WEF 2020 - Day 1 @Davos

Got up at 6 AM for a 7:30 meeting – the Davos trot has started in full earnest. The promenade is packed with people with a purposeful air to every step – if there was a living monument to the power of now, its five days at Davos. It’s strange how it feels like a small village at its best – after six years of coming here, you end up meeting people you know every few yards. There is a real camaraderie to the place – the warmth is real and unforced. It helps that this is one of the nicest years weather-wise at Davos – sunny and surprisingly temperate

 I met with an Asset management client in the morning and was stuck by the focus on ESG in the Industry – Asset managers are being asked to examine their portfolios for carbon. It’s a tough ask for an Industry that’s grappling with the threat from passives and margin compression overall. I get the distinct sense that cost structures in this business will need to change dramatically. It’s also refreshing to see execs focused on the climate agenda. After that, it was off to meet Andy Baldwin at EY – we have a long standing partnership with them and they are at the vanguard of helping drive purposeful change in business. I tweeted about our meeting here (Twitter)

 A couple of bi-laterals later, I met with an exceptional VC firm (Index Ventures). They have built up a powerhouse portfolio of enterprise tech assets with a focus on open source software, on data, on the cloud, on security. Their network and their reach are inspiring – a true demonstration of the real nature of the very high network effects in the business. A few more bilateral meeting later and I realized I had missed the Donald Trump speech which was the highlight of the event !

 We powered on with several client and partner sessions – I got to meet Antony Jabbour who is the CEO of Dun & bradstreet and Black Knight. I’ve known Anthony for a few months now and he’s one of the most thoughtful and focused leaders I’ve ever met. There is a clear vision for the change that’s being driven in the FS and data businesses and a clear strategic response. I also met with Mingpo Kai of Cathay Capital – they have a very successful and diversified portfolio of assets across Europe, Asia and America. I asked Mingpo about his overall strategy and his response was deep and disarming in its simplicity . Mohit, he said, ultimately all ideas come from unfulfilled demand !

I then went back to our space in the promenade to our FinTech nightcap that we host every year with Motive Partners. We had over 250 people show up to celebrate the huge advances that we’ve seen in this space, to network, to meet old friends and make new connections. That is the power of Davos - a diverse multi stakeholder platform that is open and friendly. It’s now after midnight and I must catch five hours of sleep before my panel discussion on Financial Inclusion.