Michael Brakebill, CIO of the $55.2 billion Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System, Nashville, said he's been watching "Kim's Convenience," "Beecham House" and now "Belgravia." Also, he noted, his family has been walking the dog a lot and bought a badminton net.
Elizabeth T. Burton, CIO of the $17.4 billion Hawaii Employees' Retirement System, Honolulu, says an investment in a two-story waterslide for her kids was a lifesaver. "One time they played for three hours on it," she said.
But mostly, work has been busy so there hasn't been much downtime, she said. She did see Netflix's "Tiger King" and a few episodes of "Wild Wild Country."
Greg Fitchet, investment officer of the $2.6 billion Phoenix City Employees' Retirement System, said after business hours he is starting the third season of "Ozark" and just finished the fifth season of "Better Call Saul."
Also, "having once been a police officer I DVR 'Live PD' and all of the related shows." During business hours, he said, "I binge Bloomberg TV."
Chris Sugden, Princeton, N.J.-based managing partner of growth equity firm Edison Partners, said his family kicked off the first few nights of the stay-at-home orders watching the third season of "Ozark."
"A must-binge series," said Mr. Sugden, who is chairman of the firm's investment committee. Edison Partners has $1.6 billion in asset under management.
Since then the Sugden household has watched a mix of Netflix, White House COVID-19 updates and AppleTV+.
"The nightly White House updates have also become a staple around dinner time," he added. "My three kids ask good questions after listening,"
His wife and two older kids are giving "The Morning Show" on Apple TV+ a chance.
"The first episode was slow, but we have found ourselves leaning in now," he said. "We only made it through two episodes of 'Tiger King.' It's nutty, but a bit tedious!"
By day, Mansco Perry III, executive director and CIO of the Minnesota State Board of Investment, St. Paul, works from home and keeps an eye on CNBC "so I can watch the tickers since I don't have access to Bloomberg," he said in an email.
At night, Mr. Perry said the COVID-19 shelter-in-place mandate has given him a chance to catch up on television series he's never had time to watch. He's currently binging on Showtime's "Homeland" (he's on season five) interspersed with World War II documentaries.
"If the stay-at-home protocol gets us into June or July, I've already decided that I will watch the entire series of the original 'Mickey Mouse Club' show (with Annette Funicello) on Disney Plus," Mr. Perry vowed.
Mr. Perry oversees investment of a total of $104.3 billion in public funds, including the state's $74.2 billion combined defined benefit fund.
Tyler Cloherty, senior manager and head of the knowledge center for Casey Quirk, a practice of Deloitte Consulting LLP, New York, said: "I certainly, like many others, watched 'Tiger King' (on Netflix). That's the only thing more ridiculous than what's happening in the world right now."
Benoit Labrosse, a Montreal-based partner and vice president at Morneau Shepell's asset and risk management consulting practice, said: "Tried to watch 'Tiger King' — could not continue beyond episode four — not my type of entertainment. Watched 'Bad Blood' and 'Line of Duty' — captivating series."
Visual binging is out for Richard W. Ingram, executive director of the $48.9 billion Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois, Springfield.
"I can't even bear to turn on the TV," he said in an email, after binging on 2 1/2 seasons of HBO's police drama series "The Wire," selected episodes of NBC's "The West Wing" and "too many episodes of 'House Hunters' on HGTV."
Mr. Ingram said he has been "self isolating" since mid-March in Springfield while the rest of his family is sheltering in place in New Hampshire and California. While his wife, a seamstress, is in New Hampshire "sewing masks like a dynamo," Mr. Ingram is reading.
The books on his bedside table include "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; the first of Robert A. Caro's four-part biographical series "The Years of Lyndon Johnson"; and several books about the 1918 flu epidemic.
Charles Thomas "Tom" Tull said he has no desire to spend more time in front of a screen than he already does as CIO of the $26.5 billion Employees' Retirement System of Texas, Austin.
Because nearly everyone at ERS is working remotely, "I spend enough time on Zoom," Mr. Tull said.
To escape the screen, Mr. Tull is binging on books for entertainment after a long day of working at home. Among the books he's read during social isolation is "What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence" by Stephen A. Schwarzman, chairman and CEO of Blackstone Group Inc. "I like this book because it provides a very good synopsis of private equity," he said.
Other books Mr. Tull recently read include "Gresham's Law: The Life and World of Queen Elizabeth I's Banker" by John Guy and "Texas Flood: The Inside Story of Stevie Ray Vaughan" by Andy Aledort and Alan Paul.
He's also partial to Clive Cussler novels and other travel and adventure books.
Chantel Sheaks, executive director of retirement policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, started off her shelter-in-place watching season three of the drama "Ozark" as well as the "Unorthodox" miniseries, both on Netflix.
She's also reread Haruki Murakami's novels "A Wild Sheep Chase" and "Dance, Dance, Dance" and uses her indoor rowing machine each day.
Deborah Zurkow, London-based global head of investments at Allianz Global Investors, hasn't had too much spare time, so usually ends her days with dinner and a game of pool.
However, when she does find the time, she and her husband — who is French — sit down to watch 1950s, 1980s and "even a few modern French films — even if it does take us a few sittings to get through one!"
The pair have also watched "The Morning Show," have binged on British period crime series "Peaky Blinders" and found time for the occasional James Bond film, "which is always a good go-to when a complete distraction is required," Ms. Zurkow said.
The U.K. population is currently being drip-fed the latest series of "Killing Eve" — a thriller starring Sandra Oh from "Grey's Anatomy.''
"Now that's fantastic," said Gordon Clark, professorial fellow, co-director at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment-Zurich Project at Oxford University.
"We have also been watching (New York Gov.) Andrew Cuomo at his daily news conference via CNN. That is entertaining and informative. It makes a welcome respite to Trump and Boris Johnson," he said.
While there hasn't been much that Fiona Reynolds, managing director at the Principles for Responsible Investment, London, has wanted to watch, she did make time for the drama series "Gangs of London" and spy thriller "Homeland."
She spent a lot of free time reading, with "The Alphabet Sisters" by Monica McInerney; "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng; and Thomas Piketty's "Capital in the Twenty-First Century" on her table.
Sophie Baker, Brian Croce, Arleen Jacobius, Rob Kozlowski, Danielle Walker and Christine Williamson contributed.
