Laurence Neville

Trade between the two countries is at an all-time high, yet signs point to decoupling.

Fergus King is vice president of global supply chain for consumer products at TomTom, a  mapping and geolocation-technology specialist. He offers an insider’s view of the semiconductor shortage, explaining why small brands get short shrift and reshoring doesn’t work.

The strains of the Covid-19 pandemic revealed weaknesses that must be addressed—but changing these complex interacting systems is not easy.

Six steps corporate and business leaders need to take to successfully manage the supply chain challenge.

The pandemic forced everyone to innovate; here are some of the enduring lessons about innovation for corporates.

One of the most overused words in the business lexicon is often misunderstood: What is true innovation? Should it be a priority for all companies? And how can firms make it happen?

With a major new trade deal, favorable demographics and relative success managing the pandemic, Asia is fast assuming global leadership. Has the “Asian Century” just begun?

Stuart Wood, a founding partner of design agency Missouri Creative in London, points to Asia’s rising cultural influence—from K-pop to TikTok—as a soft yet powerful facet of its 21st century leadership.

With lockdown easing in many places, small and midsize enterprises can get back to business; but they face huge hurdles.

For better or worse, public companies must disclose their expected losses.

Europe has a rich cultural heritage and helped to create the modern world, through industrialization and trade. But many are pessimistic about its future. Can the continent prosper in the 2020s?

Calls for a greener, fairer world are growing, and an increasing number of companies are realizing the value of mitigating the pursuit of short-term profits in favor of long-term systemic—and corporate—health.

A few years ago Brent crude hit a low of $27 per barrel. Recently it topped $80. What are the macro consequences of higher prices?

The Paradise Papers leak prompted yet more indignation about corporate tax avoidance, and cash-strapped governments claim to be tackling the issue. What will it mean for corporates?

A year into President Trump’s term, America’s political life has changed beyond recognition. But what has his administration meant for companies?

Bridges, ports, roads and dams:  Infrastructure investment is having a moment in the sun. But will it rise to the high hopes so many have that it can rebuild crumbling economies around the world? 

From Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring to surprising victories for Brexit and Trump, citizens around the globe are pushing back against their leaders’ policy choices.

Corporate leaders can be forgiven for not thinking too far ahead. The length of time that investors hold stock has fallen. Share-holders want fast rewards—and quick fixes when performance flags. Moreover, given the upheavals and macroeconomic uncertainties of the past decade, many CEOs and CFOs have been preoccupied with firefighting.

World trade growth is slowing. Its future may depend on internal trade within a handful of discrete, powerful regions—especially Asia. 

An expanding middle class and strong long-term fundamentals suggest that pessimism over developing nations’ economic prospects may be overdone.

Seeking A New Paradigm | Emerging Markets Growth
To ascertain whether emerging markets is an obsolete term, we must first understand what it means.

Events in Ukraine have changed the outlook for Russia. Now the country faces choices about its global role that could affect the rest of the world for decades. Which path will it take?

By Laurence Neville Thirty-four developing countries—including all of the so-called Fragile Five nations—will have elections this year. Their results will be felt not only by other emerging economies but by global markets. At the end of January, panic gripped emerging ...

Twelve months is a long time in financial markets, and the phenomenon of globalization appears to have reached a fork in the road, with growth in emerging markets looking challenged. Is the globalization frenzy coming to an end?

REFORM BECOMING REALITY   By Laurence Neville   After years of promises, there are tentative signs that Russia is finally getting serious about reforming its economy.   Russia has always been the odd one out in the BRIC quartet of ...

THE HUNT FOR INTERNAL GROWTH   By Laurence Neville   China is in the midst of an economic makeover to increase domestic consumption and reduce reliance on external markets for growth. But how far are policymakers willing to go, and ...

NOURISHING GROWTH   By Laurence Neville   Despite slowing growth in the BRIC countries, emerging markets generally continue their ascent. Although they have made fewer headlines than usual over the past year, developing countries have experienced some pivotal, uplifting moments—both ...

PROFITING FROM THE BEAUTY PAGEANT   By Laurence Neville   Despite the eurozone’s debt woes, the euro has remained remarkably resilient thanks to a range of factors, including a more credible ECB under Mario Draghi and diversification away from the ...

MILESTONES: GLOBAL   Laurence Neville The global M&A market is moribund: Activity is just a third of the level of five years ago.   Skipper, Hogan Lovells: Economic uncertainty is the key barrier to investment Yet, companies are awash with ...

MILESTONES: IMF/WORLD BANK   By Laurence Neville   A year on from the appointment of Christine Lagarde as managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the challenges faced by her institution—and its sister entity, the World Bank—in helping to right ...

DEMAND WHERE WILL IT COME FROM?   By Laurence Neville   The worldwide call for public, private and corporate debt reduction raises the question of where spending and demand will come from going forward. Particularly now, as emerging markets stars—such ...

INNOVATION   By Laurence Neville   No list of influential figures of the past quarter-century would be complete without Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev, US president Ronald Reagan and British prime minister Margaret Thatcher—the three most important figures in ending the key ...

CONTINENTAL DIVIDE...   By Laurence Neville   There is a famous quote by British novelist LP Hartley that goes, "The past is a foreign country: They do things differently there."   If this is so, then 1987—when Global Finance was launched—is ...

REVOLUTION   By Laurence Neville   The scale of the crisis that has engulfed much of the world since 2008, which—like a virus—has mutated from a financial sector crisis to an economic crisis to a sovereign debt crisis, is so great ...

SUCCESSES   By Laurence Neville   A quick glance at the Fortune 500 for 1987 and 2012 reveals a number of similarities in the ranking of the largest companies in the US: ExxonMobil, GM, Ford, GE and AT&T all feature prominently ...

EVOLUTION   By Laurence Neville   Perhaps the defining characteristic of 2012—in contrast to 1987 when Global Finance launched—is the interconnectedness of the world.   Globalization spreads ideas and connects markets Those in the US now have more in common with ...

WAKE-UP CALL   By Laurence Neville   The expropriation of private assets in Argentina and Bolivia are a stark reminder of the risk of doing business in developing markets.   Nationalization of the political sort—as opposed to pragmatism designed to ...

WITH A COOL HAND   By Laurence Neville   China is taking advantage of the European crisis to make strategic investments in the Continent and encourage companies to pick up cheap assets. But the Asian nation is taking a slow ...

NEWSMAKERS: ITALY   By Laurence Neville   While many big wigs in the world of finance hit the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in late January to rub shoulders with glamorous attendees from business, politics and showbiz—this year led ...

ELECTION YEAR   By Laurence Neville   Numerous countries around the world are holding elections this year, which could create market uncertainty and hold back much-needed political decision-making—particularly in Europe.   Unlike 2011, which was a year of "unknown unknowns," ...

COVER STORY: ALTERNATIVE FINANCING   By Laurence Neville   Small and medium-size companies are vital to economic growth and critical to corporate supply chains. Yet traditional lending is virtually closed to SMEs in most markets—certainly in developed markets of the West. ...

  COVER STORY: THE 10% + CLUB   By Laurence Neville   Predicting what countries will be the next growth outperformers is tricky at best. Those firms that back the winners will undoubtedly profit, and the countries that make the ...

COVER STORY: STAYING AFLOAT   By Laurence Neville   With emerging markets economies just holding their own in the face of the crises in the developed world, they are unlikely to be able to pull the world out of the ...

MILESTONES / GLOBAL   by Laurence Neville   Renaissance’s Robertson: “China in risky period” China will become a democracy by 2017, while Russia is highly likely to become a strong democracy within the next few years, according to a remarkable ...

Uphill Struggle   By Laurence Neville   Ukraine’s recovery appears impressive, but structural cracks remain that could derail it.   At first glance, Ukraine appears to be in fine health. Having been at risk of collapse in the first stage ...

COVER STORY: EMERGING MARKETS INFLATION   By Laurence Neville   Emerging markets have been credited with saving the world’s economy from catastrophe with their resilient exports. Now they’re exporting a different product that threatens to stop the global recovery in ...

COVER STORY: MIDDLE EAST   By Laurence Neville   Nervous investors are looking for signs of stability in the Middle East and North Africa. The region’s burgeoning investment banking industry may provide the reassurance they’re looking for.   The political ...

MILESTONES: RUSSIA   By Laurence Neville   Russia spent much of 2010 in the doldrums.   Russia: Poised for significant growth While its fellow BRICs—Brazil, India and China—stormed ahead, Russia lagged behind. The causes of its lethargy were varied, but ...

COVER STORY: THE NEW RISKS   By Laurence Neville   Last year the global economy dodged some scary-looking bullets. This year it might not be so lucky.   As volatile and unnerving as it was, 2010 provided a welcome respite ...

ANALYSIS: GLOBAL GROWTH   By Laurence Neville   As companies thrive while countries struggle, a split seems to be emerging between macroeconomic and corporate performance.   Observers of the global economy could be forgiven for being a little confused of ...