Entering The Fall Thought Leadership Series 2026

Simplify's Entering the Fall 2026 is our sixth annual gathering of select financial and economic thought leaders to discuss the current economic environment, market landscape, and investment outlook. Proceeds from the event will be used to support Coney Island Prep and affiliated programs.  

Recorded 10/21/26

WELCOME

Paul Kim, CFA
 

WHY WE ARE HERE

Coney Island Prep

Karen Johnson
 

PANEL

Vibes vs. Vintages: Why the Data and People Disagree

Anna Wong | Cameron Dawson | Danielle DiMartino Booth
Moderated by Jeff Schwarte

The hard data says one economy; the surveys, the voters, and your Uber driver describe another. This panel digs into why the gap between measured prosperity and lived experience keeps widening — and which one markets should actually be pricing.
 

PANEL

The Economics of Intelligence

Benjamin Brey | Hari Krishnan | Michael Green
Moderated by Patrick Hennessy

Intelligence is getting too cheap to meter, but the capital required to produce it has never been more expensive. We explore the strange economics of AI: who captures the surplus, who funds the buildout, and what happens to labor, margins, and markets when cognition becomes a commodity.
 

PANEL

Friends, Foes, and FX

John O'Connor | Mauro Mujica-Parodi III
Moderated by Michael Green

The postwar order assumed a buyer of last resort for both security and securities — and both assumptions are now in question. Our panel maps a world of shifting alliances, weaponized trade, and capital flows that no longer follow the old rules.
 

      
FIRESIDE CHAT

Living on the Edge (of Volatility) with David Dredge

Hosted by Michael Green

David Dredge has spent a career arguing that the industry systematically misprices insurance — selling it when it's expensive to own and shunning it when it's cheap. A conversation about convexity, fragility, and why the best risk management looks foolish right up until it doesn't.
 

      
PANEL

Spread Thin: Hunting for Compensation in a Compressed World

David Meneret | Joseph Hegener | Michael Schimmel
Moderated by Christopher T. Getter

Credit spreads sit near historic tights even as leverage migrates into structures nobody marks to market. This panel asks the uncomfortable question: are investors being paid for the risk they're actually taking — and where does the next cycle's stress emerge?
 

      
PANEL

Who Buys the Bonds?

Hector Negroni | Jim Bianco
Moderated by Jason England

For 40 years, the long end had buyers who never checked the price — pensions, insurers, foreign reserves. As those anchors withdraw, this panel examines who sets the price of duration now, and what a term premium rebuilt by price-sensitive hands means for every other asset.
 

      
FIRESIDE CHAT

Risk Management at 200 MPH with Michael Taylor & Max Taylor

Hosted by Ronja Lodmark

On the track, mismanaging risk doesn't cost you basis points — it costs you the car, or worse. Michael and Max Taylor on braking points, apex speed, and what racing teaches about the difference between confidence and control.
 

      
PANEL

Diversification's Last Stand: Liquid Alts

Christopher Coolidge | Tim Ayles | Viral Solanki
Moderated by Ken Miller

When stocks and bonds fall together, the traditional portfolio's only free lunch turns out to have been a tab. Our closing panel evaluates whether liquid alternatives can actually deliver diversification when it matters — or whether they're just beta in a more expensive wrapper.
 

CONCLUDING COMMENTS

Paul Kim, CFA