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In our Promise of Progress webinar series, Franklin Templeton Institute brings together thought leaders from inside and outside our firm to dig deeper into the biggest drivers, topics, and trends impacting investing decisions in our rapidly changing world. Bookmark this page to check on what is coming next as well as to hear replays of past discussions.
Read, Write, Own: How Web3 Can Restore Trust in Markets and Society
Available On Demand
Duration: 45 minutes
Food innovation: Investing to feed our future
Available On Demand
Duration: 59 minutes
Framing the future: the intersection of distruptive technology, sustainablity and investing
Available On Demand
Duration: 1 hour
The Vital Role of Microchips: Technology, geopolitics and the global economy
Available On Demand
Duration: 1 hour
How to drive innovation and growth from everywhere
Available On Demand
Duration: 46 minutes
Web3, the next generation of the internet, represents the power shift from big tech companies to individual users. With greater focus on user privacy, transparency and ownership, Web3 users can omit intermediaries, conduct peer-to-peer business and own and be compensated for their time and data with decentralized protocols.
Join Sandy Kaul, Head of Digital Assets and Industry Advisory Services at Franklin Templeton, and Omid Malekan, the Explainer-in-Chief of crypto and adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, as they dive into Web3 and Omid's latest book, Re-Architecting Trust: The Curse of History and the Crypto Cure for Money, Markets, and Platforms, an exploration into the evolution of money, markets and technology and how we can restore trust and integrity.
Food is no longer a story just about land, water and weather; it is a story about technology, innovation and the future. The investment needs are tremendous, which is where the deployment of new, smart capital can be so important.
We’ve brought together a panel of experts to discuss the major role food innovation, and the future of food production, will play in markets over the coming decades.
Some of the key questions addressed will include:
The digital future, once a beacon in the distance, has arrived. The technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution have already led to transformative advances in a number of areas, and continue to shape the world we live in. As well as underpinning the daily lives of many societies – from consumer products, digital interfaces and connectivity to automation and digitalised business processes – technology is also key in addressing global challenges including poverty, morbidity, food scarcity and climate change. Mobile banking has the power to enable financial service access in remote areas; synthetic biology can lead to improved crop yields or the introduction of crucial nutrients into staple crops; laboratory-designed meat and animal product alternatives have the potential to vastly reduce the environmental footprint of the livestock sector.
Opportunities and success stories in deep tech and the growing emphasis on ESG investing point towards increasing focus on positive impact alongside high returns. With so many new technologies and applications, full of promise, emerging at an unprecedented rate, which are here to stay?
Join Economist Impact for a discussion on the future of investing in a constantly morphing digital landscape, sponsored by Franklin Templeton.
Some of the key questions addressed will include:
The semiconductor industry is mission-critical, influencing nearly every other segment of the global economy. Join Stephen Dover, Chief Market Strategist for the Franklin Templeton Institute as he leads a discussion with economic historian and author of Chip War, Chris Miller and JP Scandalios, Portfolio Manager with Franklin Equity Group, who has spent over 20 years researching the semiconductor space. They will discuss the vital role played by the chip industry, how it may shift both the structure of the global economy and the balance of geopolitical power, and what the potential impact on the capital markets might be.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices and digital assets foster innovation with ground-breaking results. Join Franklin Templeton Chief Diversity Officer Regina Curry as she leads a discussion with Frans Johansson, CEO of The Medici Group, author of The Medici Effect, and entrepreneur; and Franklin Templeton Head of Digital Assets Roger Bayston. They will discuss the vital role DEI plays in fostering innovation and how DEI will help shape the future of digital assets and investing.
Sandy Kaul is an expert on innovative distribution trends and digital distribution at Franklin Templeton, providing advisory consulting for the firm and thought leadership as part of the Franklin Templeton Institute. She delivers actionable intelligence and insights on the future of the investment and wealth-management industry for the firm and its clients.
Ms Kaul has cultivated deeply informed insights and has an extensive background in market-leading research, thought leadership and predictive models centred on the evolution of the investment and wealth-management industry. She identifies and champions opportunities to address industry advancements and promote transformation, with a focus on innovative distribution trends and digital disruption. She delivers strategic insights to inform the firm’s decision-making on partnerships and investments, including within Franklin Templeton’s growing digital asset business. She began her career at Shearson Lehman Brothers in 1985 as a futures research analyst and since held positions with Commodities Corporation and Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Scient, M.A. Partners and Detica, and at Citi, where she was the managing director and global head of business advisory services before joining Franklin Templeton in 2022.
Ms Kaul has over 25 years of well-rounded industry experience and is a frequent speaker at industry events and a widely published author. She combines her unique blend of sell-side, buy-side and consulting insights to drive her research and thought leadership around what constitutes best practices and where innovation is happening. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Colgate University.
As Franklin Templeton's Chief Market Strategist and Head of the Franklin Templeton Institute, Stephen Dover leverages the knowledge of the firm's autonomous investment teams to provide global capital market and long-term investment insights internally and to clients. The Franklin Templeton Institute harnesses the depth and breadth of the firm's global investment expertise and extensive in-house research capabilities to deliver unique investment insights to clients. Mr. Dover is a member of Franklin Resources' executive committee, a small group of the company's top leaders responsible for shaping the firm's overall strategy.
Prior to his current role, Mr. Dover served as Executive Vice President, Head of Equities for Franklin Templeton, leading the firm's equity investment teams. He has also served as Chief Investment Officer of the firm's Emerging Markets Equity group and local asset management teams. Previously, Mr. Dover was a founder and chief investment officer of Bradesco Templeton Asset Management (BTAM), a joint venture between Franklin Templeton and Banco Bradesco in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Prior to joining Franklin Templeton in 1997, Mr. Dover was a portfolio manager with Vanguard where he co-managed an equity income strategy. He also worked for Towers Perrin Consulting (now Willis Towers Watson) in New York, London and San Francisco.
Over the course of his 40 years in the investment industry, Mr. Dover has lived in China, Europe, Brazil and the United States. Mr. Dover holds a B.A., with honors, from Lewis and Clark College and an M.B.A. in finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Sandy Kaul is an expert on innovative distribution trends and digital distribution at Franklin Templeton, providing advisory consulting for the firm and thought leadership as part of the Franklin Templeton Institute. She delivers actionable intelligence and insights on the future of the investment and wealth-management industry for the firm and its clients.
Ms Kaul has cultivated deeply informed insights and has an extensive background in market-leading research, thought leadership and predictive models centred on the evolution of the investment and wealth-management industry. She identifies and champions opportunities to address industry advancements and promote transformation, with a focus on innovative distribution trends and digital disruption. She delivers strategic insights to inform the firm’s decision-making on partnerships and investments, including within Franklin Templeton’s growing digital asset business.
She began her career at Shearson Lehman Brothers in 1985 as a futures research analyst and since held positions with Commodities Corporation and Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Scient, M.A. Partners and Detica, and at Citi, where she was the managing director and global head of business advisory services before joining Franklin Templeton in 2022.
Ms Kaul has over 25 years of well-rounded industry experience and is a frequent speaker at industry events and a widely published author. She combines her unique blend of sell-side, buy-side and consulting insights to drive her research and thought leadership around what constitutes best practices and where innovation is happening. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Colgate University.
As Franklin Templeton's Chief Market Strategist and Head of the Franklin Templeton Institute, Stephen Dover leverages the knowledge of the firm's autonomous investment teams to provide global capital market and long-term investment insights internally and to clients. The Franklin Templeton Institute harnesses the depth and breadth of the firm's global investment expertise and extensive in-house research capabilities to deliver unique investment insights to clients. Mr. Dover is a member of Franklin Resources' executive committee, a small group of the company's top leaders responsible for shaping the firm's overall strategy.
Prior to his current role, Mr. Dover served as Executive Vice President, Head of Equities for Franklin Templeton, leading the firm's equity investment teams. He has also served as Chief Investment Officer of the firm's Emerging Markets Equity group and local asset management teams. Previously, Mr. Dover was a founder and chief investment officer of Bradesco Templeton Asset Management (BTAM), a joint venture between Franklin Templeton and Banco Bradesco in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Prior to joining Franklin Templeton in 1997, Mr. Dover was a portfolio manager with Vanguard where he co-managed an equity income strategy. He also worked for Towers Perrin Consulting (now Willis Towers Watson) in New York, London and San Francisco.
Over the course of his 40 years in the investment industry, Mr. Dover has lived in China, Europe, Brazil and the United States. Mr. Dover holds a B.A., with honors, from Lewis and Clark College and an M.B.A. in finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder. Mr. Dover is on the Board of Trustees of Lewis and Clark College and Law School.
Regina Curry is the chief diversity officer for Franklin Templeton. She is responsible for advancing diversity and inclusion initiatives across the firm globally. With offices in over 30 countries, Franklin Templeton believes that cultivating a culture that's inclusive of all people goes hand-in-hand with its commitment to delivering investment excellence and superior client service.
Prior to joining Franklin Templeton, Ms. Curry was the Chief Diversity Officer for Legg Mason, where she was charged with advancing diversity and inclusion initiatives to support their mission of "Investing to Improve Lives" and achieve the growth strategy of "Expanding Client Choice."
She previously served as the Senior Director, Global Diversity and Inclusion for McCormick & Company, Inc. During her tenure, the organization was recognized by DiversityInc among the "Top 50 Companies for Diversity" in 2017 and 2018.
In 2020, Ms. Curry was named one of the "Top 10 Influential Women in Diversity" by Diversity Global Magazine. She was listed as one of Savoy Magazine's "Most Influential Women in Corporate America." She has also been recognized by the Girl Scouts of Maryland and the Griffin Report.
Native of Akron, Ohio, Ms. Curry earned a BA in Psychology from Northern Kentucky University. She has received certifications in Six Sigma, the Center for Creative Leadership 360 assessment, Procsi Change Management, and as a Senior Professional in Human Resources. In 2020, she achieved the Harvard Business School certification in Global Business.
Ms. Curry is a member of the Investment Company Institute (ICI) Global Diversity and Inclusion Committee and Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA) CDO Advisory Board. She is involved in the community, has served on the Board of Directors for Associated Black Charities, and has completed the Greater Baltimore Committee Civic Leadership Program. Ms. Curry is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Director, associate dean for innovation and inclusion MIT Innovation Initiative
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Portfolio Manager for Franklin Equity Group
Semiconductor and Semiconductor Equipment Research Analyst
CEO of The Medici Group, author of The Medici Effect, and entrepreneur
Omid Malekan is the Explainer-in-Chief of blockchain technology. He’s the author of ReArchitecting Trust: The Curse of History and the Crypto Cure for Money, Markets, and Platforms as well as The Story of the Blockchain: A Beginner’s Guide to the Technology That Nobody Understands. He is an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School where he lectures on blockchain and crypto. An eight-year veteran of the crypto industry, his writing has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Spectator magazine, and his own blog on Medium.com. Malekan advises individuals and corporations on the intersection of the old and new.
Learn more at www.omidmalekan.com
Anne Simpson is Global Head of Sustainability for Franklin Templeton, reporting to the President and CEO. In this newly created role, Ms. Simpson is responsible for driving the company's strategic direction on stewardship, sustainability and ESG investment strategy globally, while fostering best practices within the firm's autonomous specialist investment managers. She serves as the firm's primary spokesperson on matters related to sustainability and participates in industry engagement initiatives and advocacy activities with policy makers and regulators.
Ms. Simpson joined Franklin Templeton in 2022, bringing 35 years of sustainable investment and academic expertise as well as extensive experience in the international regulatory and policy arena. She is a Visiting Fellow at Oxford University appointed by the Chancellor and teaches at University of California, Berkeley Haas Business School as a Lecturer in Sustainable and Impact Finance. In addition, Ms. Simpson is an advisory council member for the Official Monetary Financial Institutions Forum, a board member at Ceres, serves on the Leadership Council for the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights and on the steering committee of Climate Action 100+. She has previously served on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Investor Advisory Committee, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's Investor Advisory Group and the International Financial Reporting Standards Advisory Council.
Prior to joining FT, Ms. Simpson was with the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), one of the largest asset owners in the world, where she served as Managing Investment Director for Board Governance & Sustainability, leading the development and execution of CalPERS' award-winning Sustainable Investment Strategy across a global portfolio of US$500 bn with 80% assets internally managed.
Fiona Murray is the associate dean of innovation and inclusion and the William Porter Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management. She is the co-director of the MIT Innovation Initiative, faculty director of the MIT Legatum Center for Entrepreneurship and Development, and an associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. She received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry from the University of Oxford before moving to the United States and earning a master’s degree and a doctorate in applied sciences from Harvard University.
Ms Murray serves on the British prime minister’s Council for Science and Technology and was appointed as a Commander of the British Empire for her services to innovation and entrepreneurship. She is also a member of the Ministry of Defence Innovation Advisory Panel and the European Innovation Council Joint Expert Group. She sits on a number of boards, including those of Prime Coalition, which channels capital towards impactful climate ventures, and MassChallenge, a New England accelerator that supports entrepreneurs solving global issues.
In her recent scholarship, Ms Murray has emphasised how women and under-represented minorities are engaged in or excluded from innovation and explored how different approaches to evaluating early-stage ideas can overcome unconscious bias in entrepreneurial funding. Her work is widely published in Science, Nature, the New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Biotechnology, the American Journal of Sociology, Research Policy, Organization Science and the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization.
John P. Scandalios is a portfolio manager with Franklin Equity Group. He is the lead portfolio manager of the Franklin US Small-Mid Cap Growth Equity strategy. He is also a member of the Technology/Communications Research Team. Mr. Scandalios specializes in research analysis of the semiconductor industry.
Mr. Scandalios joined Franklin Templeton Investments as an analyst in 1996. Prior to Franklin Templeton, he completed the management-training program at Chase Manhattan in New York, and was an assistant portfolio manager for Chase Private Bank in Los Angeles.
Mr. Scandalios earned his B.A. in history, with a business emphasis, and a M.B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder.
Author, entrepreneur, and acclaimed international speaker, Frans Johansson has inspired readers and audiences worldwide with his ideas on leadership and success, innovation, and diversity, while his practical insights have empowered thousands to take action. Innovation legend Clay Christensen cited Frans’s debut book as “one of the most insightful books on managing innovation that I have ever read,” while his follow up, The Click Moment, was hailed by Fast Company as the book that challenges traditional business-school thinking, and has been charged with destroying the 10,000 hour rule. Since its publication in 2004, The Medici Effect has become the definitive book on diversity driving innovation, influencing numerous industries and fields such as architecture, design, economic development, education, and investing.
In his role as thought leader and CEO of Via Renaissance, a change acceleration SaaS platform, Frans has advised executive leadership at Fortune 500 companies such as Walt Disney Company, IBM, Nike, Pfizer and Synchrony (formerly GE Financial). Frans has been featured on ABC, CNN, CNBC, the PBS Newshour, and National Public Radio. He has spoken to audiences on six continents, in virtually every industry and across disciplines, from creatives to engineers, financiers to scientists, and politicians to humanitarians.
Raised in Sweden by his African-American/Cherokee mother and Swedish father, Frans has lived all his life at the intersection. He has written articles on healthcare, information technology, and the science of sport fishing. Throughout his career, Frans has founded a software company, an international healthcare firm, and a hedge fund. Frans holds a B.S. in Environmental Science from Brown University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School
Managing Director and Head of Agri-Food
Franklin Templeton Global Private Equity
Author of Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology
Professor at Tufts University
Mr. Vizzone has over 25 years of experience in investing, corporate and investment banking and industry focused primarily on Asia.
Prior to joining Franklin Templeton, Mr. Vizzone held senior leadership roles focused on agri-food at Rabobank, ANZ and NAB.
He spent 13 years as a Board Member of China Agri-Industries, the listed arm of the COFCO Group, China’s largest agri-food enterprise.
Since 2017 he’s served as a senior advisor to AgFunder, one of the world’s leading agri-food tech insight and investment platforms.
Chandran Nair is the founder and chief executive of the Global Institute For Tomorrow (GIFT). An independent pan-Asian think tank based in Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, GIFT advances a deeper understanding of global issues including the shift of economic and political influence from the West to Asia, the dynamic relationship between business and society, and the reshaping of the rules of global capitalism. He is the author of “Dismantling Global White Privilege: Equity for a Post-Western World”, “The Sustainable State: The Future of Government, Economy, and Society” and “Consumptionomics: Asia’s Role in Reshaping Capitalism and Saving the Planet”. He is also the creator of The Other Hundred, a non-profit global photojournalism initiative presenting counterpoints to media consensus on some of today's most important issues.
Mr Nair was the chairman of Environmental Resources Management in the Asia-Pacific until 2004, establishing the company as Asia’s leading environmental consultancy. He is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network and its Global Agenda Council on Governance for Sustainability. He sits on the executive committee of the Club of Rome and is a member of the global advisory board of Ethical Markets, a senior fellow of the CIMB ASEAN Research Institute and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He is also an adviser to the government of Cambodia on development issues.
Chris Miller is the author of Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology. He also serves as a professor at Tufts University and as a director at Greenmantle, an advisory firm. He is the author of three other books on Russia including Putinomics: Power and Money in Resurgent Russia (2018). Chris is regularly quoted in publications such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, is seen on CNBC, and publishes analyses in outlets such as Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy. He received his PhD and MA from Yale University and his AB from Harvard University.
Roger Bayston leads digital asset efforts at Franklin Templeton. His team is responsible for creating new generations of products and services focused on the rapidly expanding opportunities within digital assets and their supporting infrastructure. This includes services dedicated to mature cryptocurrency powered blockchain networks and newer incubator projects committed to companies in the distributed ledger space. Roger's team also builds infrastructure that bridges traditional financial market products and services into the digital asset ecosystem.
Roger has over 36 years of experience in the financial services industry. He is a member of the firm's Management Committee and currently serves on the Board for Fiduciary Trust Company, a wealth management subsidiary of Franklin Templeton.
Roger joined Franklin Templeton in 1991 as a research analyst and served as a portfolio manager and business leader for Franklin Templeton Fixed Income for many years.
Roger holds a bachelor of science from University of Virginia, and an MBA from University of California at Los Angeles. Prior to getting his MBA he was previously with Bankers Trust Company. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder.
In her current role, Hanneke leads Unilever’s Nutrition Business Group, including full P&L responsibility, strategy, M&A, innovation, marketing, digital and a supply chain of more than 200 factories and contract manufacturers around the world. Nutrition is a very profitable €12bn turnover business, present in more than 150 countries. It is known for iconic global brands Knorr and Hellmann’s, emerging brands like The Vegetarian Butcher and Maille, as well as local brand leaders like Horlicks and Boost functional nutrition, Brooke Bond tea, Bango soy sauce, and Calve peanut butter.
Prior to becoming Nutrition President, Hanneke was President of Unilever’s Foods & Refreshment Division (May 2019 – June 2022). Under Hanneke’s leadership, the Division’s growth accelerated significantly. She reshaped the portfolio with the disposal of most of the global Tea business and the acquisition of Horlicks/Boost and The Vegetarian Butcher. During her tenure, Foods & Refreshment was elected #1 in the World Benchmarking Alliance’s rating of 350 Food and Agriculture brands for responsible/sustainable business.
Hanneke joined Unilever in January 2018 as President Unilever Europe. She has been a member of Unilever Leadership Executive since that time.
Before joining Unilever, Hanneke was a member of the Executive Committee of global retailer Ahold Delhaize and held various international leadership roles at Procter & Gamble.
Hanneke is a member of the Board of Directors of Tapestry Inc. Prior to joining Tapestry in 2021, Hanneke served a five-year term on the Supervisory Board of Bayer AG, the life sciences company.
Hanneke holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Houston, which she attended on a full athletic (diving) scholarship. She was a seven-time Dutch National Champion.
Hanneke was recognised by Fortune magazine as one of the most influential international women in business, as #23 in the latest ranking issued in 2021.
Hanneke is married and has a son and two daughters.
Jonathan Birdwell leads Economist Impact’s policy and insights team in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Across offices in London and Dubai, he steers a team of researchers, economists and subject-matter experts as they generate evidence-based insights that inform internal strategy and external engagement for governments, international institutions, corporations, foundations and NGOs around the world.
He has more than 12 years of think-tank experience in leading research and advising governments, international organisations and civil society on a wide range of topics. Before joining The Economist Group, he was the deputy director of ISD Global, where he led the research, policy, education and cities teams, and the setup and development of the digital analytics unit, the Middle East office and the Strong Cities Network, a global network of over 140 cities that focuses on capacity-building for city-led approaches to social cohesion.
Previously, Mr Birdwell was the head of the citizenship and political participation programme at Demos, a London-based think-tank. In Britain he has presented his research at 10 Downing Street, the Home Office and the Department of Health, and in the United States at the Department for Homeland Security, the State Department and the National Counterterrorism Centre.
He holds a master’s degree with distinction in philosophy and public policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where his dissertation focused on property rights and environmental sustainability, and a bachelor’s degree (cum laude) in philosophy and political science from Tulane University.
Marc Oshima co-founded AeroFarms with a deep desire to make fresh, nutritious produce more accessible to communities globally. Marc has an extensive marketing background in retail where he has developed award-winning campaigns for Toys R Us, L’Oreal, as well as Turner Broadcasting and Arbitron.
As Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of AeroFarms, Marc has been recognized byProduce Newsfor their 2020 Vanguard Awards for the Top 35 Innovators Ever Who Have Shaped the Produce Industry, and byEating Wellas one of their 2018 American Food Heroes. Marc has dedicated the majority of his professional career to the food and produce industries and to improving our food systems.
With his B.A. from Columbia College and M.B.A. from Columbia Business School, Marc serves on the Boards for multiple organizations including Produce Marketing Association, CEA Food Safety Coalition, and Chefs Collaborative. Additionally, he is a member of the FDA Romaine Advisory Task Force, Food Systems Advisory Council for the Culinary Institute of America, United Fresh’s Marketing & Merchandising Council, and Columbia University Alumni Advisory Group.