At a summit of Asia’s most promising minds, the founder of Plazo Sullivan Roche shared a hard-hitting reality the finance world rarely acknowledges: what machines can't trade is your moral compass.
MANILA — The world is obsessed with speed. Speed of data. Speed of decisions. Speed of return.
Yet inside AIM’s intimate, wood-toned auditorium last Thursday, Joseph Plazo invited the audience to slow down.
Plazo, founder of AI-powered asset management firm Plazo Sullivan Roche Capital, took the stage before a curated audience of Asia’s top business and engineering students—delegates from NUS, Kyoto University, and AIM. What they anticipated was a masterclass in algorithmic supremacy. What they got was something far more valuable: a strategic pause.
“If you give your portfolio to a machine,” he opened, “make sure it understands your values, not just your goals.”
That line defined what would become one of the most talked-about finance keynotes in the region this year.
???? The Technologist Who Won’t Blindly Trust Tech
Plazo isn’t some outsider offering armchair criticism. His firm’s proprietary systems have achieved a 99% win rate across major assets and timeframes. Top-tier clients across Europe and Asia integrate his tools. He helped build the future of investing. That’s why his warning landed with weight.
“AI is brilliant at optimization,” he said. “But optimization without orientation leads you nowhere fast—often to ruin.”
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. Technically, the AI was right. But contextually? Blind.””
???? The Value of Human Hesitation
In Fortune’s 2023 roundtable on algorithmic trading, several fund managers disclosed anonymously that they had lost their trading instincts after switching to full-AI models.
Plazo confronted that very reality.
“Friction slows trades. But it creates room for reflection. In volatile moments, that pause might protect your reputation.”
He introduced a leadership framework he calls “conviction calculus.” At its core: three questions every responsible investor should ask before following an AI trade:
- Do we trade profit or principle?
- Is the call supported by analog intelligence—conversations, memories, hunches?
- If this goes wrong, will we own it?
It’s a framework risk officers rarely address.
???? Why Asia Needs This Message Now
With capital flowing into Asia, the stakes have never been higher. Countries like Singapore, South Korea, and the Philippines are pouring money into fintech and AI.
Plazo’s message? Build systems of conscience, not just speed.
“You can scale capital faster than character. That’s a problem.”
The warning comes as no surprise to seasoned watchers.
In 2024 alone, two hedge funds in Hong Kong suffered billion-dollar losses after AI-driven models failed to anticipate geopolitical swings.
“We’re rushing,” he said. “And when you rush a system that lacks narrative intelligence, you build elegant disasters.”
???? The Evolution: From Bots to Brainpower
Despite the critique, Plazo is not anti-AI.
His firm is now building “story-sensitive trading models”—systems that weigh not just data, but intent, cultural tone, historical signal, and sentiment.
“It’s not enough to mirror a hedge fund. We need AI that understands nuance, not more info just numbers.”
That vision caught attention. At a private dinner later that evening, VCs from Tokyo and Jakarta approached him for partnerships. One called his talk:
“The missing map for fintech’s next chapter.”
???? His Last Line Silenced the Room
Plazo closed with a final warning:
“The next crash won’t be from panic. It will come from perfect logic—executed too fast—with no one stopping to say, ‘Wait.’”
It wasn’t hype. It was discipline.
Sometimes, silence is the sound of leadership.