Will Europe benefit from Brexit?

What will Europe look like after Brexit? Are there signs in the market that show green light to new investments? These questions were raised in the ninth Capital Markets Seminar organized by Aalto University School of Business and PwC at the end of September.

The Capital Markets Seminar is an annual eventfor the top business management of companies. The event sheds light on topical issues in the world economy. The seminar collects top expertise from the field to analyse how the future looks like and to identify the most crucial challenges for companies.

This year the event was opened by Janne Rajalahti, Partner atPwC. He shared his views about how the world economy and markets will behave after Brexit becomes full reality and what can be expected in the future.

Andrew Sentance, Senior Economic Adviser of PwC, with a background from the UK and Bank of England, held the keynote speech at the seminar. He described the extraordinary political situation of Europe in which, despite the financial crisis, economic growth has been secured – but now to a more moderate extent as a result of Brexit. ”The growth of the world economy happens now in the East, in countries like China”, said Sentance.

And how does the European market look like from the perspective of the United States? This question was answered by Kristiina Helenius, Partner & Director of North America Nordic West Office.  

According to Helenius the White House is in chaos to some degree and she highlighted that it is now extremely important for the United States to secure economic growth at home, in order to fulfill the promises given in the last elections.

The seminar was wrapped up by Vesa Puttonen, Professor of Finance in the School of Business. He gave investor insight to the European situation. ”Compared to the political situation, the market is surprisingly steady”, Puttonen said. ”The debt of states is increasing. Central banks play a role in this by buying state obligations. This means that the deficit is financed by central banks.”

”Do we have reason to be worried today?”, Puttonen asked and referred to the current zero interest rate environment, which offers a basis for potential financial bubbles. Puttonen also commented on what should be done in a tough spot in the future. ”The School of Business grows future’s new business leaders that can solve the challenges of Eurozone and the global economy. Modern teacher asks students for solutions.”

These were the concluding remarks of Capital Market Seminar in 2017.