Archive for the ‘Global Finance’ Category

Global market uncertainty and volatility will not go away soon, which means governments must implement new policy management styles to cope with the increased flow of global finance, Thunderbird Professor F. John Mathis, Ph.D., said March 21, 2012, in a live alumni webinar. “The globalization of finance is requiring a different learning of how to manage policy in a country to get real results — real growth and job creation,” Mathis said. “What’s growing is the importance of emerging markets.” He said total exports to advanced economies dropped from 73 percent in 2004 to 64 percent in 2010. “That raises an issue because we know emerging markets are more volatile,” Mathis said. He was joined by Wolfgang Koester, CEO of FiREapps, and Andy Gage, Head of Marketing of FiREapps. | Video: Watch the full webinar (58:42)
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Direct investment, personal income and tax revenue are rising in the United States — staving off a double-dip recession — but don’t make plans to retire just yet. Thunderbird School of Global Management Professor F. John Mathis, Ph.D., says economic growth of 1.5 percent to 2.5 percent will fall “way below the rate we need to grow to absorb the unemployed in any significant way.” He blames the slow recovery on a weak banking system hampered by persistent mortgage delinquency. “This part of the banking system is not functioning,” says Mathis, director of Thunderbird’s Global Financial Services Office. “That’s a long-term problem.” He says slow growth in the United States and other mature markets will drag down the emerging and developing world. “Financial globalization has linked us extremely tightly together,” Mathis says. “We’re all being drawn into the same close performance levels.” He spoke Sept. 14, 2011, during an alumni webinar that included a live question-and-answer session. Watch the full presentation here. | Video: Why You Can’t Retire (1:03:16)
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By Carlos Danel, Thunderbird Global Business Dialogue Speaker

All of us witnessed in 2008 the unfolding of the worst economic crises in our lifetime. Mexico in particular faced a devastating ripple effect with its U.S. export dependent economy. However, a different story unfolded in the case of Compartamos. While most Mexican banks suffering double-digit default rates for their credit card and mortgage lending portfolios, Compartamos had a default rate of less than 2 percent. While consumer lending by the banking sector declined by 34 percent, Compartamos’ loan portfolio grew by more than 30 percent. How could one company evade the economic crisis practically unscathed? One reason is because microfinance a different kind of finance. | Video: Profiting from the poor (2:42) | Video: Reality check for microfinance (1:52) | Video: Creating sustainable value (2:11)
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By Hernan Pisano ’08, Thunderbird MBA

Some financial bloggers and other market analysts predict gloomy days ahead for the high technology industry. The Economist and Financial Times both published recent posts suggesting the “second coming” of the Internet bubble. But closer analysis casts doubt on this hypothesis. Pricing patterns, lack of credit, relevant involvement of corporations, cultural shifts and historic data all make a repeat bubble unlikely. A significant consolidation will bring blood, sweat and tears, but this will not be a “bubble style” massacre.
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Finance and accounting professionals have a language of their own that sometimes leaves laymen dazed and confused. Michael Petersen, Ph.D., a clinical professor of accounting at Thunderbird School of Global Management, understands your pain. He was part of the faculty that led Project Artemis Pakistan, a program for nine Pakistani businesswomen that Thunderbird ran May 2-15, 2011, in partnership with the U.S. State Department and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women. Petersen shared with the Project Artemis fellows “10 terms to help you look smarter when talking to people about money and accounting.”
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Global investors looking for signs of recovery need to pay close attention to U.S. consumers, Thunderbird School of Global Management Professor F. John Mathis, Ph.D., said April 7, 2011, during an interactive alumni webinar. “The U.S. will drive the world’s recovery at this stage,” Mathis said. “I don’t think China or India will be able to sustain such high growth rates unless the U.S. recovers.” Mathis said real consumer income has bounced back in the United States, although employment gains have been slow. He said negative events such as the Middle East uprisings, the Japanese tsunami and the budget deficit debates in Washington, D.C., have created uncertainty and slowed a consumer confidence recovery that started in 2010. | Video: Global Economic Outlook with F. John Mathis (1:03:40)
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A global recession and other setbacks have not quelled public appetite for exchange-traded funds (ETFs), an innovative market tool that BlackRock iShares uses to help investors manage risks, control expenses and reduce tax liabilities. “The ETF market has been robust since 1999,” guest speaker David Kimerling said Feb. 7, 2011, during a financial services workshop organized by Thunderbird Professor F. John Mathis, Ph.D. Like the name suggests, ETFs are investment funds traded on stock exchanges. The funds usually track indexes such as the Dow Jones, which means the fund value goes up or down as the index goes up or down. Kimerling, Vice President and Business Development Officer of iShares, said four main advantages set ETFs apart from mutual funds and other investment tools. | Video: Exchange-traded Funds 101 (2:33)
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Marketing professionals often view their organization’s finance department as the “Ministry of No Way,” while finance professionals view the marketing department as the “Ministry of Fluff.” Thunderbird Professor Richard Ettenson, Ph.D., has seen the often fractious relationship that results when the two sides try to coexist. Despite his background as the Thelma H. Kieckhefer Research Fellow in Global Brand Marketing at Thunderbird, he lays much of the blame on his own colleagues who manage brands and generate leads for their organizations. | Video: Making the Business Case for Marketing and Branding (35:47)
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U.S. President Barack Obama will focus on employment and the economy during his State of the Union address Jan. 25, 2011. But Thunderbird Professor F. John Mathis, Ph.D., does not expect a quick recovery. “If we look short term, we are not going to see any quick change in the unemployment numbers,” Mathis told ABC 15 News reporter Hatzel Vila in Phoenix. Mathis said the country’s long-term challenge is to fix the education system, so U.S. companies do not have to look overseas for skilled workers. “We are importing the experts we need in various areas because we do not educate enough domestically,” Mathis said. Watch the full ABC 15 report.

Thunderbird Professor F. John Mathis, Ph.D., and other faculty hosted high-net-worth individuals Oct. 19-22, 2010, at the first Thunderbird Global Wealth Management Summit in Phoenix, Arizona.

Speakers at the event provided global perspectives on financial services issues and shared investment concepts and strategies.

“The timing for this event could not have been better,” said Mathis, director of Thunderbird’s Global Financial Services Center. “We have mounting uncertainty in the global economy and a tense political environment.”

Other T-bird speakers at the event included President Ángel Cabrera, Ph.D., Professor Ernesto Poza, Thunderbird donors Craig Barrett, Ph.D., and his wife, U.S. Ambassador Barbara Barrett.