The Business Times

SMU hosted a conference on artificial intelligence (AI) in business and finance on 17 Oct at its campus. Panellists included Anand Sachdev, Managing Director and Country Manager of ING Bank Singapore; Fabiano Siufi, Area Chief Financial Officer of Microsoft ASEAN; Vincent Lim, CEO of Eco Sustainability Group, and Ken Guo, CEO of Revulate Technologies. They discussed the need for businesses to focus on reskilling amid the growing integration of AI in business operations as well as the sustainability implications of AI. The session was moderated by SMU Professor of Finance Zhang Hong.

In this commentary, SMU Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics (SKBI) Principal Researcher Thomas Lam and SKBI Director SMU Professor of Finance (Practice) Dave Fernandez offer their perspectives on the current multifaceted and highly charged US recession debate.

In this commentary, Leo Krippner and Thomas Lam, Research Fellows at the SMU Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics, underscore that although the Fed remains vigilant on inflation, it will likely continue its tightening cycle with caution, with an eye on market expectations about future policy actions and financial conditions.

Singaporeans' expectations for headline inflation for the year ahead has fallen, down to 3.9 per cent from 4.1 per cent last quarter due to a dampened growth outlook, according to this quarter’s Singapore Index of Inflation Expectations (SInDEx) results. SMU Assistant Professor of Finance (Education) and founding principal investigator of the DBS-SKBI SInDEx project Aurobindo Ghosh attributed the high inflationary expectations to the uncertainty arising from the continuing conflict in Ukraine, and shared how that has led to a rise in global oil prices and a potential slowdown in major economies. DBS Group Research is a co-sponsor and research partner with the SMU Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics (SKBI).

SMU Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics’ principal researcher Thomas Lam and the Institute’s Director Professor David Fernandez seek to tease out the likely impact on global growth and inflation, notwithstanding the fluidity of the current geopolitical conflict in Europe.

In a commentary, SMU Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics’ principal researcher Thomas Lam and the institute’s director Professor David Fernandez highlighted the ongoing hoo-ha surrounding central bank policy globally as the divergence between the Federal Reserve and People’s Bank of China intensifies.

The staggering pace of demand for environmental, social and governance (ESG) expertise amid scarce candidates has led to a demand-supply mismatch globally. In Singapore, there has been a recent surge in ESG courses to develop a suitable pipeline of talent here. For example, the new Singapore Green Finance Centre [an initiative of SMU and Imperial College Business School], backed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, offers courses across various levels – undergraduate, post-graduate, continuing and professional education. SMU's Advanced Certificate in Sustainability and Sustainable Businesses course – which costs up to S$10,272 for international participants – has been fully subscribed till March 2022.

In a commentary, David R. Hardoon, Visiting Faculty at the SMU Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics, explained about the contribution of data to the value of a company, and discussed possible approaches to determine the value of a data asset with certainty.

In a commentary, Thomas Lam, Principal Researcher at the SMU Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics, explores whether it is horse sense or hogwash to squawk about persistently higher inflation.

Thomas Lam, principal researcher at Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics, cautions in this piece that overreliance on “new” monetary policy can lead to unintended consequences.