Press release: Lecture to explore the conflicts in finance ... and how to avoid them 

3 Oct 2024

En garde! Gresham College series to explore the conflicts in finance ... and how to avoid them 

Professor Raghavendra Rau to give talk on Monday, 21 October, online and in central London 

In an age where household budgets are being squeezed and the cost of living keeps rising people want to make the most of their money, especially if the odds are buried in the small print. To do that, a little knowledge is needed.  

Solutions and suggestions will be revealed in a new lecture series launching in London and online on Monday, 21 October.  

Raghavendra Rau, the Gresham Mercers’ School Memorial Professor of Business, is giving six talks aimed at helping people understand more about how emotions and biases can wreak havoc on our wallets.  

Sometimes, even those who consider themselves to be money wise can make baffling financial decisions.  

"Many of us don't realise we don't have enough information when it comes to finance, and we are unaware of conflicts of interest in the industry and of the situations where people will take us for ride," Professor Rau said. 

"They will bury information we require in the fine print or overload us. These are tactics we need to avoid if we are to make good decisions." 

The first lecture, Is Your Money Safe? Unveiling Hidden Conflicts in Finance, looks at what Professor Rau says is a hidden truth: agency problems caused by separate groups, such as CEOs and investors.  

These can create risky choices, hidden fees and, in some cases, fraud.  

The professor hopes to help his audiences navigate these conflicts and protect their hard-earned cash in the complex world of finance. 

"The lecture will look at conflicts of interest with financial intermediaries and ourselves, banks, insurance companies, investment advisors," he continued. 

"Knowledge is power.” 

As part of his series, he will look at financial literacy, arguing it is a set of heuristics and shortcuts, including currency trading and saving.  

"People don’t know how to save regularly and have difficulty putting aside consistent sums of money," he said. 

As an example, Professor Rau says dollar-cost averaging, which involves investing the same amount of money in a target security at regular intervals over a certain period, is worth considering.  

"I will focus on why some financial literacy programmes work. They may not necessarily be for the reasons financial experts will tell you.” 

Gresham College is London’s oldest higher education institution. Founded in 1597 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, it has been delivering free public lectures for over 427 years from a lineage of leading professors and experts in their field who have included Christopher Wren, Robert Hooke, Iannis Xenakis and Sir Roger Penrose.  

The lecture will be given at Barnard’s Inn Hall, London on Monday, 21 October. 

Starting at 6pm, entry is free, and it is also broadcast live online. It will last an hour.  

In-person places can be booked online via Gresham College’s website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/whats-on/hidden-conflicts-finance 

ENDS 

Notes to Editors 

Pictures available on request 

Gresham College lectures are always free to attend and have been since the college was founded in the 16th century. Lasting no more than an hour, the lectures are given by some of the finest minds in the academic world, including the ten Gresham Professors. They are aimed at everyone – no academic background is needed.  

The academic year runs from September to the end of June. 

Most lectures take place at its home in Barnard’s Inn Hall in Holborn, and broadcast live on YouTube.  

In-person tickets are available on Eventbrite one month in advance of each lecture.  

For more information about this story or to arrange an interview with a Gresham Professor please contact: Phil Creighton press@gresham.ac.uk 

About Gresham College 
Gresham College has been providing free, educational lectures – at the university level – since 1597 when Sir Thomas Gresham founded the college to bring Renaissance Learning to Londoners. Our history includes some of the luminaries of the scientific revolution including Robert Hooke and Sir Christopher Wren and connects us to the founding of the Royal Society. 

Today we carry on Sir Thomas's vision. The College aims to stimulate intellectual curiosity and to champion academic rigour, professional expertise and freedom of expression. www.gresham.ac.uk 

Gresham College is a registered charity number 1039962 and relies on donations to help us encourage people's love of learning for many years to come. For more details or to make a gift, visit our website.    

About the Exploring Human Behaviour in Finance series  
Think financial decisions are made by cool-headed robots? Think again! This lecture reveals a hidden truth: conflicts of interest between different groups, like CEOs and investors.  

We dissect how these "agency problems" can lead to risky choices, hidden fees, and even fraud.  

Learn how to navigate these conflicts and protect your hard-earned cash in the complex world of finance.