Showing posts with label World Bank. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World Bank. Show all posts
Sunday, January 28, 2024
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Listicle of Financial Inclusion Institutions
Financial inclusion is an emerging topic in both the traditional finance sector and the social capital arena. Here's a rundown of the major institutions facilitating and tracking this phenomenon.
The Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) has a target date of 2020 for full inclusion. That's ambitious, so five years from now we can expect to see inclusive programs all over the developed world. If the subject is ever going to catch fire, it must cover both the developed world and emerging markets.
The G20's Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) is a serious effort to integrate several multilateral initiatives. It matters if it keeps the developed world's sub-ministerial task forces on track. The risk is that the G20's recent endorsement of coordinated monetary stimulus will disrupt the capital account flows the developed world needs to meet inclusion targets.
The World Bank's Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) develops a policy architecture for implementing inclusive plans. That's a fancy way of saying the group has sample rules that any country can implement. Check out their discussions of microcredit. The World Bank also maintains GPFI's G20 Financial Inclusion Indicators, along with its own Financial Inclusion data and Global Findex.
The Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) is probably the most inclusive policymaking body. The difference with AFI is the participation of experts from the developing world to ensure the other coordinating bodies aren't making policy in a vacuum.
Billions of formerly marginalized people are crossing the chasm between the non-integrated gap and the functioning core. Keeping up with the times means knowing how they will all grow wealthy. Financial inclusiveness is the developed world's welcome mat laid out for the world economy's brand new members.
Monday, May 26, 2014
World Bank Needs Content Marketing
The recent news that nobody reads most of the World Bank's published content made me wonder what the world is missing. I also wonder how much money the World Bank is wasting on knowledge content that fails to generate traction. The World Bank's own report on its downloads states that a quarter of its budget for country services goes to knowledge products, and 31% of these are never downloaded. That's about a 7% drag on the country services annual budget. Simply cutting the product budget by 31% may yield an immediate ROI if the remainder is allocated to more of the multi-sector reports that are most frequently downloaded.
Generating more external research citations via Google Scholar will help validate the World Bank's mission of informing policy debates. If 87% of the Bank's work goes uncited, Google's tracking tools can reveal which ones are cited by correlating language, page count, subject matter, and other metrics. Publishing in PDF should not be a limiting factor. I have seen plenty of academic material circulate in PDF copy because it successfully finds and audience.
The World Bank's social media and knowledge management people need to talk about content marketing. Google searches for marketing PDF content in social media reveal plenty of free guides from Marketo, Adobe, and other sources that want marketers to succeed. Has the World Bank ever cross-published its conference presentations to SlideShare? They should try it. It works. Have they ever completed a market analysis of the demographics that attend their conferences and request reports? Their depressing analysis of download stats may the first step.
I suspect the World Bank's problem lies in its inability to meet a market need for solutions. It acts like a bureaucracy that expects its captive customers to walk right in to its Open Knowledge Repository. The audience won't come if they don't know how the portal's products will benefit them. Private sector marketers know they must push media to a target market. The World Bank's content can solve the world's problems if it can push relevant content to an audience that needs it.
Generating more external research citations via Google Scholar will help validate the World Bank's mission of informing policy debates. If 87% of the Bank's work goes uncited, Google's tracking tools can reveal which ones are cited by correlating language, page count, subject matter, and other metrics. Publishing in PDF should not be a limiting factor. I have seen plenty of academic material circulate in PDF copy because it successfully finds and audience.
The World Bank's social media and knowledge management people need to talk about content marketing. Google searches for marketing PDF content in social media reveal plenty of free guides from Marketo, Adobe, and other sources that want marketers to succeed. Has the World Bank ever cross-published its conference presentations to SlideShare? They should try it. It works. Have they ever completed a market analysis of the demographics that attend their conferences and request reports? Their depressing analysis of download stats may the first step.
I suspect the World Bank's problem lies in its inability to meet a market need for solutions. It acts like a bureaucracy that expects its captive customers to walk right in to its Open Knowledge Repository. The audience won't come if they don't know how the portal's products will benefit them. Private sector marketers know they must push media to a target market. The World Bank's content can solve the world's problems if it can push relevant content to an audience that needs it.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Adding a Few Analytical Tools
The financial analyst must have tools. I search far and wide for the data sources that make this blog worth reading. Check out the widget to the right that says "Favorite Analytical Tools" to see the latest additions to my toolbox.
The World Bank Logistics Performance Index ranks countries on the quality and efficiency of their logistics infrastructure. In a macro sense, it's useful for evaluating whether trade flows for a given country will have structural friction, i.e., a country with poor infrastructure will have a hard time growing its exports. In a micro sense, I can use it in conjunction with the Transparency International corruption index and Heritage Foundation economic freedom index to assess the risk of a company's investment in a resource play. I will stay away from hard asset prospectors in countries that score poorly in all three data sets.
The OECD Statistics are an analyst's dream. I first used them in my MBA program to compare regional business conditions. The data sets can be mixed and matched in endless combinations. For example, compare the inflows and outflows of foreign direct investment to see the world market's snap judgement on which countries are considered to be hot investments. Once again, the multiple reports on transportation infrastructure investment show me which countries are serious about making their economies attractive.
The Federal Reserve's economic research and data is useful for those patient enough to wade through it. The most relevant basic data for analysts is the "Z-series" Flow of Funds Accounts report, which summarizes changes in U.S. credit markets. I've also been subscribed to the San Francisco Fed's regular email announcements of published reports for over a decade. The Fed's longer reports aren't as boring as what you'll find in most academic journals. Then again, they're not romance novels either. Maybe the Fed could spice up its reports with some hot action.
The ICI Research and Statistics pages show us what investors are doing in the public capital markets. The most instructive data for me is in the Weekly Estimated Long-Term Mutual Fund Flows (on the Statistics page). The downloadable data set says it all. Retail investors have been pulling money out of actively managed mutual funds and piling into bond funds for quite some time.
I've used these sites and others intermittently over the years but sticking them in a widget makes it official. Delving into these types of portals is how I spend my time here at Alfidi Capital. I don't expect professional portfolio managers to keep up with me because I'm so much smarter than them. They pretend to use hard data to make decisions but they really just copy other firms that succeed in selling hot ideas.
The World Bank Logistics Performance Index ranks countries on the quality and efficiency of their logistics infrastructure. In a macro sense, it's useful for evaluating whether trade flows for a given country will have structural friction, i.e., a country with poor infrastructure will have a hard time growing its exports. In a micro sense, I can use it in conjunction with the Transparency International corruption index and Heritage Foundation economic freedom index to assess the risk of a company's investment in a resource play. I will stay away from hard asset prospectors in countries that score poorly in all three data sets.
The OECD Statistics are an analyst's dream. I first used them in my MBA program to compare regional business conditions. The data sets can be mixed and matched in endless combinations. For example, compare the inflows and outflows of foreign direct investment to see the world market's snap judgement on which countries are considered to be hot investments. Once again, the multiple reports on transportation infrastructure investment show me which countries are serious about making their economies attractive.
The Federal Reserve's economic research and data is useful for those patient enough to wade through it. The most relevant basic data for analysts is the "Z-series" Flow of Funds Accounts report, which summarizes changes in U.S. credit markets. I've also been subscribed to the San Francisco Fed's regular email announcements of published reports for over a decade. The Fed's longer reports aren't as boring as what you'll find in most academic journals. Then again, they're not romance novels either. Maybe the Fed could spice up its reports with some hot action.
The ICI Research and Statistics pages show us what investors are doing in the public capital markets. The most instructive data for me is in the Weekly Estimated Long-Term Mutual Fund Flows (on the Statistics page). The downloadable data set says it all. Retail investors have been pulling money out of actively managed mutual funds and piling into bond funds for quite some time.
I've used these sites and others intermittently over the years but sticking them in a widget makes it official. Delving into these types of portals is how I spend my time here at Alfidi Capital. I don't expect professional portfolio managers to keep up with me because I'm so much smarter than them. They pretend to use hard data to make decisions but they really just copy other firms that succeed in selling hot ideas.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Business As Usual In The New Versailles And Elsewhere
Everything old is new again.
Immediately after taking power, self-styled reformers abandon their promises to solve fiscal problems. What could have been a significant move is now merely tokenism.
The same reformers line up to collect business cards in return for promises of future aid. Say hello to the new boss . . . same as the old boss.
Leaders may have missed a few things while they were busy learning the ropes. They might have seen the World Bank issuing its first yuan-based bonds. The bank can probably see who its future largest shareholder will be.
Leaders may have seen this prediction of Chinese leadership in the IPO market. Or they may have missed it, if their Wall Street masters told them to look the other way.
I try to see things other people might miss. It's the only way I know to prepare for a future in which the country of my birth will not be the world's hegemon.
Immediately after taking power, self-styled reformers abandon their promises to solve fiscal problems. What could have been a significant move is now merely tokenism.
The same reformers line up to collect business cards in return for promises of future aid. Say hello to the new boss . . . same as the old boss.
Leaders may have missed a few things while they were busy learning the ropes. They might have seen the World Bank issuing its first yuan-based bonds. The bank can probably see who its future largest shareholder will be.
Leaders may have seen this prediction of Chinese leadership in the IPO market. Or they may have missed it, if their Wall Street masters told them to look the other way.
I try to see things other people might miss. It's the only way I know to prepare for a future in which the country of my birth will not be the world's hegemon.
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