"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." – Helen Keller1
It could be argued that – following certain events of the last few years in the investment world – the appeal of the superstar fund manager is on the decline, and that there’s a lot to be said for a consistent, reliable team-based approach. Yet that’s not news to us. A diverse team in terms of gender, culture, education and experience, we’ve long since known the importance of a collaborative environment where everybody feels a strong sense of ownership and responsibility. In fact, we believe that one of our key differentiators is our team itself.
It’s obvious that in many areas a team will perform a task better than an individual: building a house, for example, or putting a satellite into orbit. Where something multi-faceted is to be done, a team will be best. However, when the task at hand is not to do but to decide – as is the case with investment management and decision making – the advantage of a team is less obvious.
In our report, we look at the key factors associated with the creation of a team. Our research (and academic research) shows that getting certain factors right is crucial, and the rest is fine-tuning; conversely, get these things wrong and the rest is irrelevant. Building and leading an effective decision-making team is more an art than a science, and the ‘how’ is more important than the ‘who’, when building the optimum team in terms of size, structure and skill set.
Please read the full piece here.