Balancing Conviction and Risk: Masters in Business with Maria Vassalou

Barry Ritholtz interviews Maria Vassalou, head of the Pictet Research Institute, about the research institute she joined in 2024 to build a PhD-level staff working with outside academics and think tanks. They cover its remit across asset allocation, portfolio construction, risk premia and capital market structures, plus geopolitical risk, China as a technical innovator and risks to US debt. The conversation also traces her path from a Columbia finance professorship to quantitative and macro portfolio roles at Citadel, Soros, SAC Capital and Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and what separates academic research from investing.

1. Vassalou joined the Pictet Research Institute in 2024 to build a staff of PhD-level researchers who collaborate with outside academics and think tanks.
2. The institute's mandate covers asset allocation, portfolio construction, risk premia, capital market structures and global economic and investment trends.
3. She was previously co-CIO at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, built a quantitative strategies group at Soros and later was a portfolio manager at SAC Capital.
4. Asked about the gap between academic theory and real-world practice, she named ego, and described being asked why academics fail on Wall Street.