The OUTThinking Investor

America's economy underwent massive change in the 1800s, a period when wealthy financiers like Carnegie, Vanderbilt and Rockefeller played crucial roles in driving the industrial revolution. Today, access to private markets is expanding, and savvy investors are embracing this evolution as part of a diversified portfolio.

What are the advantages, challenges, and future opportunities for investors in private markets - from venture capital to real estate to private equity and beyond? And how are private markets changing as the era of low inflation and rock-bottom rates comes to an end?

Investors may be looking back at the days of disco with a sense of déjà vu. Surging inflation, rising energy prices and the prospect of higher interest rates have sent a ripple through global financial markets – just like they did in the 1970s. In the Season 2 premiere of The OUTThinking Investor, we talk to PGIM experts to better understand today’s inflationary shock and how it will play out for investors.

Pandemic. War. Inflation. Deglobalization.  

Investors around the world face one of the most uncertain and tumultuous periods in recent memory. The Ukraine invasion, a tightening labor market, and fragmented supply chains are driving rapid inflation, while rising interest rates will cause headwinds for growth.    

With global capital markets shifting faster than ever, investors need to keep their finger on the pulse of change. Are we on the verge of a wage increase spiral? How is private capital changing the landscape for small firms? Can investors avoid greenwashing in their ESG exposure? What are the signposts for deglobalization? 

Welcome to Season 2 of The Outthinking Investor – an award-winning podcast from PGIM.  

In upcoming episodes, we’ll speak with global thought leaders and PGIM experts to understand the current trends and forces reshaping global finance. We’ll bring unique perspectives to the underappreciated challenges – and overlooked opportunities – that face investors today.  

The Surprising Transformation of Sovereign Wealth Funds: We look beyond the oil-rich lands of the Middle East to uncover the unexpected beginnings of sovereign wealth funds (in Texas, of all places) and examine the structure of the world’s largest (in Norway). As AUM in SWFs continue to surge, how will they exert greater influence—and possibly even promote sustainability—over global markets?

The Bizarre Journey of Pension Plans: They got their start as an ambitious plan to support the penniless Scottish widows. Now, retirement assets are the largest pool of money in the world—by far—and have pronounced structural differences depending on which country a pensioner calls home. How did this happen? And how can pension plans stay solvent as the global population ages?

The Rapid-Fire Growth of ESG Investing: ESG is the trendy star of today’s financial headlines, but it’s also a movement that stretches back centuries. We look at the rich history of values-based investing, from its religious origins to a bold housing experiment in Victorian England, charting the course ahead for ESG by learning how market solutions can help answer social problems.

The Fascinating Evolution of the Bond Market: In our current environment of low—or even negative—interest rates, what can the past tell us about what’s in store for the $120 trillion bond market? Join us as we examine the evolution of debt, where we’ll learn how private credit fueled a financial revolution that has changed the course of history—from 1600s England, to the go-go Wall Street of the 1980s, to today.

Modern capital markets move faster and are more complex than ever, bringing together participants with oftentimes clashing goals and constraints. But by gaining a richer understanding of the market’s ongoing evolution—from its remarkable origins to its tantalizing future—investors will be better equipped to navigate the changing dynamics of global financial markets.

On The OUTThinking Investor, a new podcast from PGIM, host Paddy Hirsch speaks with financial experts and PGIM leaders to uncover insights into the financial instruments that we take for granted, from ESG investing and pension plans to sovereign wealth funds and the bond markets. In the process, he will shine a fresh light on the challenges—and overlooked opportunities—that face investors today.

These podcasts are from PGIM, and produced in partnership with Bloomberg Media Studios.