2020

Navigating Financial Turbulence in Challenging Times

A Live Webinar Series from Boston College’s Carroll School of Management

What are recent domestic events, including the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, doing to America’s standing in the world? When will the economy and financial markets return to pre-coronavirus levels? And, are people managing to avoid draconian measures such as liquidating their retirement accounts to soften financial blows dealt by the pandemic? Around 1,000 people heard prominent experts give their assessments of these and other urgent questions, during a series of three live webinars hosted by the Carroll School of Management in June.

A full list of the speakers and programs, as well as links to the videos for each webinar, are highlighted on this page.

The series, Navigating Financial Turbulence in Challenging Times, offered perspectives on three topics: geopolitical affairs, retirement savings, and financial markets. The Carroll School presented the webinars in lieu of the annual, in-person Boston College Finance Conference. While pivoting online, organizers also widened the focus to address “urgent topics relevant to a broad range of professionals, both specialists and non-specialists alike,” the Carroll School’s John and Linda Powers Family Dean Andy Boynton said in his introductory remarks at the first webcast on June 8.

Altogether, the 90-minute webinars drew an audience five times the typical size of the in-person conferences. Among the headline speakers were former NATO Ambassador Nicholas Burns ’78, H’02, P’09, ’12; noted analyst Alicia Munnell of Boston College’s ; and PIMCO chief investment officer for non-traditional strategies Marc Seidner ’88, P’24.

During an opening session on global challenges, veteran diplomat Burns referred to the moral and political fallout from the George Floyd killing—“It’s had an extraordinarily negative impact on how the world sees us.” At the June 10 webinar on retirement savings, Munnell reported that even before the virus outbreaks, no more than half of Americans were on track to keep up their standard of living in retirement, while Edmund F. Murphy III ’84, P’19, of Great-West Life & Annuity, pointed to a bright spot. He said relatively few Americans are raiding their 401ks, for the time being. Meanwhile, at the June 12 session on market turbulence, Seidner suggested it would be unrealistic to expect the U.S. economy and markets to rebound before 2022. His talk drew coverage in citing his remark that the economy “took an elevator ride down and will climb the stairs back up.”


Monday, June 8, 2020

11 a.m.

Session Speaker

  • Nicholas Burns ’78, H’02, P’09, ’12, Roy and Barbara Goodman Family Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations, Harvard Kennedy School of Government; former U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs; former U.S. Ambassador to NATO

Moderator

  • Daniel E. Holland III ’79, P’07, ’08, Managing Director, Private Wealth Management, Goldman Sachs

12 p.m.Q&A

Wednesday, June 10, 2020

11 a.m.

Session Speakers

  • Robert L. Reynolds, President and Chief Executive Officer, Putnam Investments

  • Edmund F. Murphy III’84, P’19, President and Chief Executive Officer, Empower Retirement and Great-West Life & Annuity

  • Alicia Munnell, Director of the Center for Retirement Research; Peter F. Drucker Professor of Management Sciences, Boston College Carroll School of Management

Moderator

  • Jonathan Reuter, Associate Professor of Finance, Boston College Carroll School of Management

12 p.m.Q&A

Friday, June 12, 2020

11 a.m.

Session Speakers

  • Michelle A. Knight ’98, M.S./M.B.A.05, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Economist, Ropes Wealth Advisors

  • Marc Seidner ’88, P’24, CIO, Non-traditional Strategies, PIMCO
  • Robert LoBue, Managing Director, Global Head of Fixed Income Syndicate Desk, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

Moderator

  • Lindsay LoBue ’96, Advisory Director, Goldman Sachs

12 p.m.Q&A