

All these topics are interesting and relevant, but I can’t help but notice that most of our industry conferences are designed on the same model, bar a few exceptions. Which often leaves me with a feeling of déja-vu or repetition, despite the high professionalism of most events, and the fantastic learning and networking opportunity they offer.

My wish list

With that in mind, what innovation would I like to see in our industry conferences?

• Diverse speakers: For once, I would very much promote a greater diversity in the pool of speakers. The pay-to-play model that now prevails in most industry conferences tends to favour established corporations and exclude smaller start-ups[2] from panel conversations. Established corporations offer extremely valuable insight from their experience, yet I firmly believe that the industry would strongly benefit from alternative, equally innovative voices which deserve to participate in the public debate.
• Focus on people: Then, I would very much table more topics on people, talent and leadership, which includes looking at these questions not only within the organisations within our industry, but also from an external viewpoint. For example looking into the demographics and motivations of our investors; understanding the perspective of our stakeholders and so on.
• Macro and systemic analysis: My bias is that understanding people and talent cannot be divorced from looking at the organisations within which they operate, and even further, from an examination of the macro systems within which our organisations operate. I would encourage more of these conversations within our industry conferences. These would offer more opportunities to compare and contrast our industry with others as well, and allow us to engage in more societal and sense-making conversations[3].

From an innovation perspective, I see great benefits in these gentle questioning of our industry, in contrast to the too often self-congratulatory tone of our conversations.

Call for action

What other topics or questions would you like addressed in our industry conferences? Please share your thoughts at reseo@reseo.global , which we will compile and publish in our next article.

[1] ESG: Environmental, Social and Governance

[2] With limited marketing budgets to participate in conferences

[3] CogX comes to mind, as a model of cross-systems conference