Jonathan Aiken on geoeconomics in international affairs

Jonathan Aiken, Partner and Head of London, joined a panel of guest speakers and alumni at The Caledonian Club in London to discuss the topic of geoeconomics in international affairs, as part of the George Washington (GW) Elliott School Dean’s Global Perspective Series.

Jonathan was joined by Sarah Carlson, Senior Vice President of Sovereign Risk at Moody’s Investors Service, and Kelly Miely, Partner at Deloitte MCS, in London.

The key trends discussed during the panel discussion were:

1. Global de-risking and localisation of assets:
   1. 1. 1. 1. A continuing trend of disaggregation of assets based on supply chain optimisation, greater local management control, and continuing geopolitical tensions
            2. Continuing diversification in Asia: expansion of China +1 strategy and increased focus on China to China  
            3. On-shoring and near shoring: the rise of Eastern Europe and Turkey as alternative production destinations
2. The increasing importance of India:
   1. 1. 1. 1. Significant year-on-year creation of engineering talent
            2. On-shore and off-shore delivery of outsourced technology services
            3. Increase in home market relevance: increased inflows and investment, including private equity
3. Professionalisation of Private Equity in Asia:
   1. 1. 1. 1. Replication and expansion of Western Private Equity models in Asia
            2. The rise of mega hubs such as Singapore for capital deployment
            3. Increasing diversification of investment strategies and risk models