Financial markets are awash with information. For traders, information is an essential ingredient in producing investment returns given the shifting boundary between risk and uncertainty. Financial institutions face a more complex problem: producing returns requires processing market information in an ever changing environment, while mobilising the judgement of their employees so as to realise return objectives. This paper explains the significance of these issues for the global financial services industry, and the challenges encountered when institutions seek returns in offshore financial markets. Distinctions are made between information and knowledge, and are applied to domains where time and space conspire to discount the value of inherited decision rules and institutional practices. A framework is presented for understanding the relationship between risk and uncertainty, a typology is suggested linking information and knowledge in financial markets, and these frameworks are combined so as to better understand the challenges facing large financial institutions when extending their investments to offshore markets. In conclusion, implications are drawn for sustainable finance and investment.
