Stuart Kirk Keynote Speaker

Stuart Kirk is one of the best speakers and presenters in business and finance, having wowed global audiences and clients for more than two decades with his rare blend of original insights and humour. Obsessed with the power and importance of oratory since his presidency of the prestigious Cambridge debating society, Stuart passionately believes in delivering “the best speech I’ve ever heard” each and every time.

His unique background, as a renowned journalist, investor, management consultant and éminence grise to CEOs the world over, means he can talk with authority on a huge range of topics: from the secrets of corporate leadership to how watching sheep can boost investment returns.

No wonder Stuart currently pens a hugely popular weekend column in the Financial Times. He also edited the paper’s famous Lex column for many years. He is a daily presence on TV and radio from New York to Sydney.

His recent roles in banking and asset management were equally high-profile, being hired specifically to publish original and thought-provoking content on finance and macroeconomics, big-picture themes, as well as sectors and individual companies.  From 2012 to 2022, Stuart was global head of multi-asset and thematic research at Deutsche Bank, head of the Research Institute at DWS, and most recently, global head of research and insights and responsible investing at HSBC Asset Management.

As well as his day job at Deutsche, he worked directly as a close advisor to the chief executive, penning his briefing notes, speeches and presentations. It is no fluke that this CEO was regularly seen as the “smartest guy in the room”. While there, Stuart also wrote and edited one of the most widely read research reports on Wall Street, and his weekly publication at his next employer, HSBC, was much-loved by both retail, wealth and institutional clients across Europe and Asia.

At all these firms Stuart was the go-to person for keynote addresses at flagship conferences as well as intimate talks to high-net worth clients or big institutions. His following comes from presenting deep analysis – always with actionable takeaways – engagingly. Public speaking is only half Stuart’s speciality, however. He does a huge amount of private speaking too: advice to company boards, strategy sessions with senior management teams, or motivational speeches to all employees. He has taught an entire company how to write properly in 45 minutes.

Advisory and confidential in nature, Stuart’s internal presentation skills were learned as a senior management consultant in Oliver Wyman’s highly regarded financial services practice, working on projects ranging from strategy reviews for global investment banks to restructuring the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds.

Ultimately Stuart is revered by audiences because he is credible. He can talk about investing having run billions of dollars as a portfolio manager. His research and strategic advice are sound because he was an analyst and consultant. Stuart works in the media so understands messaging and communications. Most importantly of all, though, Stuart is listened to because he can pierce the noise and see far into the future. He is not contrarian for the sake of it, but regularly seems to understand the way the world is moving before anyone else.

Clients and audiences enjoy the privilege of hearing things first. But sometimes Stuart being ahead of the game has repercussions, such as the widely-reported fall-out following his polemical speech in 2022 at a Financial Times conference. He suggested – without choosing his words carefully enough, perhaps – that the risk to investment returns from climate change was over-done, sustainable finance had obvious flaws to fix, and that central banks should stick to worrying about growth and inflation. The speech went viral and is now considered by financial historians to be the moment when ESG’s pendulum began to swing the other way. What one prominent journalist called “the most watched PowerPoint presentation” ever is approaching a quarter or a million views on You Tube alone. Overnight Stuart was unwittingly a major general in the culture wars, generating acres of newspaper copy, hours of television debate, and a zillion Tweets. Even US senators weighed in. Two years later however, Stuart is universally seen to have been correct and ahead of his time.