Punching Above Your Weight

Mark Makepeace, the founder of index provider FTSE Russell and now the CEO of Wilshire, talks about what it takes to lead—from a start-up of nine people to a global information services provider with $16 trillion in assets benchmarked to its indexes. "It's about bringing people along on a journey."

Summary

Behind our industry's current focus on technology-enabled investing is the story of the rise of stock market indexes from their original role as economic indicators to their place at the heart sophisticated passive investment vehicles that now account for 40% of the market. Having shown that technology is better at stock picking than humans, index providers are well on their way to becoming virtual investment managers.

For this episode of the Leaders Lounge, host Craig Welch hands over the microphone to Larry Black, the managing partner at BlackMoss, for a two-part conversation with Mark Makepeace, the founder of global index provider FTSE Russell. Larry worked for Mark as FTSE's CMO for the better part of a decade, as it came of age in North America and grew to become, by some measures, the world's largest index provider.  

We discussed:

- How central indexes and passive investing have become to investing and the global economy

- How FTSE grew beyond the UK into a global index provider, securing key prizes in the US and China and rivalling incumbents like MSCI, S&P Dow Jones and Bloomberg

- How his leadership style has been shaped by his personal journey —from Big Bang-era London, to running a global company, to reviving Wilshire

- Revelations from Mark's new book "FTSE: The inside story of the deals, dramas and politics that revolutionized financial market—including the role played by Roger Moore of James Bond fame in the creation of FTSE4Good and ESG investing

- The future of London as a global financial center post Brexit

Topics covered: Wilshire, Wilshire Associates, FTSE, FTSE Russell, LSEG, London Stock Exchange, LSE, index, indexes, indices, ESG, Smart Beta, FTSE4Good, passive investing, MSCI, Wilshire 5000, Refinitiv, London, Big Bang, Dow Jones, FT, Financial Times, FTSE100, Brexit, Roger Moore