Category: Faster Forward

Beyond Asset Tokenization with Dan Sleep and Zhu Kuang Lee

Beyond Asset Tokenization with Dan Sleep and Zhu Kuang Lee

This episode of Faster Forward features Dan Sleep, Digital Assets and Financial Markets Specialist at Northern Trust, and Zhu Kuang Lee, Managing Director and Chief Digital, Data & Innovation Officer at HSBC. The pair will discuss the power of tokenization as a true disruptor and how tokenization and the broader growth of the digital world are challenging how asset servicers operate.

Dan and Zhu Kuang discuss:

  • Significant changes and innovations in the industry due to the rise of digital assets 
  • Regulatory challenges in the digital assets space
  • The need for asset servicers to adapt to stay ahead of investor expectations
  • Servicing a blended ecosystem of traditional and digital assets
  • And more

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The Digitization of Private Equity Data with Clive Bellows

The Digitization of Private Equity Data with Clive Bellows

Clive Bellows, Head of Global Fund Services, EMEA, at Northern Trust joins the Faster Forward podcast to discuss the digitization of the private equity market and the opportunities that lie ahead as technology continues to evolve. 

Clive discusses:

  • The current private equity market and the digitization of the asset class
  • Technological advancements in the PE space
  • The importance of choosing a provider with the ability to service you in the present day and into the future
  • And more

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About Clive Bellows:

 

Conversations on Crypto with Chris Carrano

Conversations on Crypto with Chris Carrano

In this episode, we are joined by Chris Carrano, Vice President of Strategic Research at Venn by Two Sigma, to discuss the work that Venn is doing in the digital assets space, the Venn platform, and how returns-based analytics can help investors better understand their risk. 

Listen in as Chris discusses:

  • Venn by Two Sigma’s holistic investment analysis platform 
  • How Northern Trust and Venn by Two Sigma’s partnership brings unique quantitative insights to institutional investors
  • How institutional investor interest in cryptocurrencies has changed the investment landscape 
  • The impressive capabilities of Venn’s platform and risk analytics engine
  • And more!

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The Elevated Hedge Fund Investor Experience with Todd Frank

The Elevated Hedge Fund Investor Experience with Todd Frank

As technology continues to evolve, investors are seeking seamless and interactive user experiences to help them access and analyze their investment performance. 

In this episode, Todd Frank, Co-Chief Operating Officer at Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services, North America, discusses how advancements in digitalization through cloud-based platforms are enabling investors greater insight into their performance and providing enhanced transparency, offering investors a more sophisticated user experience. 

Topics explored:

  • Technology capabilities in the hedge fund space 
  • How investor expectations around technology are shifting 
  • The capabilities of cloud-based platforms in regard to providing greater insights and performance metrics
  • The importance of embracing the shift in digital platforms
  • How Northern Trust is working to offer “white glove customer service” to hedge fund investors 
  • And more

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  • LinkedIn: Todd Frank
Advancements in Digitized Banking with Peter Sanchez

Advancements in Digitized Banking with Peter Sanchez

As the world becomes increasingly digitized, the banking industry is no exception. In this episode, Peter Sanchez, Global Head of Banking and Treasury Services at Northern Trust, dives into the current environment for banking, trends in cash usage and demand for liquidity amongst investors, and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in the pursuit of instantaneous, real-time payments.  

Peter discusses:

  • The current environment for banking and trends in cash usage and demand for liquidity
  • The push for real-time reporting on balances and settlements
  • The implications of instantaneous cash delivery 
  • What Central Bank Digital Currencies are and how they differ from cryptocurrencies
  • The impact that Distributed Ledger Technology has on advancements in digitized baking
  • And more

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The Current Landscape for Digital Assets with Justin Chapman

The Current Landscape for Digital Assets with Justin Chapman

Season two of the Faster Forward podcast will be focused on digitization and digital assets. To kick off the season, we are joined by Justin Chapman, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Digital Assets and Financial Markets at Northern Trust. 

In this episode, Justin gives our listeners a glimpse into the current landscape for digital assets, examines key trends in the space, and explains how he is helping his organization move faster forward through digital innovation.

Justin discusses:

  • His background and how he got to his current role at Northern Trust
  • The formation of Northern Trust’s Digital Assets and Financial Markets Group 
  • How partnerships have helped to accelerate Northern Trust’s innovation in the digital arena
  • The regulatory environment for digital assets 
  • How digital assets have and will continue to transform traditional securities services and what Justin expects for the business over the next five to ten years
  • And more!

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Fairway Findings: Data Analytics in Golf with Mark Broadie and Pete Cherecwich

Fairway Findings: Data Analytics in Golf with Mark Broadie and Pete Cherecwich

To close out season one of the Faster Forward podcast, we are joined by an exciting set of guests: Pete Cherecwich, President of Asset Servicing at Northern Trust, who will be stepping in as our episode host, and Mark Broadie, Professor of Business at Columbia Business School and Author of “Every Shot Counts: Using the Revolutionary Strokes Gained Approach to Improve Golf Performance and Strategy” and member of the USGA handicap research team. 

Mark discusses his career as a Professor of Business at Columbia University, where he teaches finance, business, and sports analytics courses. He shares insights from his highly renowned book, where he applied his analytical skills from the financial world to uncover secrets of the game of golf, and explains how he is helping students and golfers across the globe move Faster Forward through the power of data. 

Join the conversation as Mark discusses:

  • His focus on teaching analytical concepts and methods with a sports niche 
  • The strokes gained approach and how it provides a greater analysis of a player’s performance compared to traditional statistics 
  • How professional and amateur golfers alike can embrace the strokes gained approach to improve their game 
  • What is next in Mark’s career, and what is his favorite course to play
  • And more

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Improving Investment Decisions with Equity Data Science

Improving Investment Decisions with Equity Data Science

Data is the most valuable resource to asset managers but probably the most underutilized. However, cutting-edge data analysis solutions are more accessible and cost-effective than many managers realize. 

In this episode, Greg McCall, Co-founder, President & CFO at Equity Data Science, discusses his background as a portfolio manager which led to him creating Equity Data Science, and how EDS’s cloud-based analytics platform works to provide decision support tools to asset managers to improve investment decisions. Greg also discusses the ways that Northern Trust and EDS leverage their partnership to help move clients Faster Forward through the power of data science. 

Listen as Greg discusses:

  • His industry experience and how he became co-founder at Equity Data Science
  • How EDS’s platform brings their clients’ internal and external data into a single environment
  • Leveraging data science to make investment decisions repeatable and scalable
  • The EDS and Northern Trust partnership
  • The benefits of EDS’s cost-effective and fully configurable technology

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Enhancing Process Documentation with Jennifer Smith and Pete Cherecwich

Enhancing Process Documentation with Jennifer Smith and Pete Cherecwich

Documented processes are essential to the function of businesses across the globe. However, manually transcribing processes can be mundane and time-consuming. Fortunately, Scribe is a tool that automates this task, making it significantly easier to create step-by-step process guides and allowing employees more time to focus on productive work.  

On this episode of Faster Forward, Jennifer Smith, Co-founder and CEO at Scribe, joins Pete Cherecwich, President of Northern Trust Asset Servicing to discuss how Scribe is transforming the distribution of knowledge and data across organizations and how Northern Trust has benefitted since onboarding the tool. 

Listen as Jennifer and Pete discuss:

  • Jennifer’s career journey and what inspired her to launch Scribe
  • How Pete came to the decision to onboard the tool at Northern Trust
  • How Scribe captures and produces step-by-step process guides
  • The ways Northern Trust employees leverage the tool
  • How the tool allows organizations to be more productive 
  • And more

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Behavioral Analytics to Drive Alpha with Paul Fahey and Clare Flynn Levy

Behavioral Analytics to Drive Alpha with Paul Fahey and Clare Flynn Levy

As asset allocators become increasingly involved in the investment process, they are looking to asset managers to answer questions about their investment decision-making and to explain performance. Without the right technology, it can be difficult for managers to pull out insights and articulate why they made the decisions they made. Investment teams are turning to behavioral analytics to better understand and improve their investment decisions.  

In this episode, Paul Fahey, Head of Investment Data Science at Northern Trust is joined by Clare Flynn Levy, Founder & CEO at Essentia Analytics to discuss what inspired Clare’s journey to begin Essentia Analytics, how Essentia’s technology gathers and produces actionable insights to help with the investment decision-making process and the ways that Northern Trust and Essentia leverage their partnership to help move their clients Faster Forward through the power of data science.  

Paul and Clare discuss:

  • Their experiences in the industry that led them to their roles today
  • Why managers and allocators are becoming more interested in behavioral analytics
  • How Essentia’s technology helps managers improve decision making
  • Quantitative and qualitative data that plays a role in portfolio manager’s performance
  • Where the Essentia and Northern Trust partnership is headed
  • And more

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