INTHEBLACK April 2022 - Magazine - Page 14
GET SMART
// R E V I E W S
REVIEWS DEREK PARKER
GOOD
READS
TRILLIONS
Robin
Wigglesworth
Penguin
As the global finance correspondent for the
Financial Times, Robin Wigglesworth has
had a front-row seat to a development that
has remade financial markets: the rise of
index funds. The revolution has been slow
but inexorable, to the point that index funds
now dominate the investment landscape.
Wigglesworth walks readers through the
early academic work, which hypothesised
that a basket of passive investments would
usually outperform active traders, taking
account of the fees charged to investors.
Turning theory into practice was tricky,
but Wigglesworth has a good time with a
sprawling cast of characters and starring
John Clifton “Jack” Bogle, who created the
first working index fund.
Wigglesworth is generally supportive
of index funds, emphasising that they
have saved investors billions in fees, but
he also acknowledges their downsides.
For example, he notes that the dramatic
reduction in the number of active traders
amplifies market movements, makes entry
for newcomers more difficult and reduces
the transparency of decisions.
Yes, index funds have brought more
people into the wealth creation process,
but they have also concentrated power in
a few hands. The long-term consequences
of lopsided markets are not clear, but
Trillions has a remarkable story to tell and
Wigglesworth tells it well.
14 ITB April 2022
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A SHOT TO SAVE
THE WORLD
SHIFTING THE
BALANCE
Gregory Zuckerman
Mark Schrutt
The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most
significant global events of our lifetime, and
this book shows how the vaccines, which have
been critical in turning the tide, have been
developed. Gregory Zuckerman, a science
writer at The Wall Street Journal, points out
that drug companies had long seen vaccines
as a low priority, but when the crisis hit, they
quickly pivoted to a new paradigm.
COVID-19 triggered a massive program
of vaccine investment, research and testing,
with remarkable cooperation between
governments, researchers and the private
sector. Several vaccines were developed in
record time – very different to the usual slow
pace of drug development.
Zuckerman explains the underlying science
and the technological advances required for
large-scale production and distribution of the
COVID-19 vaccines. He acknowledges that
pharmaceutical companies always have an
eye on the bottom line, but believes there has
also been an acceptance of the need to look
beyond profitability.
The virus has not yet been defeated,
especially with new strains appearing, but
Zuckerman predicts that, because of the
vaccines, COVID-19 will become a seasonal
disease rather than a global threat. The book
adds up to a fascinating account of how the
corporate sector, and the broader community,
can rise to meet significant challenges.
Analytics, algorithms and big data have
changed the fundamental nature of business.
In this book, Mark Schrutt, a consultant
specialising in disruption and digital
transformation, examines their advantages
and limitations. While a huge amount of
information is now available to business,
it is usually focused on what has already
happened. As a result, organisations can
be reactive, emerging threats, changes
and opportunities can be missed, and old
biases can be inadvertently “baked into”
decision-making.
Nevertheless, Schrutt makes clear that
the old method of leaders making strategic
decisions according to their gut feeling is
unsuitable for the Digital Age. The answer is
a hybrid system, where company principals
draw on all the available information but still
retain the final decision on strategy, using
their knowledge of the marketplace and their
observations of what is coming down the road.
Looking at the practices of companies that
have developed such combination models,
Schrutt emphasises that leaders need to be
able to understand the value of data. They
also need to recruit data specialists who
can provide information that is relevant to
strategy. Data should not – and cannot –
replace experience and wisdom, but leaders
must be willing to use the new generation of
tools to achieve the best outcomes.
Penguin
ECW Press