Geoeconomics in the investment industry

Hosted by Matthias Catón, today’s episode is in discussion with Joachim Klement, Head of Strategy, Accounting, and Sustainability at Liberum. We often hear about geopolitics, economics, and our globalized world. In this episode, Joachim introduces us further to geoeconomics. The discussion analyses changes in business models (notably since the pandemic) and the relationship between geopolitical risks and decision-making processes for companies of various sizes and natures.

Matthias and Joachim empirically take this discussion on a national and individual level and further discuss country examples when looking into paths to diversification. In the context of geopolitical risk, Joachim and Matthias discuss the differences between “preparation” and “forecasting” and the qualitative side of forecasting, a concept primarily seen as a quantitative measure.

Joachim interestingly provides his future predictions through three lenses: his “base-case”, pessimistic, and optimistic scenarios.

About the guest

Joachim Klement is the Head of Strategy, Accounting, and Sustainability at Liberum. Joachim has worked in the investment industry for over 20 years, mainly on the buy side.

Before joining Liberum, Joachim worked as Head of Equity Strategy and Head of Asset Allocation for a major Swiss private bank, as Chief Investment Officer for family offices and institutional investors, and as Head of Research for a boutique investment firm.

Joachim holds a Master in Mathematics from ETH Zurich and a Master in Economics from the University of Hagen. Joachim is also a CFA charterholder. He is the author of 7 Mistakes Every Investor Makes and Geoeconomics: The Interplay between Geopolitics, Economics, and Investments. He also publishes the free substack Klement on Investing.

Executive Briefing – what you should read now

Joachim Klement recommends the following reading from his blog (which also includes further reading suggestions): 7 decision errors in business (published 4 January 2023)