Stock market on your mind? We're talking finance, index investing, and the future of global markets with Mark Makepeace, the founder of stock market index giant FTSE Russell and new CEO of Wilshire. Mark shares the groundbreaking history behind index funds and his role in shaping governance standards that maintain trust and transparency between listed corporations, indices, and the public. We also talk about the promising rise of stakeholder capitalism and how James Bond convinced him to start an ESG index series.
In this episode, we’re talking to Mark Makepeace, founder of the stock market index company FTSE Russell and current CEO of Wilshire. In our conversation, Mark shares the history of FTSE and how it changed how we invest in the stock market, the give-and-take relationship between private and public companies, and how and why companies around the world are beginning to invest more deeply in sustainability and stakeholder capitalism.
Hosted by: Erin Acevedo & Eric Berridge
Produced by: Erin Acevedo
About Mark Makepeace
Mark Makepeace is Chief Executive Officer of Wilshire. Prior to joining Wilshire, Mark was Group Director of Information Services of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) and Chief Executive of FTSE Russell, the global index provider.
Mark started his career in financial services in 1985, when he joined the London Stock Exchange to coordinate “Big Bang” (the deregulation of securities trading in the City of London).
In 1995 he founded FTSE International (a joint venture between the Financial Times and LSEG) and grew the index business from a small UK start-up with nine staff to become one of the largest and most successful global index providers today. Mark has over 20 years’ experience in developing successful joint ventures. He has successfully forged alliances with stock exchanges, academics, and leading industry groups establishing substantial businesses around the world. He was a founding member of the Index Industry Association and its first chairman.
Mark has been a long-time supporter of the children’s charity UNICEF and currently serves as an honorary Vice President of UNICEF UK. Mark is a Distinguished Fellow at the Georgetown Centre for Financial Markets and Policy, Georgetown University, Washington DC, and also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) and the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX). He is the author of FTSE: The Inside Story.
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