George Magnus Keynote Speaker

Associate of the China Centre, Oxford University
Member of the advisory board, Bank Credit Analyst, Montreal
Former Chief Economist, UBS (1997-2012), now senior independent economic adviser

George Magnus's Biography

George Magnus is a renowned independent economist and commentator, with a distinguished career in the financial services industry. He is an Associate at Oxford University’s China Centre, as well as the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, George has many years of experience on the front line of economic foresight and practice.

He currently works as an external Senior Adviser to UBS, and sits on the advisory boards of several commercial and research organisations, including the Montreal-based Bank Credit Analyst. Previously, he was a Senior Economic Adviser at UBS Investment Bank from 2005-12, before which he was the Chief Economist from 1997-2005. For several years he also served as the Chair of the Investment Committee of the Trustee Board of UBS’ UK pension and life assurance fund. He has extensive experience analysing the global economy and engaging with clients and the media. He has been a prolific commentator on the Eurozone crisis, and his columns in the Financial Times, among others, are well-known and highly regarded.

George has previously worked as Chief Economist at SG Warburg, in a senior capacity at Laurie Milbank/Chase Securities, as well as positions at the Bank of America in both London and San Francisco.

In March 2007, George predicted that the US sub-prime mortgage finance crisis would become a full-blown credit crunch, and he has written a series of illuminating research papers to examine the nature of the crisis and its aftermath.

George Magnus is the author of “The Age of Aging” (2008). Here, he examined the economic and social implications of current demographic trends, the ramifications for globalisation, world religion, immigration and global security. His second book, “Uprising: will emerging markets shape or shake the world economy?” (2010), is a controversial examination of the prospects for emerging markets (in particular the BRICs) in the wake of the financial crisis.

His most recent book is ‘Red Flags: Why Xi’s China is in Jeopardy” (2018) This book provides a penetrating account of the threats to China’s continued economic rise Under President Xi Jinping.