In this episode, I speak with Ashby Monk, who is Executive & Research Director at Stanford Long-term Investing, a part of Stanford University in California. Ashby has been advising most of the large superannuation funds in Australia on governance, organisational efficiency and knowledge management. He is a regular visitor to our country, and has been here 55 times. We discuss the future of the superannuation industry and the role of innovation. Unsurprisingly, this means that we spend a fair amount of time talking about artificial intelligence and the changes it might bring to the industry. Ashby is of the opinion that it will be transformational, while initial problems such as hallucinations are quickly being dealt with. What does AI mean for the super industry? Well, consultants might be in trouble as AI systems will come to play a critical role in providing alternative views or in red teaming. Asset managers, too, will come to feel the heat, and boards might want to add directors with deep technological knowledge. Enjoy the Show!

________

Follow the Investment Innovation Institute [i3] on  Linkedin
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Explore our library of insights from leading institutional investors at [i3] Insights

________

Overview of Podcast with Asby Monk, Stanford University

 

03:30 I’ve never met a pension fund with an R&D unit.

09:00 I’ve seen Australia as the future of pensions

10:00 People in Australia don’t quite know how cool it is, the member first culture

12:00 There is no professional School of Investing in the world; it is an apprenticeship

16:00 The secret sauce for a pension fund is in understanding your own advantages, weakness and goals

20:00 You can have a culture of knowledge sharing or a culture of secrecy and I don’t think you need to do much more than to say those words to understand what is implied

22:30 What attracted me to the asset owner industry is that it is a mission-driven culture

26:00 The AI boom…, everybody acknowledges that particularly our industry is going to be transformed

28:00 AI for knowledge management; the hallucinations are starting to go away. We are very close

32:00 Red teaming with AI; ask to replicate what your analysts are doing to see if you get a different view

33:00 Consultants might be in trouble, unless they move fast towards AI

34:00 Anybody who provides advice…, even me, you could probably ask an AI: ‘How would Ashby respond to this idea?’

36:00 The big asset managers that we can think of right now, their existence is threatened

37:30 There are about eight Australian super funds that can be world role models

39:00 I often ask: ‘Who on your board has technological expertise?’ and the answer is often ‘none’.

41:00 Deep thoughts to conclude

 

"The ‘Investor Identity’: The Ultimate Driver of Returns" by Ashby Monk and Dane Rook, 2023

 

Full Transcription of Episode 120

Wouter Klijn

Ashby, welcome to the show.

Ashby Monk  02:27
Thank you so much. It's an honour to be here. Truly.