Welcome, friend and future deep-dweller!
In this episode of Deeponomics, I sit down with Stefan Leins, Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Bern and author of Stories of Capitalism, to explore what actually happens inside a financial analyst department at a large Swizz bank.
Based on a two-year ethnography, Leins takes us into the everyday world of buy-side financial analysts, a world far more narrative-driven than standard finance theory would ever admit.
We talk about how analysts work under radical uncertainty, why narratives matters, and how wildly different strategies, from technical analysis to being inspired by astrology and Fibonacci, coexist under the same institutional roof.
A central theme of the conversation is why financial analysts continue to exist despite decades of evidence that markets are difficult, if not impossible, to beat. Leins shows that the real product analysts deliver is not prediction accuracy, but compelling investment narratives that create orientation, agency, and legitimacy in an unknowable future.
We dive deep into the idea of narrative authority, how analysts build credibility through narratives rather than prediction accuracy, how forecasts travel through the bank via client advisors and asset managers, and how responsibility for failure is continuously pushed around the organization.
Along the way, we unpack how narratives differ from stories, why performativity only gets us part of the way, and what all of this means for investors, banks, and our understanding of expertise in finance.
If you are interested in markets as cultural systems, in finance as a narrative practice, or in what really sustains belief in professional expertise under uncertainty, this episode is a must-listen.
Click on his name to learn more about Stefan Leins and his work.
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