Profile

Dr. Sung Won Sohn was an Executive Vice President and Chief Economist at Wells Fargo Banks.

He is an internationally known economist. Dr. Sohn is now a Professor of Finance and Economics at Loyola-Marymount University. He is also president of SS Economics, an economic consulting firm focused on the U.S. economy, international trade and technology including AI applications.

He also serves as a Commissioner for LACERS (Los Angeles City Employee Retirement System) managing $29 billion in assets. Dr. Sohn was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hanmi Financial Corporation (Public), a commercial bank in Los Angeles, California. He was on the Board of Directors for Western Alliance Bancorporation (Public), and National Association of Corporate Directors PSW. He was also Vice Chairman of the Board at a retailer Forever 21. He has served on the boards of five public companies.

Dr. Sohn was Martin V. Smith Professor of Economics at California State University CI and director of the Institute for Global Economic Research (IGER) forecasting economic and investment conditions in the Pacific-rim countries.

Prior to Wells Fargo, Dr. Sohn was a Senior Economist on the President's Council of Economic Advisors in The White House. He was responsible for economic and legislative matters pertaining to The Federal Reserve and financial markets. Dr. Sohn has also been a tenured professor in Pennsylvania State University System.

In 2025, The Wall Street Journal named him as one of the top five forecasters in the country. In 2006, The Wall Street Journal featured a story naming Dr. Sohn as the most accurate economist in the United States. This is one of the most prestigious honors in the economics profession. He is on the Journal’s Board of economists. In 2001, Bloomberg News selected Dr. Sohn as one of the five most accurate forecasters in the United States. In 2002, Blue Chip Publications picked him as the most accurate forecaster for the Western States, and he was named to Time Magazine's Board of Economists.

Dr. Sohn was chosen as one of the 100 most influential Minnesotans of the 20th century by the state’s largest daily newspaper, The Star Tribune. Others on the list included Charles Lindberg, Sinclair Lewis, Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale and Charles Schultz of Peanuts.

Dr. Sohn was a Commissioner of the Port of Los Angeles, the nation’s largest seaport. He has also served on the boards of Hanmi Financial Corporation (Public), First California Bancorporation (Public), Cryo Cell International (Public), Ministers Mutual Life Insurance Company, LA Music Center (Performing Arts), Children’s Bureau of Los Angeles, Foreign Affairs Council of LA, Park Nicollet Health Services, The Blake School, Minnesota Community College System, North Memorial Medical Center, Harvard Business School Association of Minnesota, Crystal Evangelical Free Church, Children's Theater Company, and the American Heart Association of Minnesota and Girl Scouts of Minnesota.

He is the author of two books: Global Financial Crisis and Exit Strategy (2009) and The New Economy (2014).

Dr. Sohn was educated at Harvard Business School, MIT, the University of Florida and the University of Pittsburgh,.

Expertise

Talking Points

The Economic Outlook: What Business Leaders Need to Know About Markets, Policy, and Global Risk

The global economy is entering a period of heightened uncertainty driven by policy shifts, geopolitical risk, and structural changes such as artificial intelligence—requiring business leaders to integrate macroeconomic insight into strategic decision-making.

Key Insights Delivered
• Macro landscape: Where the U.S. and global economies are headed (growth, inflation, interest rates, labor markets) and why it matters now
• Policy impact: How Federal Reserve actions, fiscal policy, and election cycles shape business conditions, capital costs, and investment decisions
• Financial markets: What to expect in equities, bonds, and credit markets—and how volatility transmits to the real economy
• Global risks: Geopolitics, supply chain restructuring, and energy shocks as key drivers of economic and market instability
• AI as an economic force: How artificial intelligence is transforming productivity, labor markets, and competitive dynamics—not as a tech topic, but as a macroeconomic shift
• Strategic implications: Why traditional business planning models are insufficient in a fast-changing economic environment

Specific Takeaways for Business Audience
• How to interpret economic signals (inflation, rates, GDP trends) and translate them into business decisions
• Practical guidance on timing investments, hiring, and capital allocation in uncertain conditions
• How to incorporate AI and digital transformation into strategy within the broader economic cycle
• Frameworks for managing risk and building resilience amid policy and market volatility
• Clear understanding of industry-specific opportunities and threats based on macro trends

Long-term Economic Consequences of the Iran War

The end of the war will not restore the old economic order—it will cement a new one. The conflict has caused lasting damage to energy supply and global logistics, creating a higher structural floor for energy prices. As a result, inflation will remain elevated while growth slows, complicating central bank policy. Global trade will fragment, and supply chains will prioritize resilience over efficiency.

Takeaway: Business leaders must adapt now—reprice cost structures, hedge energy exposure, and build resilient supply chains for a higher-cost, more volatile world.

Reinventing Your Business in the Age of AI and Economic Transformation

In this keynote, Sung Won Sohn explains how companies must reinvent themselves as artificial intelligence reshapes the global economy. Drawing on real-world examples such as Mastercard, he shows how value shifts from products to services, from transactions to data, and ultimately to platforms that control entire ecosystems. AI is accelerating this transformation by turning data into actionable intelligence and new competitive advantage.

Key takeaway: In today’s economy, success depends not on producing more, but on controlling the platforms and data where value is created.