The 2018 Cayman Alternative Investment Summit — better known as CAIS — brought delegates and speakers from around the world to Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa on Feb. 8 and 9.
Keynote speakers actor Will Smith and race car driver Danica Patrick ended each day with inspirational talks, while the line-up of acclaimed international financial industry speakers addressed the theme of this year’s conference, “Wired: The rise of alternative investments in the digital age.”
Prominent topics of the two-day conference included Bitcoin and other cyptocurrencies, the potential effects of populism and nationalism on the global economy, and the investment outlook for the short-to-medium-term.
Artificial intelligence was also a key topic and the second day of the summit included an interview with Sophia, the first robot to gain citizenship of any country when Saudi Arabia granted those rights.
Over the two days, the speakers offered many insights on the state of the alternative investments industry and what the future might look like.
Here are some of them:
On artificial intelligence, digitisation and technological advancements:
“The technology horse is completely out of the barn. It’s gone. You have a choice of staying at the barn and watching it or going out to try and catch up with it and ride it.”
“The humans aren’t going anywhere, but humans will continue to need the assistance of machines.”
-Michelle McCloskey, President of Man Americas
“The secret sauce of [virtual reality] is presence.”
“With today’s technology, we can create illusions that are spectacular.”
“There are no rules in [virtual reality].”
Jeremy Bailenson, Founding Director, Virtual Human Interaction Lab, Stanford University
“I believe [artificial intelligence] will be the last major invention ever made.”
“What the Internet did to the music industry, digitisation will do to the alternative investments industry.”
-Anthony Cowell, Partner,
Head of Asset Management, KPMG
“I think that over the next 20 years, we’ll see more changes in the way we work than over the last two millennia.”
“We’re headed to a future where our natural human abilities are going to be augmented by technology.”
-Maurice Conti, Chief Innovation Officer, Alpha
“[The use of blockchain technology for digital identification] would reduce our cost for compliance significantly across the industry.”
-Bill Woodson, Managing Director, Citi Private Bank
“Capitalism is one of the biggest platforms of innovation.”
-Darsh Preet Singh, Managing Partner & CIO, Hazoor Partners
“What I’m really looking for with [artificial intelligence] is how AI can help me automate my managers’ selection process.”
-Ron Barin, CIO, Alcoa
“Digitalising is helpful, but it also presents some challenges, especially relating to mindset.”
-Adi Divgi, President & CEO, EA Global LLC
“Do you understand exactly how you work, Jon?”
-Sophia, the humanoid, in response to a question by KPMG Partner Jon Cohen if she understood her inner workings
On cryptocurrencies:
“[Cryptocurrency] is a very polarising discussion; people are on one side of the fence or the other.”
-Andrew Schofield, Partner, KPMG
“Blockchain and Bitcoin are big. Really big.”
“Money as we know it will cease to exist in the near term.”
“There is no going back. There is no putting the genie back in the bottle.”
-Mark Yusko, CEO and CIO, Morgan Creek Capital Management, LLC
“Blockchain is here to stay and it must be core to the way we envision our business.”
“Everyone has an ax to grind [with cryptocurrencies] which is why we have to focus on projects where there are mutual benefits.”
-Steve Potter, Vice Chairman, Northern Trust
“Everyone in this room should read the Bitcoin white paper.”
“I’m definitely bullish that we’ll find the right path [with cryptocurrencies].”
-Matt Galligan, Co-Founder & CEO, The Picks & Shovels Co.
On the economic outlook and investment strategies:
“We are in what I call a snowflake economy; it’s perfect and beautiful, but it’s still somewhat fragile.”
-Constance Hunter, Principal, Chief Economist, KPMG
“The long-term investment returns over the next five to 10 years are going to be much lower than those in the last five to 10 years.”
-Nouriel Roubini, Chairman & CEO, Roubini Macro Associates
“I think expectations and strategy are upside down right now.”
-Mark Roberts, CIO, Ironside Asset Advisors, LLC
“Please bring on the recession. We need it to get rid of the bad companies. We need a forest fire to get rid of the bad underbrush crud.”
“There is no end to [quantitative easing]. We are turning Japanese. Everything that happens in Japan, 10 and a half years later, it happens in the United States. The only way out is a debt jubilee.”
-Mark Yusko, CEO and CIO, Morgan Creek Capital Management, LLC
“I don’t see the recession coming soon.”
“I still think the next recession in the U.S. [will be] mild and I think it’s three years out.”
“Be very sceptical and very concerned about procyclical [investment] strategies, especially when they’re leveraged.”
-Jim McCaughan, CEO, Principal Global Investors
“If you’re going to take risks in your portfolio, take really thoughtful risks.”
“I think the forces of technology are very deflationary.”
-Darsh Preet Singh, Managing Partner & CIO, Hazoor Partners
On populism, protectionism and nationalism:
“The shift that worries investors the most is that of globalisation to populism.”
“The populism wave is truly horrific. It is bad, it’s dangerous and it’s lecherous in that it leaches our enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit.”
“[Extreme nationalism] is dangerous and will cause our profitability and quality of life to decline.”
-Mark Yusko, CEO and CIO, Morgan Creek Capital Management, LLC
“Very often politicians use populism to get elected and then gravitate to a more moderate position.”
“If we really do adopt protectionism that impacts free trade, the end result can’t be good.”
-Carl Stork, President, Ciconia & Co. LLC
“Brexit is spectacular political failure; it all comes down to politics.”
-Yanis Varoufakis, Former Minister of Finance of Greece, Co-founder, Diem25
