D. E. Shaw Investment Management’s Laurent De Greef on U.S. equities in global benchmarks
INTERVIEWSERIES
Laurent De Greef, Senior Vice President, Head of Portfolio Strategy, D. E. Shaw Investment Management
May 2026
In this exclusive interview, Laurent discusses the drivers behind the relative size of the U.S. in global equity markets and shares a framework investors can apply for understanding risks in a global equity portfolio. Laurent explains the implications of the U.S. market being heavily concentrated in a few large names and what investors should think about when considering going underweight the U.S. equity markets, following a strong run over recent years.
Watch the full interview which covers:
00:14 - What are the main areas of focus and the big questions you are working to answer in your current role as the Head of Portfolio Strategy?
02:05 - Can you summarise the key takeaways from your analysis of relative U.S. size in global equity benchmarks?
03:25 - What is your framework for thinking about the relative size of the U.S. equity market?
06:26 - How might your framework be applied to understand risks in a global equity portfolio, particularly when considering going underweight the U.S.?
07:51 - What are some implications of the U.S. market being heavily concentrated in a few large names?
09:33 - I understand that the D. E. Shaw group regularly engages with important market questions. What are some other things you’re thinking about now?
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Laurent De Greef, Senior Vice President, Head of Portfolio Strategy, D. E. Shaw Investment Management
Laurent is a senior vice president of D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P. and Head of Portfolio Strategy for D. E. Shaw Investment Management, L.L.C. (“DESIM”). In that capacity, Laurent contributes to product development as well as client education and communication for DESIM’s investment strategies.
Prior to joining DESIM in 2020, Laurent spent 13 years at Acadian Asset Management LLC, where he last served as global head of client solutions and product strategy and was a member of that firm’s executive committee. Before assuming that role, he served as head of consultant relations for Acadian. Prior to that, Laurent was a director of sales and client relations at State Street Global Advisors. Laurent began his career as an analyst at Euroclear, a Belgium-based financial services company specialising in securities settlement.
Laurent received his bachelor of financial engineering degree from the Université Libre de Bruxelles’ Solvay Brussels School of Economics & Management and his M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
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