Michael Melvin

Professor
Rady School of Management

Michael Melvin joined the Rady School in 2016 to teach and coordinate the new Master of Finance program. Prior to his return to academia, he spent many years at BlackRock and Barclays Global Investors (BGI). At BlackRock and BGI, he led research-oriented currency and fixed income investment teams. Most recently he was a Managing Director in the Multi-Asset Strategies Executive Group where he was Senior Research Advisor, working with investment teams around the globe. Prior to that he was Head of Fixed Income and Currency Research in a global macro hedge fund. He joined BGI as Head of Currency Research and was in charge of currency hedge funds. Until joining UCSD, he also taught a class on modeling currency markets in the Master of Financial Engineering program at U.C. Berkeley. Prior to joining BGI in 2005, he was Professor of Economics and Dean's Council Distinguished Scholar at Arizona State University. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Germany and a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Board, the Bank for International Settlements, and the International Monetary Fund. He has been a visiting professor at the Kellogg School, Northwestern University; Anderson School, UCLA; University of Frankfurt; and University of Munich.

Check out the incredible speaker line-up to see who will be joining Michael.

Download The Latest Agenda

Day 1- Tuesday February 14th 2017

Tuesday, March 8th, 2016

08:45 Chairperson's Opening Remarks

08:50 All Star Panel: The blueprint for success- What elements are crucial to create a highly streamlined FX trading business in a rapidly evolving FX market structure?

Adapting to a world of reduced risk appetite and increasingly volatile markets- What strategies can you exploit to ensure you are keeping abreast of challenging market conditions?
Technology is a ‘must have’ to improve your FX trading capabilities-How should you integrate it with your current FX trading workflow?
Building the ideal desk- How should you set up your internal structures to maximize workflow efficiency and streamline your FX operations?
How can the full FX value chain become more harmonized to achieve a better, more coherent market structure which can promote progression across the full FX spectrum?

14:00 360 Perspective: Geo-political investment trends- How can you exploit political drivers in the US, Europe and Asia for your FX portfolio?

What major events in 2017 will have the biggest impact on FX markets and how can you set up a winning strategy to capitalize on these?
What do the major elections in Europe mean for the Eurozone on the back of Brexit- Is there a risk of further break-up?
Geo-political landscape from a risk management perspective- How can you structure a profitable portfolio on top of this?
Learning from past events- How can you use lessons from recent political events to best handle the unbalanced risks associated with major events in 2017?

15:00 Global Currency Roundtables: Breaking down geo-political boundaries – All you need to know to about currency trends to meet your investment objectives across global jurisdictions

Join these informal, locality specific roundtables hosted by one individual expert in that jurisdiction. This is your chance to quiz a market expert on where the opportunities lie in a continent of your choice, and the implications this will have on currency investing. Each roundtable is limited to 10 buy side to entice an interactive, open discussion.

Drill down on the major macro indicators affecting each jurisdiction:

USA Roundtable

What impact will the new US Presidential election have on US capital markets?
Hosted by Marc Chandler, Head of FX Strategy, Brown Brothers Harriman

Europe Roundtable-

What does Brexit mean for the European investment landscape?
Hosted by Lee Ferridge, Head of Macro Strategy North America, State Street Global Markets

China Roundtable-

How big a risk is exposure to Chinese domestic markets in light of recent instability?
Hosted by Steven Englander, Managing Director, Head of G10 FX Strategy, Citibank

EM Roundtable-

Are emerging markets finally set to rally significantly in 2017? Hosted by Michael Melvin, Master of Finance, Academic Coordinator, Rady School of Management, UCSD

16:10 Oxford Style Debate: True or False- Central banking policies have ran their course and will be ineffective in 2017

The ineffectiveness of central banking policies- Have central banking policies not had the desired impact to improve the economy?
How low can you go- Are rates set to drop further or is the only way up from here?
Do the central banks have anywhere else to turn with banking policies or is fiscal stimulus the only way forward now?
Currency markets in 2017 and beyond- Would fiscal policy and/or helicopter money provide the US economy with the boost it needs?

17:35 Chairperson's Closing Remarks

Day 2- Wednesday February 15th 2017

Friday, March 2nd, 2018

08:55 Chairperson's Opening Remarks

10:00 Asset Owners Perspective: What are the key criteria asset owners look out for when selecting new partners to handle their currency exposure in current volatile market conditions?

Outsourcing- What are the key criteria asset owners look out for when selecting new partners to handle some of their AUM?
How are asset owners adapting how they handle their assets in light of increasingly difficult liquidity conditions?
How are asset owners seeking to manage their currency exposure during major volatile markets strikes?
How can both buy and sell side firms assist asset owners and help them meet their requirements to return capital?

13:40 360 Perspective: Debating the 4pm FIX - What are the pros and cons for trading at this benchmark?

Changes to the benchmark- what have been the mechanical changes to the 4pm FIX and what else is to come to make this a safer, more reliable benchmark?
What are the alternatives to trading at the 4pm FIX and how can you realistically move away from this benchmark?
What benefits can trading at other times of the day bring with regards to pricing and liquidity?
Debate- Should the window be extended further to make it even less susceptible to price fixing or is 5 minutes sufficient?

14:30 FX Crystal Ball: How will capital markets evolve under a new Trump presidency and where will we be in 4 years time?

Our final session at the 2017 edition of TradeTech FX USA will be designed by you. Throughout the two days, post a question regarding the biggest challenge you are currently facing to ensure it is addressed at the conference, and the most popular topics will be chosen by the audience for our panel of experts. Make the most of this unique opportunity to shape the agenda yourself. Our knowledgeable panel will provide expertise on:

Execution
Technology
Strategy
Market Structure
Regulation

TradeTech FX USA 2017 (past event)