Long Finance Conferences

"Belt, Road & Bridge: Creating New China-Europe Connections"

Long Finance Conference, 1 May 2019

Z/Yen was delighted on 1 May 2019 to welcome over 250 people to a major conference, "Belt, Road & Bridge: Creating New China-Europe Connections", at the Honourable Artillery Company in the City of London. Our special guests were China Development Institute, who have been a major partner in the production of the Global Financial Centres Index since GFCI 20 in 2016. The purpose of the conference was to make new connections, 关系 guānxì, in light of the Belt Road Forum For International Cooperation in Beijing the weekend before, 25-27 April, as well as looking past Brexit to new UK and European connections with China.

"Long Finance Autumn Conference 2018: Smart Ledgers (MDLs, aka Blockchains) & Risk"

Long Finance Conference, 14 November 2018

The impressive auditorium of Willis Building welcomed delegates from across the industry who joined us for a glimpse of what the future looks like and guidance on how to get ready for it. The three topics covered were: Cyber-Catastrophe Insurance-Linked Securities On Smart Ledgers, the creation of a new index on Smart Jurisdictions, and Smart Ledger Architectures & Distributed Permissions.

"Digital Currencies Educational Trade Fair"

Long Finance Conference, 23 October 2017

The stunning Great Hall of the Chartered Insurance Institute was transformed into an intimate trade fair like no other. Twenty six 'token' companies brought their banners, tablets, and other material, respectful of the smaller than usual space allocated to each one. In the spirit of cooperation, vital in this field, they shared tables, as well as their excitement about the road ahead. In the smaller Court Room, Michael Mainelli and Vinay Gupta, founder of Mattereum and Hexayurt.Capital, chaired a series of 12 punchy, educational 10-minute talks. Another successful conference sponsored by DasCoin.

"The Dark Side Of The Chain? Governing & Auditing Mutual Distributed Ledger (MDL, aka blockchain) Systems"

Long Finance Conference, 23 May 2017

Kindly sponsored by DasCoin, this conference brought together 17 specialists from the business, legal and academic sectors to explore the systemic, legal, and technical challenges surrounding the governance of distributed ledger technology. Before an audience of 100, in the grand surroundings of the Chartered Insurance Institute Great Hall, our experts discussed issues ranging from asset bubbles and Ricardian Contracts to human trafficking and cyberwarfare. Both the visual and oral parts of our keynote speakers' presentations can be found here.

"Are You Interested Or Discounted? Long-term Social Finance"

Long Finance Conference, 1 March 2016

Hosted by Gresham College, this conference will explore discount rates and their implications for society over the long term. Discounted cash flow (DCF) and net present value (NPV) analyses which have long been part of the financial analyst’s toolbox. By deciding on a discount rate and using that discount rate in some exponential equations it is easy to argue that future generations will be richer than us and can pay for more in their future, so we can spend wantonly now. Or that something horribly expensive is really quite cheap if we make a very small change in the discount rate. This conference will examine the implications of discount rates on society’s long-term decisions such as health, education, infrastructure, and the environment.

"The Curious Case of Japan: Why Macroeconomics Needs a Rethink"

Long Finance Conference, 3 March 2015

Hosted by Gresham College, this conference focused on an important clash between theory and practice, Japan with Professor Richard Werner (University of Southampton), George Edwards MBE, John Greenwood OBE (Invesco) and Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli (Z/Yen Group). Their presentations were followed by a panel discussion. For more information and links to the transcripts please click here.

"Steady As She Goes: Long-Term Performance Measurement In Finance"

Long Finance Conference, 26 March 2014

Hosted by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, this event explored suggestions for reforms of long-term measures in finance with Lady Susan Rice (Lloyd's Banking Group), Anthony Hene (GMO), Professor Paul Woolley (LSE), Kelly Clark (Marmanie) and Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli (Z/Yen Group). The presentations were followed by a panel discussion. For more information, please click here.

"How To Innovate, What To Regulate: Achieving Real Change On The Road To Long Finance"

Long Finance Conference, 13 March 2013

Hosted by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, this conference explored with Professor Thorsten Beck to what extent we have made progress since 2008 in addressing the problems revealed by the financial crisis at the end of the last decade. This presentation was followed by a panel discussion which considered what innovation, if any, has happened to facilitate risk management and what effect regulation has had in addressing the problems at the root of the financial system. The second part of the conference focused on risks, opportunities and innovative financial mechanisms for investment in green technology. For more information, click here.

"Measures Beyond Money"

Long Finance Autumn Conference, 14 November 2012

Hosted by University College London (UCL), this conference explored with Denis White (University of Oregon, formerly researcher at US EPA) the concept of 'emergy' and how it can be used as a universal accounting unit to inform indices of country sustainability and self-sufficiency. The discussion then extended with other speakers around sustainable growth beyond the economic issues of GDP and a low-carbon economy and will engage with some of the fundamental questions concerning societal infrastructure, what prosperity means and how we can evaluate and measure well-being in a meaningful way. For more information, click here.

"Into the Folly of Value: Reforming Sustainable Finance"

Long Finance Spring Conference, 1 March 2012

Hosted by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, this conference explored with Professor Charles Goodhart the topic of monetary stability in uncertain times. In the second part, Matthew Kiernan introduced some key facts regarding opportunities and challenges in sustainable finance. Both presentations were followed by panel discussions. For more information, click here.

"Bubble Trouble: Pop Goes Sustainability"

Long Finance Autumn Conference, 4 November 2011

Hosted by HSBC, this conference focused on the subject of market bubbles and their effects on efforts to ensure sustainability with presentations from John Redwood MP and John Elkington from Volans. For more information, click here.

"Peak Everything: Enough To Go Around?"

Long Finance Spring Conference, 24 March 2011

Hosted by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, this conference explored the relationship between prosperity, resource scarcity and finance. Professor Paul Ekins delivered the keynote presentation on "Resource Scarcity, Resource Productivity and Economic Growth: The Role of Innovation". For more information, click here.

"Whose Brains? ESG Data and Intellectual Property"

London Accord Autumn Conference, 12 October 2010

Hosted at the Museum of London, this conference looked at sources of ESG data and at the importance of intellectual property in evaluating cleantech and other climate change investments. For more information, click here.

"Sustainability: Root Problems In Finance"

Long Finance Autumn Conference, 20^th September 2010

Hosted by the City of London Corporation, this conference explored some of the roots problem in finance. Professor Avinash Persaud delivered a keynote presentation on "Sustainability: The Problem of Time" followed by a panel discussion on the relevance of the long term to finance. The second panel discussion contrasted democracy with markets in terms of incentives to take a long-term view. For more information, click here.

"Climate Change: Structuring Cleantech Investment"

London Accord Spring Conference, 18 May 2010

Hosted at the Museum of London, this conference explored issues related to the development of investment instruments for infrastructure and the low carbon economy. For more information, click here.

"Long Finance: Enduring Value"

Long Finance Spring Conference, 1 February 2010

Hosted by Willis, this conference explored the notion of value and finance over the long term. It was held with the leaders of our inspiration, Long Now. Two significant Long Finance publications, "In Search Of The Eternal Coin: A Long Finance View of History" (Malcolm Cooper, 2010) and "Time To Stop Betting The House: Mortgages, Resilience and the Long Finance" (David Steven, 2010) were presented. A particular highlight was 350 people singing along with Brian Eno in support of financial services reform. For more information, click here.

"Climate Change: New Financial Products and Indices"

London Accord Autumn Conference, 15 October 2009

Held at the Museum of London, this conference explored the range of products, services and indices available with respect to finance and climate change. Nick Robins from HSBC delivered a keynote speech on "Innovation in Climate Change Financial Products and Services". For more information, click here.

"Investment Opportunities For A Low-Carbon World"

London Accord Spring Conference, 24 March 2009

Hosted by CISI and City of London Corporation, this conference explored low-carbon investment opportunities and the investment implications of a low-carbon world. Will Oulton, then FTSE Group, delivered the keynote address and presented the book he edited, titled "Investment Opportunities For A Low-Carbon World".

"A Robust World Via Vigorous Markets"

London Accord Spring Conference, 29 April 2008

Organized jointly by the London Accord and Tomorrow's Company, this conference discussed the London Accord as a unique research collaboration and how it all came together.

"The London Accord: Sustainable Finance and Climate Change"

London Accord Winter Conference, 30 January 2008

Hosted by Gresham College and BP, this event explored the London Accord as a unique research collaboration, including participating research organisation's perspectives.

"The London Accord 2007"

Publication Launch, 19 December 2007

Hosted by the City of London Corporation, this event launched the London Accord 2007 compendium of reports titled "London Accord: Making Investment Work For The Climate" after two years of work and involving over 20 organisations primarily from the financial services sector.

"The London Accord Spring Conference 2007"

London Accord Spring Conference, 29—30 March 2007

Over 80 people attended the conference, sponsored and organised by Reuters and held at the Reuters building in London’s Docklands. The objective of the conference was to assure a shared direction for the London Accord and to help investment research teams understand some of the viewpoints of scientists, academics, government and NGOs.