Mark Machin, Former President & Chief Executive Officer at CPP Investment Board

Mark Machin, Former President & Chief Executive Officer at CPP Investment Board

Dear Friends,

I just sent this message to my colleagues at CPPIB and wanted to share it with you.

Tomorrow is my last day at CPPIB. All journeys must come to an end. It has been said that it is better to travel well than to arrive. And we have traveled well.

What an incredible latest fiscal year. When I first sat in the seat as President and CEO five years ago, the assets were $278.9 billion; and it’s wonderful to have seen them grow to nearly $500 billion as of March 31. We generated returns over the last five years that none of us could have thought likely, averaging more than 11.0% per year! And you, we, have achieved this collectively. You have burnished CPPIB’s reputation as a benchmark and model for other pension funds around the world. I am so proud of each and every one of you, and I feel lucky to have worked along side you.
As I look back over the last few years, I am particularly proud of the momentum the organization has developed in a number of key areas: the use of data for investment insights; innovation and venture capital; sustainable investing; a strengthened lead in markets in Asia and Latin America; a deepened presence in Europe; a bolstered bi-coastal presence in the U.S.; greater diversity and inclusion; total fund management; installing a dedicated CIO; and, of course, improvements in all dimensions of risk management.

More important, our organization is not just about investment returns. The returns directly translate into the security and success of millions of Canadian retirements. We have been united in a common mission to serve the Canadian public; and we have delivered through your dedication, talent, and extraordinary work. That’s all the more true during the year of COVID, as we’ve been able to give comfort and confidence to Canadians at a time of intense stress and uncertainty that their pensions are safe, sound, and flourishing. You have outperformed with grace under fire. And I applaud each of you.

From tomorrow, I will be looking on with pride, and with awe, at your continued success. I have huge confidence in your future. I’d like to give a big thank you to my colleagues on the Senior Management Team, to all of you at CPPIB, to the board, and to Canada for having given me the opportunity to have worked with you all. It has been the highlight of my career. My special best wishes to John for a long and successful tenure as CEO.


Best regards,
Mark

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Mary Callahan Erdoes, J.P. Morgan's CEO of Asset & Wealth Management: Top 10 Themes That Will Define the Future of Asset and Wealth Management

Top 10 Themes That Will Define the Future of Asset and Wealth Management

J. Pierpont Morgan would be proud that many of the historical tenets of the asset- and wealth-management industry still form the bedrock of how money is managed in modern times. J.P. Morgan’s first investment fund was started in the late 1800s to serve British financiers wishing to invest in the emerging United States of America. The fund’s 150-year track record is a testament to our industry’s founding principle: While the world may change, clients’ desire for investment expertise and personalized service won’t.

With that in mind, here are 10 key themes that we look forward to helping our clients navigate in the future.

1) Price. Ever since I entered the asset-management industry, skeptics have warned that fee pressure will destroy profitability and detract top talent from the profession. Fees in every industry compress at some point. Successful firms of the future will thrive by either providing commodity-like products at scale for near-zero cost, or delivering hard-to-access insights and exposures that command a premium. Our industry must strive for continuous improvement on both ends of the spectrum.

2) Scale is a matter of survival. With compressed pricing, heavy regulatory controls, and immense spend on data, analytics, and risk-management tools, firms need a relentless focus on operational efficiency, a rigorous control framework, and a disciplined prioritization process around investments for the future. In this context, scale is key. Mergers and acquisitions and outsourcing of sub-scale and noncore capabilities to service providers will enable smaller firms to refocus their efforts back into their most important asset: talent.

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3) Actively advising clients. If we learned anything from the Covid-19 crisis, it is the need for sound advice in volatile times. During that time, thousands of actively managed funds outperformed their passive alternatives across asset classes and portfolios. While markets may be efficient, manager selection is key and clients need guidance. The average industry return of a balanced portfolio over the past two decades was 6.4% annually, while the actual experience of the average retail investor was only 2.9%, a stark reminder of how critical hands-on advice is.

4) Impact and purpose. Portfolio managers and research analysts have become essential for investors seeking to make an impact in the world through their assets. Over 80% of surveyed CIOs expressed intent to invest in environmentally and socially conscious companies. Analyzing CEOs and their management teams is no longer just about inquiring about their financial and operational expertise and vision, but also about the impact they make on their communities and the planet. Rising demand for companies that drive positive change will create a virtuous cycle of asset allocation for good.

5) Personalization. Today’s investors want to be intentional, not passive, in investing. They care about taxes and want to overweight companies that can make a difference. They want to avoid whole sectors, or actively own and vote on a company’s strategic plans. Giving clients the freedom to pursue their very specific objectives in a highly customized manner will continue to drive innovation in our industry.

JPMorgan Asset Management MRF: 6th Mainland-HK Mutual Recognition Fund

6) Stable and predictable incomes. Millions of investors around the world have come to rely on their investment portfolios as a stable source of income. With individuals enjoying longer life spans and more active lifestyles, especially during retirement years, asset managers need to adapt their strategies to provide for a stable and predictable flow of income every month. Along the same lines, saving needs to start at a young age. Today, less than 40% of Americans have enough savings to pay for an unexpected $1,000 expense in cash. It is our collective responsibility to educate and advise on what is required to cover all of life’s events and milestones.

7) Understanding China. The pandemic has highlighted the interconnectivity of the world and how important China is to supply chains and new innovations. Against this backdrop, it is irresponsible to be a fiduciary of client capital and not have a deep understanding of places like China. It is hard to imagine having a true grasp of competitive global forces without on-the-ground insights of the economies, cultures, and politics of re-emerging global marketplaces. After 100 years of being on the ground in China, J.P. Morgan is poised to become the first foreign asset manager to acquire full ownership of a Chinese fund manager, pending regulatory approval. That kind of commitment will contribute massively to our global research network.

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8) Technology drives everything. To adapt to the velocity of progress and change, technology is providing our industry access, speed, and agility like never before. With more technologists than Google and Facebook combined, J.P. Morgan invests over $12 billion annually in technology to help empower our clients and employees to work faster and more seamlessly in ever-changing markets. We need to be forward thinking and have the ability to be a disruptor. Agile, collaborative partnerships between technologists and their businesses will drive innovation and speed to market at an exponential pace.

9) Access. With a global footprint and a full suite of investment vehicles, asset managers must continue to focus on enabling first-time investors to invest in previously inaccessible areas. We are finding ways to provide more opportunities, more choice, and more power to people. Investments once only available to the largest investors in the world are now being accessed by the everyday investor. Democratization of markets should create better outcomes for investors of all sizes. 

10) A new flexibility. Our industry adapted quite seamlessly to a previously unimaginable work-from-home scenario. As such, increased flexibility will broaden talent pools and should promote greater diversity. While never losing the apprenticeship nature of our business, we should continue to find new ways of working with one another to generate even greater success.

In coming years, the industry’s winners will remain obsessed about their fiduciary responsibilities. As stewards of capital, the ability to leverage technology and scale to deliver the same extraordinary experience for every investor, with $100 or $100 million, is now within reach.

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ByteDance IPO Business Chinese Mandarin | Interactive Course

As of November 2018, ByteDance had over 800 million daily active users (over 1 billion accumulated users) across all of its content platforms. The valuation of ByteDance was approaching USD 400 billion for private-equity investors in Apr 2021. It was claimed that revenue is mainly generated from Douyin and Toutiao, through advertising by pushing them to the target segment. Keep reading to see how the algorithm works.

ByteDance chose to go for a unique path since its establishment in 2012. Among all Chinese Internet companies, ByteDance is the first startup not receiving support or investment from Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu. In contrast, ByteDance is considered a competitor to those tech giants. Furthermore, ByteDance aims at competing with Google and Facebook.

We may attribute the success of ByteDance to its Bytedance’ artificial intelligence (AI) application and machine learning, which is APPs like Douyin(Tiktok) and Toutiao push news and videos to people “based on their interests”. The founder and CEO Zhang Yiming, who has announced to step down in late 2021, once emphasized that Toutiao was not a news application, but an AI one in the social media business. The innovative ideas can greatly increase the time consumers’ spent on the APPs as all content are tailored for them according to what they have browsed and liked previously. The more the users, the greater the database to generate a more accurate report for choosing which content to be delivered to an individual.

Although all statistic looks good for ByteDance as an IPO, it was denying the rumours of it going public in Apr 2021. With that being said, people still believes IPO is their ultimate target.

Key takeaways in class:

• Possible Reasons for ByteDance Founder Zhang Yiming Stepping Down

• Business Model of ByteDance from Douyin(Tiktok), Xigua Video and Toutiao

• The US-China Trade War

Finance Mandarin offers 1 on 1 and group Mandarin Coaching for Business Purposes with Finance Focus materials. Enrol 1 on 1 session anytime and anywhere. And Group class.

With Harvard-MBA approved case methodology.

Buy your ticket for ByteDance IPO Plan Q&A, over 1300 registration received on LinkedIn!

I can do self-study to learn Mandarin already, what is the point of joining Finance Mandarin?

“ I don’t have a teacher that gives me immediate responses.”

*Alexander Bryan, a C-suite English speaker working in the capital market, was frustrated when he first tried to study on his own.

Alex is highly motivated to learn Mandarin even before joining Finance Mandarin. He had tried studying by himself. But soon he acknowledged the drawbacks of it, he did not know whether he is doing right on the pronunciations and usages of the vocabularies. There is no one to correct his pronunciations. Besides, he can only learn a few words but they are not for business purposes!

The materials he accessed to was not designed for business purposes, not to mention learning the finance terms you will come across in your work. There is also no proper feedback for further explanations. There are usually no cultural aspects taught as well. While there are no interactions between teachers and students, no motivations and no comprehensive lesson plans, Alex finally made his choice:

Coming to 1 on 1 Finance Mandarin focused learning to prepare for his next business trips to Shanghai and Beijing soon.

For absolute beginners like Alex, there will be basic topics at the beginning at Finance Mandarin, and they are all customised. For Alex, we prepared some commonly used wordings in business greetings to start with, with content adjusted according to his position and company. We have been through a joyful lesson time indicated by positive feedback received afterwards!

 Resources online lack personalized content for executives. With that being said, Finance Mandarin provides all of them, including but not limited to business context, cultural aspects, interactions with top trainers, motivations and customised learning path. These are also the reasons why Alex come to us.

“Speaking the language helps my business in a foreign country”

Alex considered himself innovative and open-minded. He has been working in different countries and is willing to learn new things. As suggested by his past experience working in a foreign country, he believes learning the local language helps him better communicate with colleagues and clients in the country although English is the medium of communication. Not to say in China, most universities, local companies and press are using Chinese as the major language. 

“Very happy to start the work”

We are also happy to have received Alex’s positive feedback!

*Alias

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Investor-backed Finance Mandarin ONLINE Education up 50% against the market crashes

Coronavirus reshaping the top-end executive coaching

At Finance Mandarin our clients’ learning outcomes are our number one priority — we will always go out of our way to ensure their satisfaction. In these difficult times brought upon the Covid-19 virus, we have not lost our dedication to providing excellent coaching; that is why we will continue providing our amazing service to our students despite the limitations caused by the global pandemic. 

In order to cope with the increasing demand from our clients, our COO John Ahern is leading the AI programmers to further incorporate cutting edge technologies such as data analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to craft customized and enriched learning experiences.

The process begins through our meticulous learning assessment which can detail precisely how, why, and on what dimensions a student needs to focus on to succeed. Based on these assessments we can create a tailor-made curriculum that will match their requirements.  

Once we have identified our students’ strengths and weaknesses, Finance Mandarin will work with our high-end executive clients to create a curriculum that accommodates their busy schedules. Using our Finance Mandarin AI platform, our clients can log in from anywhere in the world.

Backed by five key performing indicators (KPIs), the Finance Mandarin platform is unlike any other online learning experience.  Finance Mandarin full-time trainers host live-streaming classes that are informed by personalized data to show each students’ performance profile, complete with challenges and focus areas.

We are incredibly grateful to all our clients as they make their transition from their face-to-face/ online hybrid lessons to solely conducting classes online. There will always be a place for our amazing face-to-face coaching as things settle down, but the emergency caused by the Covid-19 global pandemic has solidified the importance of online learning. As people’s schedules rapidly change and they become more fluid with their demands, learning will have to evolve.

The future is unknown, but we at Finance Mandarin are eager to incorporate new educational technologies as they develop. As always, we strive to create a product that meets all our clients’ needs. 

To learn more about our courses visit us at financemandarin.com.