One of the highlights of this season was receiving an invitation to the recent Greenwich Economic Forum, which is held each autumn in Greenwich, CT., my home and company headquarters.
Like GEF’s sister events in Miami and Hong Kong, this year’s event took place on the waterfront: at the Delamar Greenwich Harbor on our town’s seaside promenade.
Being invited to audit this conference is no small matter. GEF has earned a far-reaching reputation built on the quality of its speakers and senior delegates. It is one of the premier financial conferences for investors, asset owners, economists, and policy makers, and as its website states, GEF conferences are “elegant and intimate, and allow for real relationship building in a collegial environment.” Currently, GEF member investors have over $12 trillion in assets under management. All invitees, even if they are not speaking or presenting, are themselves leaders of the industry, and I was very proud to be included.
I was among some 600 attendees, which included a diverse array of 150 CEOs and chairmen/women ranging from alternative investment gurus and renowned economists to emerging entrepreneurs and policymakers.
Among the industry titans present were such notables as Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, Brad Jacobs, founder of United Rentals, Hester Pierce, Commissioner of the SEC, Nouriel Roubini, professor and economist, New York University, and Andrew Gan, chairman of the investment committee for the Philippines’ Sovereign Wealth Fund.
Throughout the event there were panels and speakers, fireside chats and peer-on-peer discussions. Just a few of the topics included geopolitics, macro economics, private credit, the future of financial technology, real assets, venture capital, family office perspectives, financial regulations to come, hedge fund strategies, emerging markets, and much more.
Besides the opportunity to network and make the acquaintance of people I have long respected and admired, I also had a chance to ask a question of particular interest to me.
As many of you know, I am a disabled Vietnam war veteran. I made sure to attend a fireside chat featuring Michael Martin, CEO of RapidSOS, an intelligent safety company that helps power emergency response for 21,000+ state and local agencies and 500+ million devices in six countries. In 2023, RapidSOS supported 171 million emergencies with 3.3 billion data payloads.
I asked whether Michael’s technology has been put to use in the military.
He answered that it has not…yet. I responded with a metaphor you may be familiar with. I said that in the army there exists the “golden hour,” that is, a single hour of time in which to get a medivac. This is the critical timeframe in which to obtain emergency stabilization.
I believe the smart data link of RapidSOS would clearly be a benefit to injured soldiers, medics, and first responders in a military setting to capitalize on the golden hour.
Thus, a conference like GEF is the perfect venue for someone like Michael to leverage the vast intellectual capital in the audience, to crowdsource new strategies and opportunities to expand his operations.
Because of my positive experience, I intend to become a corporate member of the Greenwich Economic Forum. Conferences like these are critically important for the future of PHT Investment Group and our family of companies…they provide opportunities and forums in which to learn about the future of investing and its shifting nature. Hearing about trends and the perspectives of some of the financial world’s leading critical thinkers affords us—pardon the pun—a wealth of information.
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