SmarterMarkets™

This week, SmarterMarkets host David Greely is joined by David Gornall, the former Global Head of Precious Metals Trading at Natixis and Former Chairman of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA). Together, they discuss the massive dislocation between the gold markets in New York and London in March 2020 during the early days of the COVID-19 lockdown.

In our inaugural episode of When Markets Break, David Greely welcomes Beau Taylor, J.P. Morgan's Former Global Head of Energy Sales & Trading to the SmarterMarkets™ studio to recount his experience in the U.S. Natural Gas market following Hurricane Katrina. Together they explore the risk miscalculations, market conditions, and elements of human nature that led to one of the largest hedge fund collapses on record. In the episode, Greely and Taylor revisit how a multi-strategy hedge fund transformed into one big bet on winter natural gas prices, why their collapse didn’t lead to wider systematic distress in the financial market, and what learnings we can apply to better manage volatility in today’s LNG markets.

In overlapping crises of climate and trust — how do we work together to effect change? For the final track of our Summer Playlist, we sit down with Edelman’s Global Climate Chair, Robert Casamento, to explore the role of communication in unlocking necessary climate action. Insightful for organizational and global leaders alike, Robert and David Greely cover how to use our common goal of 1.5° to align on practical solutions that meet short and long term energy and infrastructure needs.

We’re continuing our search for the minerals required to execute the energy transition. This weekend, we are thrilled to welcome Jack and Will Lundin of the Lundin Group to the SmarterMarkets studio! In the fifth episode of our Summer Playlist, we’re diving into the Lundin family’s passion for exploration — and how a rising millennial generation of entrepreneurs and adventurers are building into a new commodity cycle and preparing for the great energy and supply chain transformation. A note from the SmarterMarkets Team: We recorded this episode with Jack and Will last week, and we would like to take a moment now to remember their father, Lukas Lundin, who died this week following a two-year battle with brain cancer. Lukas Lundin was a visionary with a passion for the mining industry. He and his brother, Ian, expanded the operations of the Lundin Group of energy and mining companies around the world, employing more than 15,000 people and creating billions of dollars for shareholders. Accomplishments aside, Lukas wanted to be remembered more simply as a company builder who was fun to work with. We want to extend our sympathies to the Lundin family for their loss, and our gratitude for the friendship, kindness, and generosity that Lukas Lundin offered to members of our Abaxx and SmarterMarkets family. He will be missed, and we would like to dedicate this episode to him.

We're ending the hottest week of the year with a splash of cold water! Join host David Greely for an unforgettable interview with icon of industry, Robert Friedland, examining the commodities, resource and geopolitical requirements for the energy transition. In under an hour, we tackle the startling projections from S&P's Future of Copper report, the threat of losing touch with where things actually come from, and the staggering infrastructure prerequisites to achieve the renewable energy scale required to green the global economy.

What can we extract from traditional commodity markets to standardize and scale our carbon markets? On our third installment of the SmarterMarkets Summer Playlist, we catch up with Trafigura’s Global Head of Carbon Trading, Hannah Hauman, diving into the vital role of supply chain managers and trading companies in helping manage risk and ensuring carbon removals projects can achieve scale and meaningful climate impact. Together, Hannah and David Greely explore the difficulties corporates face in seeking future-proof strategies to achieve their net-zero targets, the role of market mechanisms and price discovery in developing the voluntary carbon markets, and the need for consistent, predictable policy across both compliance and voluntary markets.

We are diving right into the deep end this weekend with former SmarterMarkets™ host and PrivacyCode CEO, Michelle Dennedy. We’ll be discussing protecting our privacy in the aftermath of the US Supreme Court overturning Roe vs Wade, building a better global information economy, and what Gen X can teach Gen Z, or vice versa. In the second installment of our Summer Playlist, Michelle and Dave explore how to build data systems that remain resilient in a time of extreme uncertainty — and the opportunity for self sovereign identity as we navigate increasingly high levels of physical, legal and financial risk.

Summer travel is here this holiday weekend! Join us as Jeff Currie, Goldman Sachs’ Global Head of Commodities Research, and host David Greely go around the world in just under an hour. Originally meeting at the University of Chicago in 1992, they worked together in the 2000s through the “revenge of the old economy” commodities bull market. Today, we’re bringing them back together to discuss what’s different this time and what remains the same. In the first track of our SmarterMarkets™️ Summer Playlist, Jeff and David turn up the heat with a freestyle conversation touching on everything from carbohydrates to hydrocarbons — and how we can encourage, rather than discourage, the investment required to provide the food, energy, and metals we need.

After exploring algorithms, data and models, host David Greely takes a deep dive into the human element of optimizing risk management with Chief Risk Officer at Abaxx Exchange, Ryan Ingram. Join us for an episode dialed in on chronic issues facing risk managers in today's commodities and energy markets along with an optimistic take on what’s gone right after an unprecedented two years containing a global pandemic, extreme price volatility and war.

We're thrilled to be joined by Thomson Reuters Senior Columnist, Andy Home, for a pulse check on current metals markets. In this episode, he and David Greely explore the readiness of these markets for the supply challenge of decarbonization and how the European power crisis has impacted their preparedness for the energy transition. Join them to uncover what's needed to prepare and optimize our critical minerals markets for a demanding road ahead.

The role of risk managers is rapidly expanding, requiring the need for integration across organizations and deeper relationships between risk, data and digital product teams. Pursuing net zero targets, participation in new markets such as carbon and LNG, and digital transformation all generate new opportunities for risk — despite the great opportunities they present. Today, we sat down with Global Head of Digital Product at Abaxx Technologies, Carrie Jaquith, to explore how risk teams can balance risk and reward and what role data and product teams play in the process.

David Greely sits down with Mike Prokop, Director of Sustainability & Digital Transformation at The Alliance Risk Group, to learn how Prokop’s 30+ years in energy markets and risk management shape his view of the maturing LNG market and how the emerging operational and reputation risks presented by climate change and net zero pledges inform his work with Alliance.

This morning we’re driving to the intersection of energy, commodities and risk with University of Houston, C.T. Bauer College of Business Professor, Craig Pirrong. Pirrong's extensive research focuses on the economics of commodity markets, the relation between market fundamentals and commodity price dynamics — and the implications of this relation for the pricing of commodity derivatives. If you're interested in hearing two economists discuss Wednesday's CFTC roundtable discussion on the FTX proposal, you won't want to miss this episode. This week's headlines aside, we’re tapping into Craig's expertise for his take on what tools and technologies could push us toward more secure and smarter markets.

Bob Anderson, Executive Director of the Committee of Chief Risk Officers, joins us to share his perspectives on improving risk management for today’s energy markets. We’ll discuss what’s on the CCRO’s agenda: from the need for better tools and techniques to value LNG, to managing liquidity pressures from margin calls, to building stronger and more collaborative relationships with FCMs and other members of the market ecosystem.

Between the FTX Congressional Hearing and FIA’s upcoming Commodities Forum, President and CEO of the Futures Industry Association, Walt Lukken, made time to sit down with David Greely to kick off SmarterMarkets newest series: Systems at Risk. In this episode, Lukken and Greely dig into FIA’s “Modernizing the Listed Derivatives Workflow: A Blueprint for Change" and the challenges of achieving industry-wide improvements to the trading and clearing processes while balancing risk and security amidst a global pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war and fragments in market infrastructure.

On our final episode of Demystifying the Carbon Markets, host David Greely sits down with Governing Board Member of the ICVCM and Managing Director + Head of Sustainable Finance at IIF, Sonja Gibbs, to explore the ongoing efforts in establishing core carbon principles and benchmark standards to scale integrity and governance in the voluntary carbon markets in time to meet the necessary requirements of urgent climate action.

This morning, SmarterMarkets host, David Greely, sits down with tradfi turned defi commodities expert, Maryam Ayati, to explore the role of blockchain and decentralized finance in the carbon markets. Join us as we identify technological opportunities and tools available to make carbon markets more transparent, less prone to error, faster, and more efficient to solve for net zero with integrity.

Increased temperatures resulting from global warming pose a massive threat to the global agricultural system. If that alone wasn’t enough to tackle — our population is growing resulting in a need for increased food production with decreased environmental impact. Enter carbon farming. Today, host David Greely connects with the CEO of Rabobank’s Carbon Bank, Barbara Baarsma, to understand where carbon markets impact and aid regenerative farming to support sustainable food systems and the pursuit of net zero.

This week, Dave Greely explores carbon as a commodity with carbon market architect and climate finance pioneer, Corinne Boone. As the Group Head of the Americas for AirCarbon, Corinne is a key player in building smarter market infrastructure to achieve climate targets inclusive of blockchain-backed carbon credits.

How do carbon markets work for end users? How can carbon credits work in tandem with emissions reduction and carbon removal technologies to achieve netzero? This Saturday on SmarterMarkets, David Greely sits down with the Country Chair and GM of Renewables and Energy of Shell Canada, Susannah Pierce, to explore how corporate netzero pledges are turned into corporate climate action.

David Greely and Peter Fusaro connect for a special episode of SmarterMarkets highlighting trends and takeaways from the 21st annual Wall Street Green Summit and the role of capital (and carbon) markets in solving climate change.

How can we quantify the impacts of carbon emissions on a region like the Galapagos islands and what steps can be taken to offset these emissions? Norman Wray, former president of the governing council of the Galapagos Islands joins us this week to discuss the implications of tourism and its carbon footprint on one of the most pristine nature preserves in the world. And how we can study these effects to understand our impact on ecosystems around the globe.

How do carbon projects turn into carbon credits, and how are those credits verified to ensure they are permanent, additional, measurable and real? David Antonioli, CEO of Verra, joins David Greely in the Smarter Markets studio this week as we continue to explore the ins and outs of carbon markets — from the architects and practitioners who know them best.

A lack of understanding of carbon projects, their efficacy and reporting methods has contributed greatly to what we've dubbed 'carbon confusion' for ESG minded investors and corporations — specifically concerning the generation and verification of carbon credits. Neil McDougall, Chairman of DelAgua Group, shares a Saturday morning with David Greely to explore carbon markets through the lens of project design and development.

David Shukman, Journalist and Former Science Editor of BBC, takes David Greely to the front lines of the climate crisis to illustrate the imminent need for effective carbon markets. Join us as he shares insight from over three decades of climate coverage at BBC — with a focus on the power of human ingenuity.

Peter Zaman, Partner at HFW, Singapore, sits down with David Greely for a deep dive into Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, how it allowed for more ambitious NDCs and the role of carbon markets in helping nations achieve those increased targets.

The net-zero commitments made by corporations and large institutions are foundational to the development of the voluntary carbon markets. Professor Cameron Hepburn, Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford, joins us to discuss the role of the voluntary carbon markets, what they need to succeed, and how to get net-zero right.

Mark Lewis, Head of Climate Research at Andurand Capital, sits down with David Greely to discuss what’s gone right, what’s gone wrong, and what we can learn from one of the world’s leading compliance carbon markets, the European Union’s Emissions Trading System.

Phil Hardwick, CEO of HCBL, joins host David Greely to kick off our podcast series Demystifying the Carbon Markets. Phil sets the stage and shares the benefits of his more than 15 years of experience in the environmental and carbon markets, working with both carbon project developers and investors to bring investment capital to high quality projects that reduce and remove carbon emissions to fight climate change.

In this third episode of our three-part series, host Grant Williams speaks with the original host of Smarter Markets, Erik Townsend. Erik and Grant discuss the concept of Smarter Markets, through the lens of financial systems, digital currencies, and NFT’s, and how technological advancements will champion these new currency systems.

In this second episode of our three-part series, host Grant Williams dives into the heart of the matter with Josh Crumb, CEO and Founder of Abaxx Technologies. Josh and Grant discuss the SmarterMarkets vision for how technology can be leveraged to redesign and improve markets to meet society's biggest challenges, including climate change and the energy transition.

For the opening episode of our new series, legendary podcast host Grant Williams welcomes back Jeff Currie, Global Head of Commodities Research at Goldman Sachs, to examine the question “What are Smarter Markets?” What are SmarterMarkets? SmarterMarkets is our vision for using technology to redesign and improve markets to meet society's biggest challenges, including climate change and the energy transition. SmarterMarkets is also our weekly podcast, bringing you the entrepreneurs, icons and executives of commodities, capital markets and technology to rant on the inadequacies of our systems and riff on ideas for how to improve them. Our three-part series “What are SmarterMarkets?” will include Jeff Currie, Head of Commodities Research at Goldman Sachs, Josh Crumb, CEO and Founder of Abaxx Technologies, and Erik Townsend, host of MACROVoices.

On the series finale of ‘An Energy Transition in Three Corresponding Acts’, host David Greely, Abaxx Chief Economist at Abaxx, welcomes to the studio Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran, Global Energy and Climate Innovation Editor at The Economist.

For the penultimate episode of ‘An Energy Transition in Three Corresponding Acts’, host David Greely, Abaxx Chief Economist at Abaxx, is joined by Reid Morrison, Global Energy Advisory Leader, NetZero and ESG, and Global Client Partner at PwC.

On this week’s episode of Smarter Markets, the first hosted by Abaxx Exchange Chief Economist David Greely, we welcome back Ann Rosenberg, SVP of Sustainability at Wood, and Member of World Economic Forum’s Advisory Network on Climate.

As the world’s economies begin to reopen and embrace the post-pandemic era, the energy industry is at a critical juncture. Energy shortages have already gripped Europe and Asia, with LNG spot prices having been driven to record highs. Is this the first major crisis of the energy transition? While energy shortages and higher prices would normally motivate new investment, the present-day investor is reluctant to finance new fossil fuel projects; a hesitancy driven by both activist calls to decarbonize, and the net zero targets set out by world leaders. Will the vision of a carbon-free future be lost to the practical reality of energy shortages as countries turn back to coal? Will the political and economic be asserted to drive forward investment in solar and wind projects? And how will the LNG markets navigate between our reliance on fossil fuel energy today and aspirations to transition to a low-carbon energy future? Join us as host Susan Sakmar, Author of ‘Energy for the 21st Century’ examines the first major crisis of the energy transition with the Head of Global Generating Fuels & Electric Power Pricing at S&P Global Platts, Ira Joseph.

For the fourth episode of ‘An Energy Transition in Three Corresponding Acts’, host Susan Sakmar joins Stephen Stapczynski, Asia LNG Reporter at Bloomberg for a conversation about LNG’s role as a bridge fuel in the energy transition to a net-zero economy.

Joining Susan Sakmar in the Smarter Markets studio this week is Oystein M. Kalleklev, Chief Executive Officer of Flex LNG, a publicly traded LNG shipping company with a fleet of thirteen fuel efficient, fifth generation LNG carriers.

For the second episode of ‘An Energy Transition in Three Corresponding Acts’, host Susan Sakmar welcomes David Greely, Senior Economic Advisor at Abaxx and former Chief Commodities Strategist and Head of Energy Research at Goldman Sachs to Smarter Markets.

Daniel Yergin, Vice-Chair of IHS Markit and Author of ‘The New Map’ returns to the Smarter Markets studios for the premiere episode of ‘An Energy Transition in Three Corresponding Acts’; a ten-part series hosted by Susan Sakmar, former Chair of The Jane Goodall Institute.

On the season finale of ‘Preserving Privacy in the Global Information Economy,’ Michelle Dennedy sits down with Jules Polonetsky, the Founder and CEO of Future of Privacy, a Washington D.C.-based non-profit organization that serves as a catalyst for privacy leadership and scholarship, advancing principled data practices in support of emerging technologies.

For the eighth episode of ‘Preserving Privacy in the Global Information Economy,’ host Michelle Dennedy sits down with Emma Lindley, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Women in Identity, a not-for-profit organization focused on developing talent and diversity in the digital identity industry.

Dr. Jennifer King, Privacy and Data Policy Fellow at the Stanford University Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, joins Michelle Dennedy for the seventh episode of our series examining the role of digital identity in advancing a consent-based economy.

The sixth episode of ‘Preserving Privacy in the Global Information Economy’ brings host Michelle Dennedy and Kunal Anand, Chief Technology Officer at Imperva and former Worldwide Director of Technology at BBC, together to examine how technology can be designed and applied to deliver trust, transparency and consent back into our post-surveillance economy.

For the fifth episode of ‘Preserving Privacy in the Global Information Economy,’ host Michelle Dennedy welcomes Ruby Zefo, Uber’s first Chief Privacy Officer, to examine the future of a consent-based economy and how consumers can take back ownership and control of their personal data and digital identities.

Sarah Clark, Senior Vice President of Digital Identity at Mastercard joins Michelle Dennedy in the studio to examine the evolution of digital identity and how self-sovereign identity, specifically, can help bring trust and privacy back into a consent-based economy.

For the latest chapter of ‘Preserving Privacy in the Global Information Economy,' Michelle Dennedy chats with Tim McCreight, Managing Director of Enterprise Security at CP Rail, to discuss the role of digital identity in securing the modern enterprise.

Our latest series ‘Preserving Privacy in the Global Information Economy’ continues as Michelle Dennedy welcomes Jim Reavis, Co-Founder and CEO of the Cloud Security Alliance to the podcast to examine the role of digital identity management in advancing a secure cloud-based economy.

For the opening episode of ‘Preserving Privacy in the Global Information Economy,' Michelle Dennedy welcomes Kaliya Young, also known as The Identity Woman, to SmarterMarkets for our latest series examining the evolution of digital identity and how self-sovereign identity can advance a consent-based economy.

In this special episode of Smarter Markets TM; the first installment of our ‘Digital Roundtable’ series; we rewind the film back to July 13th’s webinar discussion featuring senior executives from Abaxx, Base Carbon, The Wall Street Green Summit, AirCarbon and Evolution Markets.