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Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a great buzzword in scientific and business communities and even the popular press. This webinar was designed to explore the technology underlying AI, known as “unsupervised learning.” Unsupervised learning allows us to hear the data speak for itself, reducing reliance on researchers’ potentially biased frameworks and sometimes discovering unexpected factors. In the course of the webinar, we considered AI applications in Finance and contrasted those with traditional machine learning (ML) models. FDP Institute's Hossein Kazemi discussed Explainable AI with Irene Aldridge, President, Head of Research at AbleMarkets.

Alternative investment funds (AIFs) have gained much traction in India and overseas in recent years, especially among high net-worth individuals, as they warm up to sophisticated capital market instruments. With the increasing popularity of the product it becomes very important to provide better access to these products in terms of disclosures and benchmarking to enable investors take an informed decision.

During the course of the presentation we discussed in detail the benchmarking of AIFs. It helped the audience gain insights into the following aspects:
1. AIF as an important avenue to invest in India
2. Nuances of benchmarking in AIFs
3. Various categories and sub-categories of AIFs present in India
4. Trends observed in AIF benchmarks in the past 2 years and methodology used to calculate the benchmarks
5. Qualitative aspects to consider before investing in an AIF

Gold has remained the most precious asset in our lives ever since the concept of wealth creation was curated by human civilisation. Our country is the second-largest consumer of gold worldwide, and Indian people possess a profound attachment with gold, considering it an integral part of auspicious occasions. The webinar covered the drivers of gold demand in India. Thoughts on why gold is to be looked at as a strategic asset class were shared.

As digital assets continue to gather broad appeal as an asset class, and flourish by creating an entirely new financial ecosystem, it is important to understand how we define these assets, their key characteristics, the regulations related to this emerging asset class, and challengers when accessing to these assets. In this session, Sharon Liebowitz, Senior Director of Innovation and Strategy Indices at S&P DJI was joined by Steve Novakovic, MD Curriculum, CAIA Association and Hossein Kazemi, Senior Advisor, FDP Institute to deep dive into the digital asset ecosystem, analyzing the performance attributes and potential risk of digital assets; how innovative solutions such as digital asset indices could potentially provide market participants to measure and assess this emerging asset class; and the future development of the digital asset landscape.

This webinar focused on commodities with an eye on risk management and financial gain. The coverage was as follows:

1. Commodity derivatives have 2 roles – first – used as a tool of risk management (hedging) for mitigating the price risk. This is generally done by commodity producers/ consumers; second – is investment purpose – i.e. investors trade in commodities in anticipation of making profit from such investment;
2. In order to undertake hedging appropriately, it is important to understand the modalities and mechanism of hedge transactions.
3. Taxation and accounting rules are progressively being reformed to encourage commodity price hedging;
4. In recent times there is growing interest in commodity investing because of their unique characteristics like the ability to hedge inflation risk, insure against event risks, portfolio diversification etc. The entry of Mutual Funds in the commodity space is also taking commodity investment to retail investors.
5. Commodity investment is unique as exposure to commodities (generally) involves exposure to two asset classes: (i) Commodity and (ii) US dollar. Commodities offer a natural hedge against exchange rate risk of US dollar since they are traded in dollars. Hence, inclusion of commodities is an effective way of portfolio diversification of equity and bond portfolios.

How can investment professionals meet their clients' needs under ever-changing economic and market conditions? We call future-proofed portfolios the Portfolio for the Future™. The five distinct marks of the Portfolio for the Future™ are the defining features of all-weather portfolios that meet the challenges of the global economy and capital markets. The 5 marks are – Broadly Diversified, Less Liquid, Rooted in a Fiduciary Mindset, Actively Engaged and Dependent on Operational Alpha.

Tune in to entail on an exciting webinar journey which will cover a range of topics around the investment dynamics for an ardent finance professional.

This web seminar featured members of the CAIA Curriculum Team as well as Candidate Relations. The following topics were discussed:

- Curriculum Materials
- Exam Format
- Review of Exam Topics
- Available Resources

This web seminar featured members of the CAIA Curriculum Team as well as Candidate Relations. The following topics were discussed:

- Curriculum Materials
- Exam Format
- Review of Exam Topics
- Available Resources

First Friday of each month, at 8:30 am ET, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) releases one of the most important macroeconomic indicators - the jobs report or non-farm payrolls (NFP) that makes headlines and moves financial markets worldwide. What is the value of knowing NFP 2 to 3 weeks in advance and 10% more accurately than the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and Wall Street analysts? Instead of waiting months to know key economic concepts like the GDP, sophisticated investors are leveraging the science of nowcasting to open a clearer window into the future. Nowcasting or real-time measurement using alternative ("Big") data and machine learning is particularly impactful in emerging economies and also has the potential for driving positive social impact. Dr. Hossein Kazemi of the FDP Institute shared details from Apurv Jain, CEO, and Founder at MacroXStudio, about this exciting new area of data analytics. Webinar attendees were also able to download a preprint copy of Apurv’s book chapter on “Alternative Data and Machine Learning for Macro Nowcasting” appearing in Machine Learning And Data Sciences For Financial Markets - published by Cambridge University Press in 2023.

Much has been written about the great wealth transfer expected this decade. It is estimated that women will assume control of nearly thirty trillion dollars within the next ten years. Additionally, they will continue to earn more, as business founders with women-owned companies reaching “unicorn status” grew from 18 to 83 between 2020 to 2021 alone! How does this wealth transfer and growth for women impact the private wealth management industry, and, more broadly, the asset management industry? How must the industry change to meet the needs of this growing body of wealthy women? This session offered a discussion around examining the unique challenges posed to the industry associated with women as clients and investors. Both advisors and the industry will need to evolve to meet the distinctive needs of women – their perspectives, attitudes, and strategies.