Catch Up

Technology is reshaping financial and non-financial companies from the points of view of both markets and corporates. Companies across industries are accelerating innovation and investment in AI and machine learning.

Against this backdrop, the EFG Gamma Foundation hosted a digital event on the topic “AI-driven business model disruption across sectors: What’s next?” This is the latest in a series of conferences organised by this private foundation supported by EFG, which fosters knowledge building and discussions about different fields, particularly from an applied management perspective.

The event offered fascinating insights into the role of digital acceleration and highlighted the increasing importance of technology across industries. It also explored how digital acceleration and artificial intelligence(AI) have radically transformed ways of doing business in the last few years, looked at how companies and markets have reacted to this disruption in terms of their business models and value propositions, and considered key future trends.

A panel of experts, including Domenico Restuccia, Founder and CEO of Techedge Group, Marco Zaffalon, University Professor and Scientific Director at IDSIA (USI-SUPSI) and Artificialy, James Pomeroy, Global Economist at HSBC, and Moz Afzal, Global CIO at EFG, engaged in a lively discussion and shared their views on into this important topic.

Over the last decade, financial education has risen on the agenda of policy-makers and is today more important than ever as the world faces mounting geopolitical risks, inequalities, and the threat of climate change. The financial sector has also been transformed during this time, with innovations, new players and new technologies bringing opportunities but also increasing risks for consumers, especially those with limited experience.

With this event, the EFG Gamma Foundation is seeking to promote a broader understanding of this key topic by sharing different views from experts including Annamaria Lusardi (Professor at The George Washington University and Edufin Committee’s Director), Andrea Beltratti (Chairman, EFG Gamma Foundation and Financial Industry Expert), Luigi Conte (Chair of ANASF – Italian Association of Financial Advisors) and Mario Nardi (CEO of Pietro Fiorentini Group).

Among other aspects, they will explore the general impact of financial education across ages, gender and geographies, and look at ways of maximising the impact of financial education. They will also discuss how financial education can translate into more effective company management and examine how financial institutions can help to foster greater financial literacy.

On 23 November 2023, the EFG Gamma Foundation hosted the event Dealing with geopolitical instability: How to manage companies and navigate markets?

It offered valuable insights into the different factors that can affect businesses and the financial sector in times of geopolitical instability.

During the conference, the experts discussed, among other things, the implications of current conflicts and tensions for the global economy; how companies and managers can cope with geopolitical instability and successfully navigate challenging periods; how we can interpret market reactions to these challenges and what investors should look for in the new year.

The last two years’ events, from pandemic to war in Ukraine, brought to life high levels of uncertainty as well as unprecedented social, economic and political challenges. Due to this, policymakers, entrepreneurs, managers and executives had to strive to adapt and recover from complex shocks often trying to build resilience.

Against this backdrop, it is important to explore questions such as: what are the lessons’ learnt from a management and market perspectives? How can business leaders most effectively support, inspire, and guide employees and stakeholders in times of crisis? Which is the role of a leader in times of crisis? How markets reacted to the last two years’ events and what are the key take away for the future?

With the event “Resilience in uncertain times: Do leadership and governance matter?” EFG Gamma Foundation invites a number of experts to discuss which are the qualities of effective leadership in times of crisis, how companies can surface in a positive path forward, and contribute to build stronger and more resilient communities as well as how markets can be navigated in challenging times in the light of recent experiences.

The EU’s Social Taxonomy aims to provide a common code for investors, businesses and regulators to determine whether an economic activity is sustainable from a social perspective. The publication of the final report by the European Commission Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance marked a change of course for sustainable finance by creating a clear system of classification for activities that encourage compliance with the social objectives of the European Union and can contribute to the development of a green and more inclusive society

Against this backdrop, it is important to explore questions such as: What are theobjectives of the EU taxonomy? How can equality and inclusion be promoted within a company? And: How can social taxonomy be integrated into investment processes and choices?

With this event, the Gamma Foundation is seeking to promote a broader understanding of this key topic by providing a platform where institutions, managers and investment experts can share their different views about the Social Taxonomy.

In this virtual event we discussed Geopolitical risks that have an increasingly crucial role in managing business and assets, and threaten coexistence between people. We invited Paolo Magri, Executive Vice President of the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) and Professor of International Relations at Bocconi University, to give an overview of the current situation across the world and Moz Afzal, Global CIO at EFG, to discuss how companies and asset managers can manage geopolitical risks, and their impacts on markets.

Paolo Magri

Moz Afzal

Giorgio Pradelli

In this Virtual Summit we explored Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance considerations that have a vital role in business, from being a key building block of an asset management investment process, to the cornerstone of entrepreneurial endeavour. We invited a panel of experts to discuss the importance of showing leadership in the space and how good leadership can accelerate ESG-compliant companies.