Thoughtful piece - thank you for sharing! I can't prove it to you, but I think there's sometimes another factor in play at the board level - a bias in the characteristics of those recruited. At the risk of painting with a broad brush, I see many board members who are great networkers and have climbed the corporate ladder by, to some degree, going along to get along.
I find myself wondering if there are enough truly independent, creative thinkers likely to challenge management and explore areas for value creation. As we know, great investors tend to think differently and often see opportunities in unpopular areas that the crowd isn’t focusing on. They are comfortable with dissent and with contrarian views. I’m not sure these traits are sufficiently sought after in board recruiting.
I'd wager that investors' management ratings are more correlated with INVESTOR incentives (client retention and performance fees) than MANAGEMENT expertise: management are incompetent idiots during periods of stock underperformance and savvy operators during periods of outperformance.
Incentives both motivate and color our perceptions.
Thoughtful piece - thank you for sharing! I can't prove it to you, but I think there's sometimes another factor in play at the board level - a bias in the characteristics of those recruited. At the risk of painting with a broad brush, I see many board members who are great networkers and have climbed the corporate ladder by, to some degree, going along to get along.
I find myself wondering if there are enough truly independent, creative thinkers likely to challenge management and explore areas for value creation. As we know, great investors tend to think differently and often see opportunities in unpopular areas that the crowd isn’t focusing on. They are comfortable with dissent and with contrarian views. I’m not sure these traits are sufficiently sought after in board recruiting.
Hope is not a strategy, whether runnin a fund or a company
I'd wager that investors' management ratings are more correlated with INVESTOR incentives (client retention and performance fees) than MANAGEMENT expertise: management are incompetent idiots during periods of stock underperformance and savvy operators during periods of outperformance.
Incentives both motivate and color our perceptions.
there is no doubt there is a touch of that going on as well!
This could be one of the most foundational pieces I've read on investing in a long time...thanks for sharing