Elliott Turner in his blog "Compounding My Interests" recounts a recent SFI Business Network meeting, "Risk: The Human Factor," held at Morgan Stanley headquarters in New York.
"There was quite the lineup of speakers, on topics ranging from Federal Reserve policy to prospect theory to fMRI’s of the brain’s mechanics behind prediction," he writes.
Turner's main takeaway: "Rules-based systems are an outstanding, albeit imperfect way for people and institutions alike to increase the capacity for successful prediction and controlling risk."
His detailed post includes a detailed summary of several of the speakers.
Elliot Turner is a Managing Director at RGA Investment Advisors, LLC.
Read Turner's blog post (October 12, 2012)
The SFI Business Network topical meeting focused on the human element in financial and economic systems.
Chris Wood, SFI VP for administration and director of the Business Network, says the human component of risk is frequently overlooked. “Risk management and risk mitigation have been important functions in our financial system since its inception, and they have obviously received added attention in the wake of the economic crisis of 2008,” he says. “Arguably one of the important contributors to that crisis was the human element -- our willingness to continue highly risky activities when there was increasing evidence of a bubble that was about to burst.”
At the October 10 meeting, leading members of the financial community combined their unique perspectives with those from experts in behavioral economics, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience.