BlackRock, Inc. (BLK) CEO Larry Fink Presents at Deutsche Bank Global Financial Services Conference Call (Transcript)

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Deutsche Bank Global Financial Services Conference May 27, 2020 12:05 PM ET

Company Participants

Larry Fink - Chairman and CEO

Conference Call Participants

Christian Sewing - Deutsche Bank

Jorg Eigendorf - Deutsche Bank

Operator

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us. Today, we are pleased to have a conversation with Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock and Christian Sewing of Deutsche Bank, which will be moderated by Jorg Eigendorf, Global Head of Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility for Deutsche Bank.

I would like to turn the presentation over to Jorg. Go ahead, gentlemen.

Jorg Eigendorf

Thank you, John. A warm welcome from Frankfurt from the headquarter of Deutsche Bank and thanks John for introducing already. Our speakers today to our first transatlantic keynote session, a virtual keynote session. And a warm welcome definitely to Larry Fink, the Founder and CEO and Chairman of BlackRock, the biggest money manager in the world. And Larry, let's start immediately with you. You are, how are you doing? I'm in your home office. Will you be sad to leave it? Or will you be happy to get back to the office hopefully soon?

Larry Fink

Well, first of all, I want to thank Deutsche, and Christian for allowing me to be participating in this. Thanks Jorg. Well, for somebody in most of his professional career who's traveled two weeks a month, staying in one location has been always something that I kind of dreaded and never thought that I would even be functional in doing that. And it turns out it's not as bad as I feared. I do go to two of my locations to get a little diversity in what I do.

So it's worked out fabulously well for BlackRock as an organization with 99% of our employees working remotely. In parts of the world now, we are starting to reboot and bringing some employees back. But for me personally, it has been, I would call it a joy. I do have much joy visiting clients in their own offices, in their own homes. But all things considered, it's been a remarkable successful journey.

Jorg Eigendorf

We will go and get back to that Larry later on. Let's start with big politics. The major world governance have been adding unprecedented monetary and fiscal support to fight the economic impact of the crisis. What do you believe are the effects in the short run, but not only in the short run, what will be the long-term effects?

Larry Fink

Well, I think the power has afforded to by regulators, central bankers, policymakers, secretaries or treasury, finance ministers throughout the world, they understood the impact on society by closing it down. And the ability to provide the amount of fiscal and monetary support has been extraordinary. We’ve never seen anything like this in our lifetimes. And I think even with so much of the monetary policy by the Federal Reserve and specifically, much of it has been announced but some of it has not been implemented. And yet markets have rebounded, credit spreads are back to pretty close to where they were in early March.

And so we've seen a remarkable return to normality of some sort. This is on the back of tremendous purchases by the central banks and obviously, the long-term impact is going to be, it could be see, there could be a period of time where these large extended deficits in which central banks resolve all their asset purchases, could put some pressure on the markets in the future, but I don't think that's even an issue today. The issue today is rebooting our economies, making our economy strong again and importantly, allowing companies to have access to capital.

And probably the most resounding successes even is a company like Boeing, where just eight weeks ago Boeing was under severe issues, the stock broke $100 a share. It was above $300. And just three weeks ago, Boeing was able to raise $25 billion in the capital markets. And to me that's a great success and that was not government money that was private money. And so, the combination of just the fiscal and monetary support by governments has unlocked quite a bit of the capital markets and we’re now seeing large companies having access to capital.

And so I would say, in the short run one can say it's been remarkably successful. The question is and we don't have these answers yet is going to be the disease curve. Right now we are moving, we are seeing governments moving from compassion to pragmatism, and the question is are we going to see a second wave or a third wave as we open up our economies and we have to see what does that mean. And then the question is if there is a second wave that requires more at home or remote working and also a greater impact in small and medium businesses and other things that require then another fiscal stimulus.

In my opinion, we will need to see in the United States one more fiscal stimulus. I do believe jobs are going to be slower and coming back to other people believed. And as a result of that, I do believe we need another fiscal stimulus sometime in the future, but we have time to determine that. And in my mind that's going to have to be in the form of infrastructure. And I believe infrastructure will be the key component in job creation going forward and helping the economy to be really strong and have the entire world rebuild it's economic growth.

Jorg Eigendorf

Thank you, Larry. I'm turning here to in Frankfurt, Christian. You've been also very close in 2008 to the crisis and the macroeconomic situation then it was a completely different one. The money market dried out. Nonetheless, and the response has been much more decisive, nonetheless, you are a little bit bearish. You've been repetitively said that the markets are too optimistic right now, rallying like they rallied in the last couple of weeks. So why are you so bear in the market right now?

Christian Sewing

Well, first of all, a big thing thank to Larry that you join us on this panel. It's a big honor for Deutsche Bank. So thanks a lot Larry for doing this. I wouldn't call myself a bear, that's not what I said. I'm just, I completely agree with Larry on this remarkable recovery, which by the way I have not expected at the beginning of April. I also agree that it's unprecedented. If I see the action by central banks, by governments, what has been put in place across all the countries, I think it was right on spot. It was right on time. And it helped to see that market recovery, which we see.

I'm only saying that, people should not be carried away that this is that what is now happening, and that we see a kind of a steady development going forward. I'm absolutely sure that the secondary and tertiary effects of that pandemic will also have certain impacts in the third or in the fourth quarter on the fundamental economy. And it will be that in certain industries we will see further dips, and that there are longer term impacts on corporates and also in this regard then on markets which we haven't yet fully factored in, because it’s the pandemic, which we all haven't yet experienced, the consumer behavior completely changed. And in this regard, I am just warning that this recovery which we have seen for the last six week is not something, which we should assume as being a normal thing. And that there is no volatility going forward.

I'm sure we will see the one or the other dip going forward. People need to have a stable balance sheet for that. People need to be prepared for that from a risk management point of view. And hence I'm simply warning that the recovery, which would be [multiple speakers] those things which Larry said, is not something which we should just simply take as a given that there is no volatility going forward.

Jorg Eigendorf

And you, Larry, also agreed that the second and third round effects might be surprising to all of us?

Larry Fink

I don't know. What do you mean by the second or third round effects? I think you're talking about a second third wave of virus?

Jorg Eigendorf

Not only virus but also bankruptcies or problems on that side.

Larry Fink

Well, Christian, said it very clearly that the monetary policy has really allowed large corporations to have access to capital. And through that the large corporations that they have suppliers are able to help them provide loans to their suppliers and that has been a positive thing. Depending on the disease curve and as you said, a second or third wave if that's the case, we're going to have further problems in small and medium businesses. And if we see the disease curve continuing before we find some types of therapies to reduce the impact on a human body from the disease or actual, some type of inoculation and vaccination.

Until we have that, if we had a second or third wave and it's significant enough that we have to once again close parts of economies then the impact in the small and medium businesses is going to be significant. And then conceivably and I'm not suggesting this but if that was the case and it was significant enough then it could turn from not just a crisis from a disease, but it could also translate into a severe credit crisis too. Right now, it's not. Balance sheets are pretty strong. But there's evidence of higher delinquencies in default in small and medium businesses already and we'll see how that plays out.

It was evident by some of the -- in the first quarter of banks reserving in the United States for larger loan loss. So depending on how quickly we can find therapies to minimize the impacts of the disease. So if there was a second or third wave that the impact to society is reduced and/or a vaccination of some sort is going to have a very negative impact on the economies. Right now, the capital markets are assuming that we're reopening many of our economies and that's going to restimulate economies faster. The market is assuming that we're not going to see a severe second wave or third wave right now, and the market is assuming that we're going to have therapeutics that were going to minimize the disease curve.

And then you have governments throughout the world pushing more pragmatism and less compassion and to me, that's going to be the big issue going forward. Can democracies continue to flourish if we become more pragmatic and we do have a second wave or a third wave, and what does that mean for those segments of the economy that are impacted. So we don't have enough information yet. But I would agree with Christian the markets are assuming a lot of good news at this moment.

Jorg Eigendorf

Christian, markets also depend on monetary injections. What do you think will be the effects? Will they be rather inflationary or will they be deflationary because of the economic downturn?

Christian Sewing

Very hard to say actually. And I think you could kind of talk into both directions. It's kind of an extreme picture. We may see higher prices in a few sectors of the economy, because of supply chain disruptions. But on the other end, the decline in global demand for goods and services is also so significant that the risk of disinflation and deflation are potentially at this point in time even higher than the risk of inflation. Now, on the other hand if you look how much money is being injected, if you look at the long-term debt of governments and countries, overtime that could turn around. But again, that may sound negative. I think governments and central banks have done exactly the right thing, because everything else or anything else they would have done would have been far more disadvantageous for the economy, they did the right thing. Now we have to deal, so to say, with the longer term impacts. But I think that we are prepared for that. And hence I think the most important was the initial reaction, which has been shown, which was the right one and then we have to take it from there.

Jorg Eigendorf

Larry, the one thing is the global monetary system, the financial markets. The other thing is the trend and globalization. Do you still see it intact with some bumps here and there? Or do we see a paradigm shift to a greater era of nationalism and protectionism?

Larry Fink

Where there's a growing dichotomy. Every business leader I speak to, whether they're a business leader from the United States or Europe or Asia, they're still focused on globalization. And I write in my CEO letters about corporations and their corporate purpose. What I think this rising nationalism is doing for every company is making sure every company is focused on how can they improve their society, where they're working.

And so to me this is even more incumbent that every company proves in every country they work and every society they work that they prove their purpose. And so just like Deutsche Bank has to prove they're a U.S. company in the United States, BlackRock has to prove everyday that we're a German company in Germany. And I do believe that is going to be the overwhelming issue related to corporations.

Now, let's be clear during electioneering times, you're going to have rising nationalism, rising populism. You're seeing that all throughout the world right now more and more populism and nationalism. And so, because of that it doesn't mean less globalization. It just means proving your corporate purpose in every community you work in. And I believe that's going to be the bar for every corporation and everybody, making sure you prove that you deserve the license to operate in each and every one of those countries you operate.

And for those companies who can show that they have strong corporate purpose in every country and every community, globalization for those companies are going to be intact. If you are not paying taxes in a community where you're doing a lot of business or you're not providing the right social connection in the community where you work, you're going to lose that license to operate. And so I believe the bar is higher now for every company to show their corporate purpose in every community. And through that higher nationalism and protectionism, it doesn't mean globalization is over. It just means we have to work harder to prove in every community we work that we are doing our job for that community.

Jorg Eigendorf

Christian, we are a global bank, operating in 60 countries. Do you feel already what Larry is talking about?

Christian Sewing

Yes, and I'm very glad how Larry is describing the situation. Sometimes you feel a little bit like the lonely shouter in these days. But I think that globalization will still be the trend also for the next 50 to 100 years. I'm always arguing it, even from a different side, look at the young people, look how they communicate. If I look at my children, they communicate globally with their phones, with digitization. Digitization is not on a national site, digitization is on a global issue. And hence, I simply don't believe that it is the end of globalization. But I do believe that you have to make sure that when you are operating a global company that you clearly understand the local markets that you are.

As we always say it and Larry just put it that it's not a repetition, because we say it now for three years. We want to be in the middle of the society in each and every market where we are. That was the reason why Deutsche Bank last year did the transformation away from a more product led organization to a client-centric organization, because we can only be successful in the different markets if we understand the markets, if we put the client into the center of our dealings and that means we need to improve our local spending. Overall, this world will only function and in my view will also only grow long-term, if globalization remains key. But with the habit and the understanding and also the preferences of young people as they want to be global, I have no doubt that this trend will remain over the next years.

Jorg Eigendorf

Larry, what does this paradigm shift mean for the business model for global asset manager, and you are the largest worldwide.

Larry Fink

I don't. Well, BlackRock, when we founded the company 32 years ago, we founded on the principles of clients. And so that remains to be our principles and it will carry us hopefully in many generations in front of us. But there's no question, there's just greater need to show why you are operating in a specific country. And the most important thing that I've witnessed now these last 11 weeks during the remote home leave is that clients, regulators, politicians, are hungry for information. There's a loss of connectivity. And more and more are people looking for an organization that can assist them.

So it's not just being local and it's not just being an organization that is purposeful in those communities. It's about, and then especially for asset managers now and for BlackRock, we need to prove that we can provide uniqueness to every relationship, that we can provide unique information, that we are consistently serving the clients and helping them understand how to navigate the volatility that we've seen in the marketplaces, navigate what is -- where should they be thinking of putting their money. Should they be derisking should they rerisking, what asset category and what class.

And then probably the most important you know we need to be continuing to focus on as an asset manager is have more and more of our clients focusing on long-term. Imagine all the derisking that occurred in March. Those people who derisk who and did not put their money back into the marketplace walked away from 35% up and down market place and it cost them a lot of money. And so the key for all of us is making sure that we're consistent with our clients. We're helping our clients navigate this but most importantly, helping our clients navigate in the long term. But for us right now at BlackRock is making sure that every community where we’re operating that we are providing some unique information for them to help them move forward.

Jorg Eigendorf

Larry, you have been following now, you said at the beginning, you've been traveling a lot. You traveled a lot. Usually you're traveling a lot. Now you've been following the world from the U.S. Has your view on Europe changed in the last couple of months, because it seems that the European countries, some of the European countries went through this corona crisis quite well, others had big trouble. What is your view now on Europe?

Larry Fink

So there are two big trends here that I have to -- the best way to answer. Trend one is all the big macro trends that were pre-COVID, post-COVID those trends are accelerated. So the need for technology is only accelerating. The winners are bigger winners now the losers are bigger losers now and we're seeing that in every industry. I would say scale is more important post-COVID than pre-COVID. All those trends are just accelerated. So that's part one. And that part, in my opinion is one of the disadvantages in Europe, because Europe does not have that many technological organizations that are big global winners in that. It's generally the Asian companies and the U.S. companies.

But I would say why Europe is in a better position than the United States in many ways is Europe has greater, this has been a negative over the years, but now it's a positive. Europeans save a lot of money. And they generally save their money and keep that money in bank deposits. They don't invest. But the savings rates in Europe are far greater than, let's say, in the United States. And so the Europeans are financially in a better position to withstand the breakdown in their economies. They're able to withstand the fundamental issues around how societies close their economy for a period of time. And they had savings to protect themselves. Whereas in the United States, savings rates have been historically very low. And Americans are less prepared for, we used to talk about pool of money for rainy days and Europeans have always had that, I would almost say pessimism. So that pessimism is now turning into an advantage.

Americans have always been much more optimistic. Americans always believe that we have another mountain to conquer, but we're going to be able to conquer that next mountain. And therefore with that optimism, most Americans saw less of the need to have that safety net. And so that's one of the fundamental reasons why I think the economic impact is going to be greater in the United States than Europe. And the key going forward is will Americans regain that optimism, and that will be a big barometer for the next year how well the economies rebounds.

But your unquestionably is in far better economic position, because of that savings position that the average European was able to tend to their issues financially. Obviously, Europe has much more resilient safety net. Many people call that a drag before that, before this time and one of the reasons why people used to say Europeans were less productive. So we can go all look at the historical issues and all that stuff. But at this moment of time, there is clear evidence that the Europeans are in better positioned at this moment than the U.S.

And we'll see over the next eight weeks as the U.S. starts rebounding and rebooting, do we still have that incredible optimism as a society. And if we do, I think the United States will find its footing in a very strong way. And then we'll see how this translates to the consumerism, the consumer confidence levels and what does it do for consumption and going back to buying automobiles and other items. But I do believe there will be some long lasting effects on all parties, both European and American, Asian.

And one of the big questions will be, will this lead to even greater savings, less consumption? I don't know that yet. But we'll have to see what that means. But Europe, the trends for Europe are still very mixed. I don't want to call them good or bad. I think they if we believe the trends of technology going to be greater, and greater, and greater, Europe is not in that position like the U.S. is or like parts of Asia. But the fundamental savings rates of Europeans, the safety nets have given Europe a better stronger foundation to go forward.

Jorg Eigendorf

Christian, that is, you must be delighted to hear that much optimism for Europe, or at least mixed optimism for Europe from the largest money manager in the world. And because you have always been a proponent for more Europe or stronger Europe. On the other hand, the European institution seem to be quite weak. What is needed now in Europe to make the best out of the situation?

Christian Sewing

Well, I would say, we need to make sure that Europe can safeguard its position. Also, from a financial point-of-view, as Larry is saying that and so that we need more European unification. I mean, pre-COVID, I always said that Europe needs to make sure that the whole market also for German corporates is more and more becoming also the European market that we have the stronger European home market, because we will see and we have seen trends in China or in Asia. And that means that the competitive position of German corporates, European corporates, are running versus Chinese or U.S. getting harder and harder. Europe had and German corporates had golden decades between 2010 and 2020 in exporting their stuff to Asia.

With the development of the Asian economy that will change, and that means intern, Europe and corporates here need a stronger and bigger unified home market. If we achieve that, I do agree that would be the fantastic achievement for Europe. One market, one economic market and that would safeguard I think the position and the competitiveness of this region. For that, in order to achieve that, we need leadership. We need clear leadership in Europe and potentially, we also need to then review certain organizational setups, how decisions are made, because it also depends then on quick and decisive action.

And you've seen it this morning. I mean, with the proposal done by [Wulselaf Onderliner], I think it's the right proposal, which has been done. But now this needs to be worked out this needs to be implemented. The cash and the money must end up with the right recipients in order to make it work. And in this regard, I think Europe has actually a very strong foundation. But if we don't change the way this market is working, if we don't align ourselves more, and this is not only for the banking industry this is also for other industries, then Europe will lose its competitive edge and then it will become difficult. So, I think leadership is now a key, swift implementation is key and then Europe has a chance actually also to succeed.

Jorg Eigendorf

We could dig deep much deeper here on that topic, but we have a topic that is dear to both of your hearts, and that is ESG, environmental social engagement. And Larry, first question to you on that topic. As you have sent this letter to the world, to the CEOs of this world in December, prior to Christmas. Does this pandemic reduce the focus on ESG, or will it magnify it and drive greater investment into ESG into sustainable investment?

Larry Fink

So let me answer it in a number of ways. One, we have seen record inflows in ESG funds this year. Our ESG, ETFs or iShares suite of sustainable products have record inflows. ESG products have outperform traditional products and much of it has to do with the price of energy, but we believe that this will continue for a long time. So between the trends of flows and the desire and the conversations, more and more organizations are looking to do it. Now, more and more companies are also looking for better data. And so that will be key and this is why we have spent so much time in building out the data and the research for our lab and systems, and making sure that we can provide more and more data for interested parties related to sustainability.

But let's be clear, COVID and the impact of the world is going to put a lot more pressure on us. And so, maybe the short one, the E part of ESG, is going to be secondary. But I believe the societal impacts of COVID and the inequality that we're seeing and we're seeing this, the differences in terms of the disease rates by different groups, our role as business leaders and our corporate purpose related to our employees, the S is going to be really, really impactful. And I do believe that's going to be the priority, at least for the next 12 months, to really focus on how are we going to making sure our employees feel safe.

Our employees' mental health is being observed and taken care of. And then our role as large companies, not just in the communities we work in but also what role we play in the S part of our world in every community. So I do believe the S part of ESG is going to become much more of a conversation. And I do believe companies are going to be heavily judged on the S side over the next two years.

Now, the last thing I would say about the E side. Let's be clear, COVID is an existential risk of our health. And I do believe over the long run, climate change is another existential threat. And I do believe we are going to see an accelerated demand for sustainable products because of that. And let's be clear, the young people who are about to join the workforce, let's say after university. These young people were born a little after 9/11. When they were 10, 11, 12 years old, they experienced the financial crisis. And now they're trying to get into the workforce and we have COVID-19.

Their realities are much different than my realities. When I grew up, I lived in this idyllic world. And their realities are very different. And having this existential threat of COVID and how it's impacting their life and their future, I believe the young people are going to be even more vigorous in the protection of our environment. And so I think E is going to become very, very large. But I think in the short run, S is going to play a little more dominant role.

Jorg Eigendorf

Christian, this is all about transformation, the periscopes on the one side, the pressure on politicians right now on the other side to act on the social sphere. What role can banks play to achieve these goals, which are societal goals?

Christian Sewing

Well, I think we have to play a vital role in the transformation. Let's be clear. It's a transformation of an overall economy. And if you transform in an economy, you need the transmission and transmission can be played and should be played by banks. So I'm convinced that it is a key role we have to play. You have seen last week that we came out with clear ESG and sustainable finance goals for Deutsche Bank. And not only because we want to be seen as a good corporate citizen, it is something which is demanded by our clients. And it starts on the investment side, retail clients, the new generation inheriting the portfolios of their parents, they are reviewing these portfolios and ask for different values, different titles in the portfolio, which is obviously far more ESG related.

The demand is higher than what we can offer for the time being and that also means we need to structure these asset classes. And hence, I think it is it is again a task for the bank also on the asset side actually to come up with these assets to be an active provider of these assets. And if you want to transform the whole economy, if I just think about my home country here that means that the good part of our 450 billion loan portfolio in Germany will more and more be a loan portfolio, which has clear ESG assets in. So therefore, we gave ourselves a clear target. Certainly, banks need to be an advisor in this regard.

I'm also deeply convinced that for a normal corporate in three, four or five years, the ESG rating is as important as nowadays the rating of a normal rating agencies like S&P, Fitch or Moody's, because people will get the appreciation for that but also the assessments by the capital markets. And in this regard, this is from an advisory point-of-view, from a financing point of view, but also from an investment point-of-view, something which affects all people, all stakeholders of an economy. And we are as banks at the center and in the middle of this economy and hence we have to play a vital role. I believe if you are not playing that role as a global bank, honestly, you will lose clients, it's key for us.

Jorg Eigendorf

Larry, how important is the level playing field here and what must politicians or regulators do?

Larry Fink

What do you mean by level playing field, Jorg?

Jorg Eigendorf

It's a level playing field. I mean, if the regulation in the U.S. might be tougher or looser than in Europe. What would that mean for banks? And how important is it that we have global approach here? Or do we have, should we have regional approaches and live with them that they are different, because that could mean a competitive difference worldwide?

Larry Fink

Well, I don't think we ever had true, true, true global consistency. And with the growth of China and its role, obviously, we figure out that there has never been really global consistencies. I think this is part of the rising nationalism and protectionism. We're going to have to live with those changes and it's not going to be perfect. But if you are going to try to be local and really proven your purpose in every community, we're going to have to operate around some of those issues.

Obviously, we all would like a global platform in which we can all live under and principles that we can all work under that would be great. But that has never been the past and it won't be the future. And you see throughout the world home biases, and I'm not going to go to point fingers at countries where there's dramatic home bias. But we’ve seen that repeatedly and we're going to continue to see that.

Our jobs as business leaders of companies, especially as global companies, is to navigate around those home biases if they happen to be it and try to find a way that you can participate in that society. So I don't want to, I would love to wish to have one standard worldwide, if it's not going to happen so we don't focus. I know we focus on in the communities, in the countries we work in we try to become more local and try to work with them. Now, we do have global principles as an organization. We will not deviate our global principles in any community we work in. And so that's tough and interesting balance but we try to do the best we can.

Jorg Eigendorf

Christian, as we run out of time, only one sentence to my question. Do you fear disadvantaged if in Europe regulation on ESG will be tougher?

Christian Sewing

No, I wouldn't refer it to banks. My issue is, and Larry referred to that, if we have overall for the economy very tough ESG rules in developed markets for instance, and then we have to make sure ESG is also containing the S like Larry was saying that, is that means that traditional corporates need to change quicker and loose their competitiveness, because in other parts of the world you don't have that and business is going away, people get unemployed. We need to have that in mind. And therefore, forget the banks for the time being, but it's an overall industry issue.

Now, therefore, global standards would be perfect. But I agree with Larry, that won't happen. And hence, we need to make sure that on the one hand, we migrate to the green technology, to green industries, but we have to do it in a balanced way because then otherwise you would have a problem on the S side.

Jorg Eigendorf

Big questions. Now we come to a very small and quick question. And Christian, who is my boss, asked me to ask you first Larry, if you had to invest in one asset class, which would it be these days?

Christian Sewing

Larry, I wanted one from you therefore, I want that it goes to you first.

Larry Fink

Yes, every time I’m asked that question, it's been taken out of context. And I remember one time I said as a joke and I won't joke at this time, I said, contemporary art. I'm not saying contemporary art at this moment. But I said that as a joke that that became perpetuity, the best asset class. Over long cycles, even today a strong ownership in the new economies over a long horizon is going to be a great asset class. So I would be, I've never deviated by having strong positions in equities. I've always believed in equities. I've always spoke in all my conversations in Germany and various places, in Europe with huge savings rates, the impact would have been in Germany and other places over the last 40 years less savings and kind of more in equities. The average person would have been very benefited.

So I'm not here to say at this moment but over long horizon, betting on global growth, betting on the ingenuity of humanity, betting on how technology is going to be transforming our lives and improving our lives and hopefully improving our lives for more, the only asset class over a long horizon that we could rest assure over long horizons that are going to be safe and it will be global equities.

Jorg Eigendorf

Christian, have you learned something?

Christian Sewing

Yes, I learned a lot. I wanted to ask that differently. The real, real next person I'm doing is a new tennis racket, because I'm annoyed. I lost a match over the last weekend and I'm sure it was only because of my old racket and not because of myself and my personal, so to say condition. From an asset class point of view, I do believe that, Larry, said in the middle of his discussion that actually the macro trends we have seen before pre-COVID are actually now accelerating. And that actually also explains very well in which industry you should invest.

Jorg Eigendorf

Thank you. Thank you for this transatlantic keynote session. Thank you, Larry for having joined us. Thank you, Christian. And now I hand back. Thank you all and I wish you a good and great conference for the rest of the day. Thank you.

Operator

Thanks everyone. This will conclude our lunch keynote session. Thank you and all have a good day.

Christian Sewing

Thank you, everyone. Bye-bye.

Question-and-Answer Session

End of Q&A