Roger Urwin contends that culture in institutional investing has a significant impact on the overall success of organisations and that it’s shaped most by the influences of leaders, both past and present. It can also look quite different between asset owners (not-for-profit entities) and asset managers (for-profit entities) and argues that the future sustainability of the asset management model requires much better trust between owners and managers. The complex DNA of excellent culture among investing institutions generally rests on five factors. While acknowledging that positive attributes are needed for good culture, Roger wonders if having too much of a good thing can become a bad thing and says the trick is getting to an optimal ‘sweet spot’ for each of these:
- purpose and drive – this is often highly reflective of ownership and incentive structure. The client-centricity versus self-centricity factor is critical
- people ethos – where respecting personal development wishes, encouraging maximum creativity, facilitating collaboration opportunities and personal recognition are all critical
- excellence – with uncompromising expectations for performance, quality and consistency
- integrity – where innate respect, openness, support for diversity and ethical orientation are present
- distributed leadership – how leadership involves serving others with wide empowerment and effective networks.
Can you describe the culture in your organisation and articulate why it’s different to others?