Latest news with #CIO
Bloomberg
6 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Alberta Pension Looks For New CIO Amid Push to Expand Calgary Office
Alberta Investment Management Corp. is hunting for a new chief investment officer as it carries out an overhaul that began last year when the provincial government fired the board and its top executive. The new CIO would be based in Calgary, the largest city in Alberta and the home of Canada's major oil and gas companies. Edmonton-based Aimco is considering both internal and external candidates, according to people familiar with the matter, asking not to be identified because they weren't authorized to speak publicly.
Time of India
14 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
No low-hanging fruits in this market; be ready for healthy real returns but lower nominal returns: Prashant Jain
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel , CIO,, observes that the Indian market is fairly valued. He notes reduced valuation dispersion across sectors. Nominal GDP growth is around 10-12%. Profit growth should align with this. Nifty is expected to compound in low double digits. Consumer discretionary and capital spending should grow faster. Banks and utilities look relatively better. He remains underweight in consumer staples and large-cap is always the case. In equities, it is always a game of right understanding, discipline, and lots and lots of patience. In a growing economy, the more patient you are, the more wealth is created. Multiple people have said this in multiple ways, but yes, what you are saying is absolutely is probably the most fairly valued market that I have seen in my entire career. Not just in aggregate terms, but even across sectors, the dispersion in valuations has really come down. Five years back, retail banks were five times price to book; corporate banks were 0.2 to half time price to book. They have converged between two, two-and-a-half stocks were 70-80 PE. Utilities or defence companies were 3, 4, 5, 7 PE. Both come around to 15 to 40 odd times. This is a market which has little room for multiples to move up and even across sectors the under and over valuation is the lowest I have seen. This is a classic compounding market and one more thing which has changed which all investors should take note of is that while the real growth in India continues to slowly tick up, inflation has come down really a result, our nominal GDP growth is now growing at around 10-11%. Margins are fairly healthy across sectors. Barring isolated companies, we do not see too much room for margin improvement. At a very broad level, I feel profit growth should track nominal GDP growth around 10-12%. We saw it a few days back that even bank credit growth has slowed down to 9 odd percent and so, aligning with nominal GDP. It is growing companies are growing in single digits. So, this is a market where Nifty should compound in low double digits over next 5-10 years and not much to choose across sectors. I think that 10-12% compounding is extremely valuable if you put it in the context of extremely low inflation and low cost of capital. The gap between India and US interest rates is now sub-2%. The margin is the lowest we have ever experienced. For most of my career this number used to be between 4% to 8%. And now, it is sub-2%. So, we have to be prepared for healthy real returns but sharply lower nominal returns. That is what I thought looking at these I said, some dispersion is, of course, there but it is sharply lower compared to the past. Having said that, I feel consumer discretionary and capital spending should continue to grow faster than nominal GDP. Consumer staples and IT, especially the large companies should grow much slower. But this is about growth in businesses, growth in profits. Valuations seem to be discounting most of what I the stocks outperforming just because profits are growing higher need not be the case. But I still feel on the margin, banks look a little better; utilities look a little better. The consumer discretionary looks alright to me; pharmaceuticals based on individual companies are promising. And what we are underweight on is basically consumer staples and largecap are right some themes will grow faster. Of course, I mean, Make in India is a very powerful theme. But it has been discussed for many, many years. Defence is, of course, a very powerful theme. So, these themes will definitely grow. Digital businesses is a very powerful theme. They will continue to outpace the GDP growth by a wide margin. The only challenge these themes have is that they appear to be fairly valued, and in some cases, even example, look at the price movement of defence companies. They are up 10x to 15x, so the multiples are not cheap, of course, growth is there. The key is that the growth is mispriced and I see very little areas where companies with a promise of faster growth are mispriced. So that is why one has to be a little cautious. There have been multiple occasions in the past when companies have done exceedingly well but stocks have done nothing over 10-20 years because the growth was overestimated and over discounted by the market. I do not think there are any low-hanging fruits in these markets.: I wish it was the case. But as I said, this is one of the most perfect markets that I have seen in my entire career – both in terms of aggregate multiples and multiples across sectors., I am sure there will be a few companies, maybe many companies, which will in the end outperform. But I am able to spot these right will be individual companies which need not fit a theme. Pre-covid maybe there were three crore Demat accounts, today there are 13 or 15 crore Demat accounts. So, this has been a narrative-driven market and most of these are first-time investors and narratives. The narrative is correct and it is very logical and that is why these narratives have probably fully or over discounted. That is why I feel it will be a market where one can try and outperform the markets by individual bottom-up picks and not through theme- based investing. At least that is my view. Of course, one could be wrong and some themes may outperform significantly even from here.
Economic Times
14 hours ago
- Business
- Economic Times
No low-hanging fruits in this market; be ready for healthy real returns but lower nominal returns: Prashant Jain
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel , CIO,, observes that the Indian market is fairly valued. He notes reduced valuation dispersion across sectors. Nominal GDP growth is around 10-12%. Profit growth should align with this. Nifty is expected to compound in low double digits. Consumer discretionary and capital spending should grow faster. Banks and utilities look relatively better. He remains underweight in consumer staples and large-cap is always the case. In equities, it is always a game of right understanding, discipline, and lots and lots of patience. In a growing economy, the more patient you are, the more wealth is created. Multiple people have said this in multiple ways, but yes, what you are saying is absolutely is probably the most fairly valued market that I have seen in my entire career. Not just in aggregate terms, but even across sectors, the dispersion in valuations has really come down. Five years back, retail banks were five times price to book; corporate banks were 0.2 to half time price to book. They have converged between two, two-and-a-half stocks were 70-80 PE. Utilities or defence companies were 3, 4, 5, 7 PE. Both come around to 15 to 40 odd times. This is a market which has little room for multiples to move up and even across sectors the under and over valuation is the lowest I have seen. This is a classic compounding market and one more thing which has changed which all investors should take note of is that while the real growth in India continues to slowly tick up, inflation has come down really a result, our nominal GDP growth is now growing at around 10-11%. Margins are fairly healthy across sectors. Barring isolated companies, we do not see too much room for margin improvement. At a very broad level, I feel profit growth should track nominal GDP growth around 10-12%. We saw it a few days back that even bank credit growth has slowed down to 9 odd percent and so, aligning with nominal GDP. It is growing companies are growing in single digits. So, this is a market where Nifty should compound in low double digits over next 5-10 years and not much to choose across sectors. I think that 10-12% compounding is extremely valuable if you put it in the context of extremely low inflation and low cost of capital. The gap between India and US interest rates is now sub-2%. The margin is the lowest we have ever experienced. For most of my career this number used to be between 4% to 8%. And now, it is sub-2%. So, we have to be prepared for healthy real returns but sharply lower nominal returns. That is what I thought looking at these I said, some dispersion is, of course, there but it is sharply lower compared to the past. Having said that, I feel consumer discretionary and capital spending should continue to grow faster than nominal GDP. Consumer staples and IT, especially the large companies should grow much slower. But this is about growth in businesses, growth in profits. Valuations seem to be discounting most of what I the stocks outperforming just because profits are growing higher need not be the case. But I still feel on the margin, banks look a little better; utilities look a little better. The consumer discretionary looks alright to me; pharmaceuticals based on individual companies are promising. And what we are underweight on is basically consumer staples and largecap are right some themes will grow faster. Of course, I mean, Make in India is a very powerful theme. But it has been discussed for many, many years. Defence is, of course, a very powerful theme. So, these themes will definitely grow. Digital businesses is a very powerful theme. They will continue to outpace the GDP growth by a wide margin. The only challenge these themes have is that they appear to be fairly valued, and in some cases, even example, look at the price movement of defence companies. They are up 10x to 15x, so the multiples are not cheap, of course, growth is there. The key is that the growth is mispriced and I see very little areas where companies with a promise of faster growth are mispriced. So that is why one has to be a little cautious. There have been multiple occasions in the past when companies have done exceedingly well but stocks have done nothing over 10-20 years because the growth was overestimated and over discounted by the market. I do not think there are any low-hanging fruits in these markets.: I wish it was the case. But as I said, this is one of the most perfect markets that I have seen in my entire career – both in terms of aggregate multiples and multiples across sectors., I am sure there will be a few companies, maybe many companies, which will in the end outperform. But I am able to spot these right will be individual companies which need not fit a theme. Pre-covid maybe there were three crore Demat accounts, today there are 13 or 15 crore Demat accounts. So, this has been a narrative-driven market and most of these are first-time investors and narratives. The narrative is correct and it is very logical and that is why these narratives have probably fully or over discounted. That is why I feel it will be a market where one can try and outperform the markets by individual bottom-up picks and not through theme- based investing. At least that is my view. Of course, one could be wrong and some themes may outperform significantly even from here.
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
The CIO's Guide To Leading The AI Productivity Shift
Ashwin Ballal is the Chief Information Officer at Freshworks. The AI productivity boom is here. It's moving fast, leaving the unprepared behind. The chance to transform work is huge, as is the responsibility. Business technology is undergoing a historic reset. AI is no longer a futuristic promise—it's reshaping how we work today. For CIOs, this means transitioning from operational managers to transformation drivers. According to recent McKinsey research, generative AI could add up to $4.4 trillion annually to the global economy by 2030 through productivity enhancements. That scale of the potential is exciting—but only if it's grounded in reality. I didn't start in tech. I've worked in sales, marketing, engineering and general management. That journey taught me that technology only matters if it drives outcomes and empowers people. Without alignment with business goals, new tech often creates more headaches than solutions. Today, that's clearer than ever, as businesses struggle under the weight of costly, complex "solutions" that promise growth and then deliver the opposite. Here's how to break free from that cycle and lead with impact: AI is often seen as a threat to employment, but the reality is far more optimistic. Rather than replacing roles, CIOs should focus on evolving them by taking the following actions: • Identify tasks that can be enhanced by AI across departments, not jobs to be replaced. • Start with repetitive, time-consuming processes. • Set clear productivity metrics before and after implementation. At my organization, we've seen a meaningful impact across teams by integrating AI into our workflows. Engineers are delivering more efficiently with AI-assisted coding. Our marketing team is creating more content without compromising quality. And our customer success team is resolving issues faster thanks to smarter knowledge retrieval. AI is also creating demand for new skills, especially for people who understand both business and AI applications. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook, data scientist and AI specialist roles are projected to grow at 15% through 2032, much faster than average. This marks a shift from automation for cost savings to automation for capacity expansion. When teams are freed from routine tasks, they focus on strategy, innovation and customer impact. Empathy is a strategic differentiator. CIOs must understand how people interact with tools, not just whether the tools work. Implement these practices to build more human-centered solutions: • Shadow employees to spot friction points. • Measure experience metrics alongside technical ones. • Pilot new tools with real users before rolling them out. For example, when my team redesigned our internal knowledge management system, we focused on user experience, not just functionality. The result? A reduction of nearly half the time spent searching for information, leading to faster customer resolutions and better decisions. Empathy helps prioritize AI investments that reduce complexity and drive real value. Tools should simplify work, not add new layers of frustration. The biggest threat to AI success isn't a lack of technology—it's too much of it. The following three actions should assist you in identifying where you need new tools and where you need to streamline: • Audit tools enterprise-wide to identify redundancies. • Adopt a "one in, one out" policy for tech adoption. • Choose platforms that integrate and scale seamlessly. Many solutions are just a force-fit of features you'll never use, adding complexity that slows you down. AI thrives in streamlined environments. Simplify CRM, billing and ERP—core workflows where impact multiplies. Don't confuse more features with more value. Software is a choice that can make or break a business. The challenge is choosing platforms that solve real problems without creating new ones. AI's value depends on adoption—and adoption depends on confidence. Consider these empowering steps to ensure you're implementing value in alignment with business goals: • Deliver role-specific training for every function. • Empower AI champions across departments. • Create clear career paths that reward AI fluency. Most employees know AI matters but don't yet feel equipped. Research by PwC found that 77% of executives cite skill gaps as the top challenge to AI adoption. Upskilling isn't just technical—it's about mindset. When people understand how AI enhances their role, they stop resisting change and start driving it. Constraints aren't barriers—they're catalysts. To make the most of limited resources, consider these steps: • Create an AI value scorecard to prioritize use cases. • Sunset the lowest-performing 20% of your tech stack. • Reinvest savings in high-ROI, organization-wide initiatives. Transformation at scale doesn't come from spreading resources thin. It comes from doubling down where AI adds measurable value. For example, consolidating analytics platforms into one AI-powered solution can cut costs while expanding insights across teams. The hard truth? Many organizations are still stuck in AI pilot mode. A recent Accenture study found that two-thirds of companies haven't scaled past the experimentation phase. The ones who will succeed are those who simplify, empower and lead with purpose. The future of CIO leadership isn't defined by how much AI we implement—it's defined by how well we enable people to thrive with it. Real transformation happens when systems elevate human potential, drive cross-functional impact and turn IT from a cost center into a growth catalyst. The productivity shift is here. The question is: Are you building for speed or building for scale? The time for strategy is now—the time for implementation was yesterday. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Innovation Happening at Infrastructure Level: Qiu
Lei Qiu, CIO of Thematic Innovation Equities at AllianceBernstein, says the pace of innovation at the infrastructure level is picking up and there will be various winners in the AI supply chain going forward. She speaks to Bloomberg's Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow on 'Bloomberg Tech.' (Source: Bloomberg)
