Investment leadership
We at Areté believe that one of the greatest opportunities to improve the investment industry is to improve its leadership. Whether this comes in the form of better avoiding ethical breaches, managing people better, or in some other form, it is no surprise that transgressions at the highest levels of management often have devastating effects in an industry that relies so heavily on the output of knowledge workers.
There has not been a profound belief in doing what is right for the client ... The industry grew out of a Wall Street culture where you manufactured a product and sold it to the client, instead of finding out what the client wanted and then creating a product to meet the client's need.
Bridget Macaskill, from "Developing better asset management leadership", by Jane Marcus and Terry R. Bacon
That's why I chose investments - I don't like dealing with people!
Quote from a portfolio manager in High Performing Investment Teams, by Jim Ware, Jim Dethmer, and Jamie Ziegler
Ethical problems in organizations originate not with 'a few bad apples' but with the 'barrel makers' - the leaders who, wittingly or not, create and maintain the systems in which participants are encouraged to do wrong.
"Why Good People Do Bad Things", Harvard Business Review, June 2009
Over lunch I asked a CIO who had recently resigned if there was a critical moment in his decision. He said, "Yes. A client was meeting with our CEO and offering to put $200 million to work in our flagship fund. I had told the CEO earlier that we could not accept any more funds into that portfolio without damaging performance. Our CEO shook his head and told the client, sorry that the portfolio is capped. Then the client said, how about $400 million? And our CEO said, "Done!" That was the last straw. We showed we had no integrity around our investment process!"
Jim Ware, LOL Journal: Give the CEO a break!, April 22, 2015
There ought to be higher standards for leadership
The thought leaders in our industry are not the ones who plodded dully, step by step, up the career ladder ... [they are] the ones who took chances and developed unique perspectives.
Damon Horowitz, Director of engineering and in-house philosopher at Google in "Philosopher Kings", The Economist
There is no such thing as a small breach of integrity
Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence
David Brooks quote
We believe that a sound organizational culture is one essential ingredient to ensure sustained and successful implementation of the investment process as well as to provide a positive overall client experience. Implementation of any process by smart, independent, unique individuals is challenging enough, but integrating investment professionals with the additional people and personalities of marketing, client service, compliance, and administration make the challenges to forming a cohesive team that much greater.
We also believe that the standard of care is an important quality that can adhere an organization of talented individuals together. Skills can be taught and developed. However, caring about doing a job well and treating people with courtesy and respect tend to be more innate characteristics. Consequently, as Arete grows and new people come on board, you can expect to find the common threads of a natural desire to work as part of a team and to serve others complement the unique skill sets that each individual brings.
We also believe that the standard of care is an important quality that can adhere an organization of talented individuals together. Skills can be taught and developed. However, caring about doing a job well and treating people with courtesy and respect tend to be more innate characteristics. Consequently, as Arete grows and new people come on board, you can expect to find the common threads of a natural desire to work as part of a team and to serve others complement the unique skill sets that each individual brings.
©2021 Arete Asset Management | See our Disclosures