FinArt

2021-02-21 15:05:54 It turns out that Clubhouse is more popular among my Russian friends than among LBS community. We decided to experiment with a new format and plan to have a conversation with my friend George Koreli, MBA student at Stanford, today at 8 pm Moscow time. That will be a talk about our experience, and I hope full of helpful insights. (For Russian speakers)

https://www.joinclubhouse.com/event/mgNwoe8p Open / Comment

2021-02-17 13:56:23 Imagine you have a team meeting, and there is no polarization of opinions. Everyone believes that you need to take a particular risk in the project. It turns out that after the group meeting, group comes up with even more riskier solution. Interesting group psychological phenomena - individuals reach more extreme conclusions in groups when group members have similar initial opinions at the beginning of the discussion. This happens because people tend to discuss stuff that everyone knows rather than someone knows. After such meetings, they get more confidence in their opinions—this phenomenon illustrates how important to include different ideas and facts in the debate. Open / Comment

2021-02-16 15:48:09 Bitcoin surpasses $50,000 for first time ever as major companies jump into crypto. Tesla has disclosed that it bought $1.5bn worth of bitcoin last month. So, if your nightmare is that you don't have bitcoin, you don't need to buy it. Today you can get exposure to crypto through blue chips. Open / Comment

2021-02-16 11:03:31 Every Russian should be able to speculate about oil price - a topic for small talk discussions on the kitchen. People say (Goldman Sachs and JP Moragan) oil price will rise not on the back o of energy-hungry China that will boost consumption, but stimulus spending by governments around the world, such as the $1.9tn proposed in the US by the Biden administration . "This type of stimulus aimed at middle and lower class income [households] creates significant, commodity-intensive consumption, as they have a much higher propensity to consume". Other believe that in the long-term transition to green energy creates a scarcity of oil supply pushing oil price higher. https://www.ft.com/content/f87ce114-f437-4c3f-bb73-fa38ca78146b Open / Comment

2021-02-16 00:41:48 Open / Comment

2021-02-16 00:41:42 I already spent several months with LBS, and I am beginning to see some differences between the education I received in Russia and the educational process at LBS. I can refer only to my personal experience, and I don't know how academic programs and approaches are structured at MSU or RES in Russia. But I assume, at least in MSU the process is similar to what I had in Finec (my Alma mater). The most significant difference is closely linked to students' autonomy. In LBS a lot of value is delivered through participation in different students' thematics clubs or associations. For example, I am personally involved in Investment Management Club activities, mainly responsible for Training and Competitions, and help those interested in asset management develop their skills or navigate them through the competitions organized by other B- schools. Last week, my Club's colleagues organized a session with Mark Mobius, the world's most influential investor in emerging markets. During a session with Mr Mobius, i asked him if the revolutionary changes of political regimes lead to corporate governance improvement. I used the Ukrainian example as he was one of the biggest buyers of Ukrainian sovereign debt before the crises in 2014 in Ukraine. He pointed that corporate governance practices on the company level are more important than political regimes. I have never experienced the same level of responsibilities granted to students in Russia. I think in our country, the major focus is on delivering value through the academic program. But probably, I am constrained with my personal experience. Open / Comment

2021-01-29 22:39:50 I like HardTalk. This is a form of an interview when Stephen John Sackur asks controversial questions. It was interesting to see how in the previous episode, Yuli Edelstein – Minister of Health, Israel, tried to comment on why the Israeli government is not vaccinating Palestinian people. But for us, the most interesting is the last episode with Mister Leonid Volkov, who is...to be honest, I don't know who is mister Volkov, a guy who makes many political comments. The most interesting thing that even the BBC is starting to understand that smth wrong is going around the so-called investigation about the palace in Gelendzhik. Listen to the podcast from 9.50 minutes, where Volkov openly talks about his strategy. Unfortunately, you will be able to listen to good English only from one speaker. I promised to stay apart from politics, but this is a meaningful conversation to understand the local context. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3cszbyl Open / Comment