At a summit of Asia’s most promising minds, the founder of Plazo Sullivan Roche dropped a truth bomb few fund managers dare to voice: what machines can't trade is your moral compass.
MANILA — While markets chase milliseconds, the financial world demands instant everything: information, execution, profits.
But last Thursday, inside a warm, wood-paneled auditorium at the Asian Institute of Management, Joseph Plazo did something radical: he slowed the room down.
Plazo, who leads AI-powered investment firm Plazo Sullivan Roche Capital, took the stage before a select audience of Asia’s rising business and engineering students—delegates from NUS, Kyoto University, and AIM. They expected a TED-style celebration of trading automation. Instead, Plazo handed them something rarer: perspective.
“If you give your portfolio to a machine,” he opened, “make sure it understands your values, not just your goals.”
That line set the tone for what would become one of the most resonant finance keynotes in the region this year.
???? A Founder Who’s Built the Future—And Still Asks Questions
Plazo wasn’t some outsider throwing stones from the sidelines. His firm’s proprietary systems have consistently posted a 99% win rate across major assets and timeframes. Top-tier clients across Europe and Asia integrate his tools. He is the future of finance. That’s what gives his words such gravity.
“AI is brilliant at optimization,” he said. “But optimization without orientation is a drift into irrelevance—or worse, disaster.”
He shared a story from the pandemic crash, when one of his early bots flagged a short position on gold—just hours before the Fed launched emergency interventions.
“We overrode it. It read the data, not the story behind it.”
???? Strategic Friction: Why Delay Isn’t Always a Flaw
In Fortune’s 2023 roundtable on algorithmic trading, numerous fund managers confessed off-record that trading instinct had faded in the age of automation.
Plazo didn’t shy from the topic.
“Friction slows trades. But it creates room for reflection. In volatile moments, that pause might preserve your reputation.”
He introduced a leadership framework he calls “ethical decision filtering.” At its core: three questions every responsible investor should ask before following an AI trade:
- Does this trade match our firm’s values?
- What does non-digital insight say—history, whispers, instinct?
- Can we stand by it, even if the model misfires?
Few MBA programs teach this.
???? The Ethical Imperative in Asia’s Fintech Boom
Asia’s markets are booming—and so is the risk. Countries like Singapore, South Korea, and the Philippines are pouring money into fintech and AI.
Plazo’s message? Slow down, or stumble.
“You can scale capital faster than character. That’s a problem.”
He’s not wrong.
In 2024 alone, two hedge funds in Hong Kong imploded after AI-driven models failed to anticipate geopolitical swings.
“We’re rushing,” he said. “And when you rush a system that lacks narrative intelligence, it becomes a train running off a silent cliff.”
???? What’s Next? Machines That Feel the Market
Despite the critique, Plazo is not anti-AI.
His firm is now building “narrative-integrated AI”—systems that weigh not just data, but intent, cultural tone, historical signal, and sentiment.
“It’s not enough to replicate a hedge fund. We need AI that strategizes—not speculates.”
That vision caught attention. At a private dinner later that evening, venture leaders from across Asia sought him out. One called his talk:
“The missing map for fintech’s next chapter.”
???? The Thought That Stopped Time
Plazo closed with a final warning:
“The next crash won’t be from panic. It will come from perfect logic—executed too more info fast—with no one stopping to say, ‘Wait.’”
It wasn’t hype. It was truth.
Because when the world races, real leaders pause.