What can the geopolitical conflicts of the past teach us about the future? This session will examine key points in history, how China, the European Union and the US have survived, and what it means for the future.

In this candid Q&A with John Hennessy, the "godfather of Silicon Valley" he will discuss how Stanford became so successful, what went right and what went wrong with the internet, and the good, bad and ugly of Silicon Valley. Hennessey is a computer scientist, academician and the chair of Alphabet. From 2000 to 2017 he served as president of Stanford University.

Almost everything we thought we knew about energy is ripe for transformation – and rich in both risk and opportunity. Oil suppliers have more unsellable than unburnable oil; they are more at risk from market competition than from climate regulation. Electricity suppliers also face a swarm of disruptors that will transform their businesses beyond recognition as the electricity and auto industries merge to eat the oil industry, as insurgents challenge incumbents in all three of these immense sectors, and as integrative design yields expanding returns to investments in radical energy efficiency.

The current static models of asset allocation are built on the wrong premise, and the notion of a policy portfolio, benchmarks and smart beta has nothing to do with asset allocation. If investors focus on compound returns, not average returns, they will have a different approach to asset allocation. Featuring Myron Scholes, the Frank E. Buck professor of finance, graduate school of business, Stanford University.

This intimate discussion between investment journalist Amanda White and the MIT Sloan School of Management distinguished professor of finance and Nobel Laureate, Robert C Merton, traverses much ground; from financial innovation and the use of technology, to the future of active management and the looming global retirement crisis. The discussion leaves listeners with an insight into Merton's 50 years in academia and their profound effect on the finance industry.