Please join us as we chat with alumni from Dimensional Fund Advisors and Endowus in what roles they are playing in Singapore as part of this wave of change.
Event Details
The wealth and asset management sectors, once considered conservative and resistant to change, are now amidst a remarkable transformation, spearheaded by innovative disruptors that are redefining traditional paradigms. The evolution being observed is propelled by the integration of technology and novel operational models that seek to enhance client experiences and streamline investment processes.
Both Dimensional Fund Advisors and Endowus disrupt the wealth and asset management space by reconceptualizing traditional practices and leveraging technological and strategic innovations to enhance client experiences and outcomes. DFA achieves this with its research-driven, advisor-centric model, while Endowus employs digital technology to bring curated, cost-effective investment solutions to a broader audience. This signifies a larger industry trend, wherein incumbents and new entrants alike must continuously innovate to meet evolving client expectations and navigate a progressively complex investment landscape.
Speaker Profiles
Ben Charoenwong (Moderator)
Assistant Professor of Finance, National University of Singapore
https://bizfaculty.nus.edu.sg/faculty-details/?profId=519
Ben is an assistant professor of finance at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and an affiliated faculty member with the Asia Institute of Digital Finance supervising Ph.D. students specializing in the application of natural language processing and machine learning for investments and credit risk analytics. His research focuses on financial regulation, corporate governance, household finance, and corporate finance, and has been published in journals like the American Economic Review, Journal of Financial Economics, Management Science, Science Advances, Review of Finance, and Manufacturing and Service Operations Management. His research has been cited in policy reports by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and the French Council of Economic Analysis, as well as industry reports by the CFA Institute. It has also been covered by multiple media outlets like The Economist, Reuters, and Seeking Alpha. He teaches international financial management and financial markets at the undergraduate, masters, and executive level.
Outside of academia, he is co-founder of Chicago Global, a quantitative investment firm headquartered in Singapore. He has also worked at Citadel Investment Group teaching quantitative research and financial econometrics to new hires, and has also advised LEK Consulting on applying machine learning techniques to capital budgeting. He has also provided executive training in quantitative investment management, including the application of machine learning to asset allocation, for the Government Investment Corporation of Singapore (GIC).
Ben completed a Ph.D. in Finance and MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 2017, where he received the Fischer Black Ph.D. Fellowship, Eugene Fama Ph.D. Fellowship, and was an inaugural recipient of the Fama-Miller Liew Research Fellowship. Prior to that, he completed a bachelor's of science in Honors Economics, Honors Statistics, and Financial Mathematics with Highest Distinction from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor.
Emily Cornell (Speaker) '13
Senior Portfolio Manager and Vice President, Dimensional Fund Advisors
https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-cornell-b996b344/
Emily Cornell, a Senior Portfolio Manager and Vice President, leads a team of investment professionals in Singapore and Japan who manage global equity portfolios. She also represents Dimensional in meetings with current and prospective clients.
Prior to joining Dimensional, Emily worked in the Business Intelligence group at Calamos Investments in Chicago, where she was responsible for analyzing business efficiency and implementing improvements. She was also previously an associate at Cimarron Partners, a multi-strategy fund of hedge funds in Chicago.
Emily earned her MBA with honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with a concentration in analytic finance and her bachelor of arts degree with honors from the University of Chicago.
Min Axthelm (Speaker) '13
Director of Investment Research, Endowus
https://www.linkedin.com/in/min-axthelm-cfa-5166722/
Min Axthelm is the Director of Investment Research at Endowus, a leading digital wealth platform in Asia. In her current role, Min leads the efforts at Endowus' Investment Office on research and content creation on the macro market and asset allocation, portfolio construction; optimisation and investment manager due diligence. She also works closely with the Product team on product research and development. Min has more than a decade of experience in the investment industry, including fund manager due diligence and asset management, and joined Endowus from Morgan Stanley in New York, where she was Lead
Analyst with its Wealth Management Global Investment Office, overseeing the due diligence process from inception to completion for US Equity strategies and mutual funds.