The Future

Daniele Fano Head of Economic Research, Pioneer Investments

Talk about “thought leadership” has become trendy in the world of asset management. True progress in knowledge and in understanding its practical implications represents however a very difficult task and requires relevant long- term efforts with no guarantee of effective results. Moreover shortcuts can be misleading. This is why, with Trends in Savings and Wealth, we are looking at the medium term with very broad angles of analysis.

We would like to support tangible progress in the area of “household finance” and portfolio optimization and also become a recognized and lively forum, able to bridge academic research and practitioners’ experience.

There are great past examples of fruitful interchange between business and general research. Should we achieve only a fraction of a percentage of what the Bell Labs did with AT&T or the Donegani Institute with Montecatini we would be more than happy.

The Italian Banks have a tradition of research units, a refuge for independent minds in the thirties and early forties and an example of forward-looking thinking in the following decades.

As times change so can the instruments used. We realized the potential for developing basic research in conjunction with the World-Wide-Web. Thus we chose the formula of a site posting working papers, most of which based on the analysis of original datasets.

Besides empirical analysis we would like to give opportunities for “lateral thinking” and counter-intuitive findings. In Edward De Bono’s perspective¹ , it is too often forgotten that creativity is the best ingredient for growth.