Gerald Ashley

Gerald Ashley is a keynote speaker, advisor, broadcaster and writer on change, risk taking and decision making.

Gerald covers risk analysis, strategy, behavioural economics and change management, he speaks on topics that affect any business at any level.

Looking at risk from all industries and areas of life, Gerald Ashley seeks to challenge the classic economic models which attempt to predict behaviour with linear, rational processes.

Gerald states that people simply don’t work like that, whether its consumers deciding on what product to buy, or business leaders choosing corporate strategy or investment.

In particular he focuses on:

• Why we make poor decisions – and how we can improve.
• How to think about risk & decision making.
• Behavioural finance & irrational financial markets.
• How human behaviour often repeats the same mistakes & what we can do about it.

Gerald Ashley has over thirty years experience in international finance and business, having worked in London, Hong Kong & Switzerland.

Broadcasting & Writing:

Gerald Ashley makes regular media appearances.

He has appeared on BBC One TV, BBC World Service Radio, Sky TV News, US and Canadian Radio.

He also regularly passes comment in the press on topical business, risk and financial issues, both in the UK and overseas.

Gerald is a regular weekly guest on Arise News, commentating on and explaining major issues in business and the financial markets.

Gerald has written a number of books on decision making & risk taking, he is also a regular article contributor to the press.

Keynote Speaker:

Gerald is a witty and entertaining raconteur with a well developed sense of humour.

He has a number of powerful insights and tools to help people understand the biases and seemingly irrational behaviour of the world around us.

With examples ranging from forest fires to Hollywood actresses, Gerald takes an entertaining, insightful look at where many conventional, accepted ways of viewing problems, making decisions and assessing risk are flawed.

By highlighting that there are sometimes no perfect solutions, many ‘known unknowns’, and that we are influenced by context rather than facts; instinctive biases rather than rational analysis, he leads audiences to new ways of thinking.

Speaking topics by Gerald Ashley include:

Messes Problems & Puzzles:

Understanding how all issues about the future can be broken down into these groups & why this is vitally important to help businesses find solutions.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions:

How we can improve decision making. Why “choice” can be a tyranny. What are the best decision tools to use?

A Mile Wide but an Inch Deep:

The modern commercial world is sometimes disconcertingly fragile. How can we be agile, not brittle nor fragile, and still cope with uncertainty?

Secret Agents:

How “complex adaptive agents” work in business and markets. Are there “hidden structures” that can help us understand how things really work?

Insects, Information and News:

Sherlock Holmes admonished Dr Watson “Facts bring me facts – I can’t make bricks with straw”!” But are facts everything they seem?

Dead Reckoning:

What is wrong with current financial risk management? Do we need more or less “rules” Why do business models seem to “fail” us?

Gorgeous Curves, Poker & Marshmallows:

Thoughts on financial risk management, and are there new better ways to grow & protect our wealth from ourselves?

This is the First Time since the Last Time:

Commercial business and financial markets seem to follow cycles – what are these cycles and how do they get created?  And Why?

NEW FOR 2017:

The Over-Connected World:

The world is becoming more vulnerable as everything gets more connected. The Internet of Things even allows your phone to control your fridge!
However, attacks on networks can flash around the world in seconds.
Are we living in a “Brittle New World” that is prone to sudden catastrophic risks?
Can businesses survive an Electronic Hurricane?
What lessons can we learn from Complexity Science?

Evolution & Unpredictability:

Evolutionary Biology suggests we are a mistake – the product of chance mutations. Can this offer lessons in risk taking & decision making?
What chance do we have of predicting the future?
Can evolution offer better ideas and ways to think and plan for the future?

The Big Data Dilemma:

The current excitement regarding “Big Data” is everywhere – Is this misplaced?
The banks started crunching masses of data in the 90s and then applied sophisticated models for risk that proved disastrous. Is the rest of the commercial world about to make the same mistakes?Do we risk making poor decisions because of “Model Mania” and misunderstanding the limitations of data?