Are we facing a crisis of information or a crisis of trust?

Over the last decade and a half, our society has found itself resting upon an increasingly complex web of trust. Born from the ashes of the Great Recession, this technologically amplified economic recovery held much promise; investors incorporating ESG considerations into their decision-making processes, governments embracing demands for more equitable policies, and citizens leveraging social media to increase the pressure for transparency and justice. But is the backbone of this brave new world really that perdurable?

Once heralded as the great democratizer of information, the corridors of the internet are now polluted with cascades of misinformation, both hyper-accelerated and monetized to once unimaginable dimensions by the Attention Barons of the Web’s second chapter. Market systems long overdue for change remain locked into archaic monopolies still operating on opaque proprietary systems. Trust has become a vehicle to boost shareholder value; with the incontrovertible truth often falling to the wayside as both an inconvenient and unaccounted for expense. This unintelligible game of tug of war has not only created the most profitable industry in the world but has also facilitated the greatest transfer of wealth in human history.

All hope is not lost, however, as a new chapter is being written and a consent-based economy engineered in the board rooms, financial exchanges and digital wireframes of a rapidly emerging body politic. After all, the economy we leave to the next generation will be built by those who decide a more sustainable world is not only more profitable – but inherently possible.

Welcome to Smarter Markets™.

We see a world of untold resources – profound scientific knowledge, a deep and diverse well of human experience and imagination, and formative technological innovations that have the potential of reshaping and improving the human experience.

As a community of unwavering optimists and pragmatists, we believe in the potential of markets to empower individuals so they can marshal these resources and meet the challenges of a world in crisis. Together, we meet in candid conversation to share our stories, experiences, hopes, and fears; and ultimately our visions for a better future. The answers are out there. The answers are within us.

At its core, finance is inherently social. The exchange of goods and services is an extension of our best human nature; a language we all speak. Let us reclaim this universal language together.