Portfolio construction is a key tool for investors. By applying a framework and a systematic approach, investors may understand their exposures better. Listen to learn more about both practical and theoretical ideas about building robust and resilience strategies.

Host: David Sol, Global Head of Policy and Governance FTSE Russell

Guests: Dr. Joseph Simonian, Head of Equity Portfolio Design and Analytics, CalPERS and Sebastian Lancetti, Head of Index Research & Design, Americas, FTSE Russell

• (00:00:00) - Introduction
• (00:01:00) - Portfolio construction: Is it an art or a science?
• (00:02:39) - Examples of portfolio construction techniques
• (00:05:05) - What academics are writing about today
• (00:07:40) - Approaching portfolio construction
• (00:12:20) - Practical vs theoretical approaches
• (00:14:13) - Concentration

Anthony Rochte (FTSE Russell) talks with GSAM's Brendan McCarthy and ProShares' Mo Haghbin about the evolution of the ETF industry. They discuss how the types of ETFs are evolving and how the question in portfolio construction is no longer about active vs passive, it's how you combine the two optimally.

Media reports, social media posts, press releases, CEO conference calls and many other channels deliver unstructured data to the market. MarketPsych uses AI and its large language models to analyse emotions and sentiment and turn these into signals and forecasts. Listen to learn more about this exciting and powerful growing field.

• (00:00:00) - Introduction
• (00:00:50) - What is media analytics?
• (00:01:49) - Converting unstructured data into structured content
• (00:04:15) - Explaining named entity recognition
• (00:05:15) - Launch of the StarMine MarketPsych Media Sentiment Model
• (00:06:44) - Sentiment vs stock market performance
• (00:08:20) - Signals around tariffs
• (00:10:08) - LLMs and entity recognition
• (00:10:39) - CEO optimism and analysing emotions
• (00:12:03) - The future of technology

Welcome to the second episode of our new three-part FTSE Russell Convenes ‘geopolitical’ series with Tina Fordham, independent global political strategist and founder of Fordham Global Foresight.

In this episode Tina discusses this ‘very different victory’ for President Trump, and its potential impact on global markets. She shares her views and expectations on topics from the change in political power, investor optimism, and the new administration, through to global political stability.

Welcome to the second episode of our new three-part FTSE Russell Convenes ‘geopolitical’ series with Tina Fordham, independent global political strategist and founder of Fordham Global Foresight.

In this episode Tina discusses this ‘very different victory’ for President Trump, and its potential impact on global markets. She shares her views and expectations on topics from the change in political power, investor optimism, and the new administration, through to global political stability.

Concluding this season of FTSE Russell Convenes, in the 40th anniversary year of the FTSE Russell US Indexes, we shine the spotlight on the evolution of FTSE Russell’s indices and how client input is key to their success.

With fifty years of indexing experiencing between them, Bryce Clarke, regional director, Index Investments Group and Catherine Yoshimoto, director of equity product management at FTSE Russell are ideally placed to discuss indexing from the product and client side.

Here they explain the necessity to collaborate with clients to really understand their desired investment outcomes, and how this intel feeds into FTSE Russell’s product development, customisation and delivery.

Johannes Lee, Investor within the asset management team at Builders Vision—the family office and impact platform created by the grandson of Walmart founders—discusses the organisation’s mission, investment strategy and recent work in stewardship and engagement.

He provides detail on Builders Vision’s investment focus in key thematic areas including sustainable food and agriculture, healthy oceans, renewable energy and thriving communities, with a focus on how the portfolio plays out both actively and passively.