BFI Fireside
Conversations

This Fireside Conversation features Mr. Thomas Pedersen, who co-founded Copenhagen Atomics in 2015. The young Danish company has set out to revolutionize the energy sector. With their innovative technology, using Thorium instead of uranium in their molten-salt reactors, they can generate energy more safely, efficiently, and much cheaper than traditional nuclear reactors – or other energy sources, like wind or solar, for that matter.

This Fireside Conversation is between BFI’s Chief Investment Officer, Dirk Steinhoff, and Frank R. Suess, and provides an investor outlook for 2024, through the eyes of BFI. Before looking ahead, Dirk looks back at the biggest “game changers” of 2023 and what impact they will play for us investors in 2024. One thing is clear: we are living through a period of great change. And with those changes, opportunities will present themselves in places we aren’t used to looking in.

This Fireside Conversation is with Swiss author, journalist, and communications specialist, Giuseppe Gracia. He explains how both faith and reason are required for building a healthy society, what the core issues of woke ideology are, and why “freedom” has nothing to do with having options.

In the third part of this Fireside Conversation, Natalie Vein and Frank R. Suess discuss the possible impact of financial repression measures, how artificial intelligence is changing the way we invest, and why the trade-offs of all political stances need to be part of a differentiated discourse.

In this part 2 of the Fireside Conversation between our CEO and Chairman, Frank R. Suess, and Natalie Vein, a wide range of topics are discussed including the threat to democracy, inflation, the growing wealth gap, the role gold can and should play in a portfolio, and much, much more!

As we come to the end of 2023, and the end of celebrating BFI’s 30th anniversary, we would like to take you on a bit of nostalgic trip back to the beginning of BFI. In this Fireside Conversation, we turn the tables as Chairman and CEO, Frank Suess, is interviewed this time, sharing how BFI started, what he learned along the way as a seasoned entrepreneur, and how much the world has changed since he started.

In this second Fireside Conversation between Frank Suess and well-known Swiss journalist and author, Markus Somm, they pick up Swiss history right where they left off in their first Conversation to discuss Swiss industrialization, the evolvement of direct democracy, and the imperative role fair competition plays in creating a healthy democracy.

After decades in the financial and geopolitical world, Don McAlvany and his wife, Molly, founded the Asian Pacific Children's Fund (APCF) to support well-run children's homes in Asia. In this Conversation, Don shares why they got involved, how this fund works, and what their vision for the future is. (paragraph) Travelling though Asia twenty years ago, Don and Molly realised the shocking numbers of children living in horrendous circumstances and how great the need for good, safe children's homes was - and still is. As Don describes it, he 'must have had a heart transplant', because suddenly, the world of business was not as gratifying any more. (paragraph) After decades as a successful entrepreneur, financial and geopolitical advisor, and author of two best-selling books, his wife Molly, and Don, decided to advocate for these children. They founded the Asian Pacific Children's Fund in 2006 and have been living in the Philippines ever since.(paragraph) What is unique about their approach is that they do not found new homes themselves; they instead look for existing, trustworthy, and well-managed local homes that need - often desperately - financial support. All funds go directly to the children. As of now, APCF supports 8 homes in the Philippines, India, Nepal, Myanmar, and Indonesia. (paragraph) In this Conversation, Don explains the criteria they use to select the homes, where the difficulties they are facing in India, Nepal, and Myanmar come from, and how the kids keep them young. (paragraph) Don and Molly are close, life-long friends of Frank Suess, who has been supporting APCF for a long time. Frank acts as a member of their board. If you'd like to learn more about APCF, visit their website at www.apcf.world.

In this Fireside Conversation, Frank R. Suess sits down with Christoph Wild, president of the ASFCMP (in English, the Swiss Association of Precious Metal Manufacturers and Dealers) to discuss the precious metals industry, where some of the negative perceptions of the industry have come from, and what tangible efforts are being taken to change them. (paragraph)Christoph Wild has more than 30 years of experience in the precious metals industry. Up until February 2022, he had served 10 years as the CEO and a Delegate on the Board of Directors with the Swiss-based refinery, Argor-Heraeus, one of the leading precious metals refiners in the world. As president of the ASFCMP, he remains a key representative of the Swiss precious metals industry as he works within the industry, with a variety of active stakeholders, and NGO’s, amongst others, to support and improve the standards of the gold industry. (paragraph) Frank and Christoph discuss the tarnished reputation of the industry and why this sector seems to attract bad press even while there is good being done. They also dive into the importance precious metals plays in the Swiss economy, how Switzerland came to be a hub for the industry, and why there is an enormous opportunity for precious metals to avoid the pitfalls that have befallen the finance sector. (paragraph) Like in our conversation with the CEO of the World Gold Council, David Tait (Link to David Tait pt. II) it becomes very clear that this topic – like so many others – is NOT just one-dimensional and is more complex than many people might think.

In this Fireside Conversation, Frank R. Suess is joined by Markus Somm. Markus is a well-known Swiss journalist, historian and entrepreneur. (paragraph) Markus shares how working as a journalist has changed and shaped his political views. His latest endeavour is the Nebelspalter, a Swiss online news portal. Markus and his team offer an alternative, more conservative and free-market oriented perspective, positioning themselves independently of mainstream media and their single-story approach. (paragraph) Of course, Markus and Frank also discuss Swiss history; how Switzerland became so successful quite a bit earlier than many people think and what led to this unique system we have today. Amongst other aspects, Markus explains how the Swiss were initially known as the Taliban of the middle-ages and then grew into civilised, international entrepreneurs. Listening to Markus, it becomes clear that our direct democracy has organically grown into what it is today and is deeply rooted in our firm rejection of nobility, creating an egalitarian republic very early on. (paragraph) Nowadays, history is often looked at and taught from a negative spin, especially in the West. Markus is on a mission to share a more appreciative perspective on Swiss history, reminding the Swiss that our country is indeed a very special case. (paragraph) Check out the Nebelspalter here: https://www.nebelspalter.ch/

In this second part of the Fireside Conversation between Frank R. Suess and the CEO of the World Gold Council, David Tait, they discuss the future of the gold industry. (paragraph) David explains where he sees today's biggest challenges in the sector and how he plans to address them. Contrary to the popular opinion amongst NGOs, he does not believe in an exclusionary, top-down approach, but in creating a decentralized, standardized, fully transparent and therefore self-cleansing ecosystem with low barriers of entry. (paragraph) David also shares a story rarely told: Where the gold industry already has a positive impact, especially in developing countries, and how he wants to preserve that. Leading the World Gold Council, David has a precise vision for the global gold industry and is on a determined mission to implement it, step by step.

David Tait is the CEO of the World Gold Council and has a clear and exciting vision for the future of the gold industry. Beforehand, he has had a remarkably successful career in banking that ended in 2016 as the Global Head of Macro Products at Credit Suisse. However, there's a much deeper story here. (paragraph)He is also an outspoken advocate for children's rights and has been supporting since he was a teenager. To raise funds, he jumped off buildings, wrecked cars and climbed Mount Everest several times, until he decided to tell his own childhood story and share why he is so deeply committed to help protect children.

In this Fireside Conversation, Frank sits down with Anastassios Frangulidis. Anastassios is a renouned economist in Switzerland. For many years, he was the Chief Economist and Chief Strategist of the Zurich Kantonalbank (ZKB), one of the largest state backed banks in Switzerland. Today, he heads up Swiss Multi Asset Zurich of Pictet Asset Management. Pictet is a Swiss private bank and has been a trusted partner of BFI for over 15 years. With his background, Anastassios has immense experience and knowledge in both economic research and investing which enables him to share valuable and comprehensive insights. (paragraph) In this Conversation, him and Frank discuss the many moving parts investors have to consider in today’s environment: Monetary and fiscal policies and their longer-term impact, interest rates, inflation, the economic cycle and where we find ourselves compared to China and Japan and the broader impacts of the thightening of the economy. Furthermore, they underline to growing importance of taking into account the current geopolitical changes and supply chain rearrangements. Finally, they tie their conclusions together and discuss the implications for investors. Now, that a ‘buy and hold approach’ has become very difficult and active portfolio management is essential: Where do the opportunities of tomorrow lie? Where do they see interesting themes and sectors? How can we effectively protect and grow what is rightfully ours? (paragraph) This Conversation was recorded right before the banking crisis started and Credit Suisse was saved. Since then, a lot has happened and it is to expect that there’s more to come. We live in turbulent, but also very interesting times! However, Easter is right around the corner and we hope you can take a step back and enjoy some quality time with your loved ones.

For this third Fireside Conversation, Frank is joined by Marc P. Bernegger. Marc is a well-known and very successful Swiss serial entreprene

This is the second part of our Conversation with Bruno Ciscato from R3. (paragraph) The first one discussed the fundamentals of the technology: How does it work? With what purpose has it been introduced to the market? And much more. If you'd like to first learn about some of the basics of blockchain, make sure to watch that conversation before-hand. (paragraph) In this second part, Bruno and Frank discuss blockchain's potential beyond crypto... way beyond crypto for that matter. The many use cases – those that already exist and those that are on the horizon – are highlighted by Bruno’s accolades for the role aXedras is playing in becoming a precious metals industry standard for provenance and transparency. Investors will appreciate the detailed explanation on how blockchain will help the precious metals industry, amongst many others. The subject matter of ESG and CBDCs (central bank digital currencies) also surprisingly comes into play. And the conversation is concluded with the discussion of opportunities and challenges to watch out for. (paragraph) This conversation definitely underlines the fact that we live in extremely interesting times!

Bruno Ciscato has managed to be at the epicenter of technological revolution for the past 30 years and is now a board member of SBI R3 Japan. R3 is a leading provider of enterprise trust technology and services. We've split Frank R. Suess's Conversation with him into two parts. The first one covering the basics of blockchain; the fundamentals to understand the technology. How and with what purpose has blockchain been introduced to the market? How does the consensus mechanism replace an intermediary? What is a Distributed Ledger? What are the key differences between CORDA (R3's technology) and bitcoin? How can blockchain be used beyond crypto? Did incidents like FTX happen because the blockchain technology has failed? Note that if you are already knowledgable about the technology, you might want to skip to part II of the conversation, which is coming soon!

Sune Sorensen is the personal advisor to a select group of BFI's more complex clients including Family Offices and Digital Asset investors and entrepreneurs. He looks back at 20 years of business and professional investment experience across asset classes, investor segments and geographical location. Sune founded and ran an independent macro research company that provided distinct insights on global trends and related investment risks and opportunities for over a decade. He is a partner with a US based think tank focussed on research and advice for leaders in both the public and private sectors. (paragraph) In this conversation, BFI Capital Group's Founder and Executive Chairman, Frank R. Suess, and Sune Sorensen discuss how the premises in investing change; how extraordinary outcomes can no longer be achieved with ordinary efforts. They reflect on how the world needs to recalibrate to a multi-polar structure, on inflation and deflation, on the most important considerations before even thinking about your investment strategy, custody, Switzerland's success story and much more.