Join three world-renowned investment experts John Emerson, Howard Marks and Dr. Weijian Shan, as they share their insights into the implications of COVID-19 on the global economy. These esteemed panelists will discuss the current state of economic activity in the US, Europe and Asia, looking at how the demand and supply shocks produced by the crisis have impacted various sectors, trade, FDI and global GDP growth forecasts. The conversation will include perspectives on how spillovers from the real economy are weighing on financial markets and when the volatility is likely to subside. Also considered will be the effectiveness of the government interventions made by the world’s largest economies, and whether a global recession can be averted or ameliorated. Jonathan Karp, journalist and Former Executive Director of Asia Society Southern California, will moderate. Richard Drobnick, Chairman of Asia Society Southern California and Director of the IBEAR MBA Program at USC’s  Marshall School of Business, will chair.

SPEAKERS:

John Emerson

Vice Chairman, Capital Group International, Inc.

Emerson has 19 years of industry experience, all with Capital Group. He most recently served as the United States ambassador to the Federal

Republic of Germany. In 2015, Emerson was awarded the State Department's Susan M. Cobb Award for Exemplary Diplomatic Service, which is given annually to one non-career ambassador, and in 2017 he was awarded the CIA Medal and the U.S. Navy's Distinguished Public Service award.

Prior to accepting the ambassadorial posting, Emerson was president of Private Client Services for the Capital Group Companies. Before joining Capital, he was deputy assistant to President Clinton where he led the administration's efforts to obtain congressional approval of the GATT Uruguay Round Agreement and the extension of China’s MFN trading status. Additionally, he was appointed by President Obama to serve on his Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.

Ambassador Emerson currently serves as Chairman of the American Council on Germany and on the boards of the Pacific Council on International Policy and the German Marshall Fund. He is a long serving member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Howard Marks, CFA

Co-Chairman, Oaktree Capital Management, L.P.

Since the formation of Oaktree in 1995, Marks has been responsible for ensuring the firm’s adherence to its core investment philosophy; communicating closely with clients concerning products and strategies; and contributing his experience to big-picture decisions relating to investments and corporate direction. Previously, Marks spent 10 years at The TCW Group, Inc. and 16 years with Citicorp Investment Management where he served in various leadership roles responsible for investments in distressed debt, high yield bonds, and convertible securities

Marks holds a B.S.Ec. degree cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a major in finance and an M.B.A. in accounting and marketing from the Booth School of Business of the University of Chicago, where he received the George Hay Brown Prize.

Dr. Weijian Shan

Chairman and CEO, PAG

Shan is chairman and CEO of PAG, a Hong Kong based private equity firm which invests throughout Asia. Prior to PAG, he was a partner at TPG, a private equity firm based in San Francisco, and co-managing partner of TPG Asia (formerly known as Newbridge Capital). He led a number of landmark transactions including the acquisitions of Korea First Bank and China’s Shenzhen Development Bank, both of which made his investors billions of dollars in profits and were made into case studies at the Harvard Business School. Earlier in his career, Shan was a managing director of JP Morgan and an assistant professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.  In addition to his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, Shan earned an M.B.A. from the University of San Francisco. He studied English at the Beijing Institute of Foreign Trade (now Beijing University of International Business and Economics) where he also taught as a faculty member.

MODERATOR: 

Jonathan Karp

Journalist and Former Executive Director, Asia Society Southern California

Karp served as Asia Society Southern California’s executive director from 2014 through mid-2019 and has since consulted for ASSC and other nonprofit organizations. He joined Asia Society after a distinguished career in journalism, including a decade of reporting in Asia. Karp began his journalism career in Israel in 1986 and continued as a foreign correspondent based in Hong Kong, New Delhi and Sao Paulo, Brazil, the last two posts as a staff writer for The Wall Street Journal. In 2004, he transferred to the Journal’s Los Angeles Bureau and later served as senior editor at Marketplace Radio, leading the business and finance coverage for their family of public radio shows. Karp studied Middle Eastern History at Princeton.

CHAIR:

Richard Drobnick, Chairman of Asia Society Southern California, Trustee of Asia Society, and director of the IBEAR MBA Program at USC’s Marshall School of Business specializes in Pacific Rim economic and business issues.  As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Malaysia (1967-1969), Dr. Drobnick served as an economic advisor to the Malaysian Department of Agriculture’s Farmers Association Movement.

Additional information on this and other programs may be found at the Asia Society Southern California website. For any questions for the speakers for this program please submit in advance to [email protected].

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