Sony Kapoor is an influential macroeconomist, finance expert, geopolitics adviser, sustainability specialist & development advocate with a 25-year track record of successfully tackling policy, geopolitical, business, investment, technological & societal challenges. His portfolio career uniquely spans banking, asset management, policymaking, strategy consulting, research, political advisory, tech startups, board roles & civil society in dozens of countries across five continents. He is an interdisciplinary Professor of Geoeconomics, Climate, & Finance at the European University Institute in Italy, Chairman, World Benchmarking Alliance in the Netherlands, CEO, Nordic Institute for Finance, Technology and Sustainability in Norway, Senior Fellow Macroeconomics & Finance, E3G in London, Chairman, Re-Define & Trustee, Friends of Europe in Belgium. Mr Kapoor also sits on several expert committees, advisory boards and boards of non-profits and technology startups and has been an adviser to six G-20s, the EU, the UN, IMF, World Bank, many European & Emerging Market governments, large institutional investors and MNCs. His leadership in tackling the Eurocrisis, promoting financial reform, driving action on climate change, & improving development policy led to recognition as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, & as a European Young Leader by Friends of Europe. He has been elected Fellow by the RSA, and was awarded an honorary fellowship by Open Society Foundations for helping diffuse the Eurocrisis, promoting tax justice, harnessing new technology for society and greening finance. He is also a recipient of the prestigious Gold Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Public Discourse. Sony is known for his insightful, charismatic & agenda-setting keynotes, influential reports & incisive commentary. He has been invited to write for publications including The Economist, Financial Times, WSJ, Bloomberg, Les Echoes, SZ, NRC and Aftenposten and has often been an on-camera expert for the BBC, France 24, & Bloomberg. His advice on Geopolitics, Economics, Finance, Technology, Investing, Globalisation & Sustainability is in high demand by CEOs, corporate boards, supervisory boards, government cabinets, multilaterals & investment committees, often through high-level consultancies & invitations to deliver Keynote Speeches & Seminars. Mr Kapoor studied Engineering at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology as a National Talent Scholar, MBA Faculty of Management Studies as a Far Eastern Economic Review Scholar & Finance at LSE as a Chevening Scholar.
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Episode 464
Sony Kapoor
The Case for a Historic Reallocation to Emerging Markets | Sony Kapoor
Sony Kapoor is an influential macroeconomist, finance expert, geopolitics adviser, sustainability specialist & development advocate with a 25-year track record of successfully tackling policy, geopolitical, business, investment, technological & societal challenges. His portfolio career uniquely spans banking, asset management, policymaking, strategy consulting, research, political advisory, tech startups, board roles & civil society in dozens of countries across five continents. He is an interdisciplinary Professor of Geoeconomics, Climate, & Finance at the European University Institute in Italy, Chairman, World Benchmarking Alliance in the Netherlands, CEO, Nordic Institute for Finance, Technology and Sustainability in Norway, Senior Fellow Macroeconomics & Finance, E3G in London, Chairman, Re-Define & Trustee, Friends of Europe in Belgium. Mr Kapoor also sits on several expert committees, advisory boards and boards of non-profits and technology startups and has been an adviser to six G-20s, the EU, the UN, IMF, World Bank, many European & Emerging Market governments, large institutional investors and MNCs. His leadership in tackling the Eurocrisis, promoting financial reform, driving action on climate change, & improving development policy led to recognition as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, & as a European Young Leader by Friends of Europe. He has been elected Fellow by the RSA, and was awarded an honorary fellowship by Open Society Foundations for helping diffuse the Eurocrisis, promoting tax justice, harnessing new technology for society and greening finance. He is also a recipient of the prestigious Gold Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Public Discourse. Sony is known for his insightful, charismatic & agenda-setting keynotes, influential reports & incisive commentary. He has been invited to write for publications including The Economist, Financial Times, WSJ, Bloomberg, Les Echoes, SZ, NRC and Aftenposten and has often been an on-camera expert for the BBC, France 24, & Bloomberg. His advice on Geopolitics, Economics, Finance, Technology, Investing, Globalisation & Sustainability is in high demand by CEOs, corporate boards, supervisory boards, government cabinets, multilaterals & investment committees, often through high-level consultancies & invitations to deliver Keynote Speeches & Seminars. Mr Kapoor studied Engineering at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology as a National Talent Scholar, MBA Faculty of Management Studies as a Far Eastern Economic Review Scholar & Finance at LSE as a Chevening Scholar.
In Episode 464 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with economist, investor, and sovereign wealth and pension fund advisor Sony Kapoor about the case for a great rebalancing of capital from developed into emerging markets, generational investment opportunities in India, how the breakdown of the unipolar order creates both challenges and opportunities for EM investors, and whether AI can revive developed economies weighed down by public debt, unfunded liabilities, and faltering demographics.
The first hour covers the structural forces behind the outsized concentration of global portfolios in American assets, why the Trump administration’s erratic policymaking has made that overexposure impossible to ignore, and a deep dive into India—its evolving relationship with the US, how its elites and citizens perceive America under Trump, what it has drawn from Beijing’s development model, and the remarkable optimism pervading Indian society in contrast to Western declinism.
The second hour examines the broader EM investment case—why risk across currency, political, fiscal, and institutional dimensions is converging between developed and developing economies, why growth and demographic tailwinds favor dramatic portfolio reallocation toward emerging markets, and whether AI can sustain America’s virtuous capital reinvestment cycle or whether rapid global adoption will erode that edge. They also discuss geopolitical complexities shaping these considerations, from India’s deep military dependence on Russia to the fraying US-led international order and its implications for strategic autonomy across the developing world.
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Sony Kapoor is an influential macroeconomist, finance expert, geopolitics adviser, sustainability specialist & development advocate with a 25-year track record of successfully tackling policy, geopolitical, business, investment, technological & societal challenges. His portfolio career uniquely spans banking, asset management, policymaking, strategy consulting, research, political advisory, tech startups, board roles & civil society in dozens of countries across five continents.
He is an interdisciplinary Professor of Geoeconomics, Climate, & Finance at the European University Institute in Italy, Chairman, World Benchmarking Alliance in the Netherlands, CEO, Nordic Institute for Finance, Technology and Sustainability in Norway, Senior Fellow Macroeconomics & Finance, E3G in London, Chairman, Re-Define & Trustee, Friends of Europe in Belgium.
Mr Kapoor also sits on several expert committees, advisory boards and boards of non-profits and technology startups and has been an adviser to six G-20s, the EU, the UN, IMF, World Bank, many European & Emerging Market governments, large institutional investors and MNCs.
His leadership in tackling the Eurocrisis, promoting financial reform, driving action on climate change, & improving development policy led to recognition as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, & as a European Young Leader by Friends of Europe. He has been elected Fellow by the RSA, and was awarded an honorary fellowship by Open Society Foundations for helping diffuse the Eurocrisis, promoting tax justice, harnessing new technology for society and greening finance. He is also a recipient of the prestigious Gold Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Public Discourse.
Sony is known for his insightful, charismatic & agenda-setting keynotes, influential reports & incisive commentary. He has been invited to write for publications including The Economist, Financial Times, WSJ, Bloomberg, Les Echoes, SZ, NRC and Aftenposten and has often been an on-camera expert for the BBC, France 24, & Bloomberg.
His advice on Geopolitics, Economics, Finance, Technology, Investing, Globalisation & Sustainability is in high demand by CEOs, corporate boards, supervisory boards, government cabinets, multilaterals & investment committees, often through high-level consultancies & invitations to deliver Keynote Speeches & Seminars.
Mr Kapoor studied Engineering at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology as a National Talent Scholar, MBA Faculty of Management Studies as a Far Eastern Economic Review Scholar & Finance at LSE as a Chevening Scholar.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
