This is the first article in a series of JANA Spark articles related to modern slavery.  In future articles we will cover modern slavery risk from an investment manager perspective and a custodian perspective.

The astonishing upheavals across the globe over the past 12 months saw dramatic developments in investment markets, including the fastest equity market correction and subsequent recovery on record, radical changes to fiscal policy and regulation, the continued outperformance of ‘unicorns’ and the resurgence of cryptocurrencies, in particular Bitcoin.

Has COVID-19 driven a final push lower in very loose monetary and fiscal policy worldwide, the rise of on-line business models, and de-globalisation, or was the world going down this path anyway? Two leading economic thinkers, Andrew Balls of PIMCO and John Butler of Wellington, will provide their perspectives on the future direction of the global economy post the pandemic.

The trends towards economic ‘de-coupling’ of China from other countries, particularly developed countries, and ‘regionalisation’, often touted as the next phase of globalisation, may be accelerated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this session, our panel of Asia-based investors will explore the opportunities and risks for China and Asia more broadly of these trends, and the implications for investors.