PortfolioConstruction Forum (PCF), the Sydney-based firm run by ex-pat Kiwi, Graham Rich, has signed a deal with US start-up Capital Preferences to market its investment advice education program in Australian and New Zealand.
According to a statement released last week, PCF would take on the official accreditation rights in Australasia for Capital Preferences’ ‘Quantitative Advice Methods’ training program.
The statement says: “… the program is aimed at financial advisers serving the New Zealand and Australian private banking, superannuation and retail markets, and will focus on the application of game theory and econometrics to client profiling and portfolio construction.”
Rich said the Australasian investment advisory market “desperately needs” new approaches to understanding client risk.
“Capital Preferences’ academic faculty are innovative thought leaders who bring something entirely new to the understanding of a consumer’s risk, time and social preferences and how to customise client portfolios with this data,” he said in the statement.
Capital Preferences, an offshoot of financial services marketing operation, Capital Position, formed in July 2014 to provide “enterprise investment advice, lending, insurance and talent market solutions”, its website says.
“We intend to bring science and rigor to how we understand clients and candidates and are out to solve the biggest challenges facing the most dynamic industries,” the Capital Preferences website says.
The training program is based on the game theory work of Professor Shachar Kariv, chair of the Berkeley University economics department.
Kariv is also listed as chief scientist and co-founder of Capital Preferences as well as chief economist of sister firm, Capital Position.