Our Lives in Their Portfolios: Why Asset Managers Own the World

In this UCL IIPP In Conversation panel discussion, Brett Christophers, Professor of Human Geography at Uppsala University presents his new book 'Our Lives in Their Portfolios: Why Asset Managers Own the World'.

In his new book Our Lives in Their Portfolios: Why Asset Managers Own the World, Brett Christophers peels back the veil on what he calls ‘asset manager society’ – a society in which the natural and built environment becomes one more vehicle of siphoning money from the many to the few. Asset managers, he shows, are unlike traditional owners of housing and other essential infrastructure. Buying and selling these life-supporting assets at a dizzying pace, the crux of their business model is not long-term investment and careful custodianship but making quick profits for themselves and the investors that back them. As the owners of more and more of the basic building blocks of everyday life, asset managers shape the lives of each and every one of us. In his talk, Brett Christophers will dive into how and why this came about, and what the consequences are. Chaired by Professor Mariana Mazzucato, UCL IIPP and Stefan Horn, UCL IIPP as discussant.