A few hours into a power-packed assembly of the sharpest minds from Ivy League institutions like Yale, Harvard, and Princeton, influential business leaders, trailblazers in AI, investments, and real estate, and a few renown figures.
From a gathering of such minds, a simple apparent theme emerged: the universal need to mitigate the global pandemic of... “selfishness”; a rather “unpleasant behavioral pattern”. Reflecting on this in the context of institutional investment, the metaphor of a golf hole sprang to mind, providing an apt analogy.
After a quarter century navigating these institutional investment greens, several peculiarities that add a dash of humor to our serious occupation. When playing, you must take into account not just the position of the hole, but also the direction of the wind, the lie of the land, and the state of your swing. And just like in golf, in institutional investment, it's not enough just to aim for the hole – in our case, maximizing returns per unit of risk – we also need to factor in our fiduciary duty and the need for transparency. It's like trying to sink a 50-foot putt on a green that has more undulation than the Himalayas. It makes the job challenging, rewarding, and yes, at times, a bit exasperating.
We have the 'cloak of invisibility' or the classic 'hide the name' trick. A common practice: when performance drops to the bottom quartile, the firm's name is quietly removed from the product description. It's the financial equivalent of not writing down a triple bogey on your scorecard, hoping that your playing partner won't notice. For our youth golfers- It's akin to sharing that incredible birdie on Instagram but conveniently forgetting to mention the less impressive follow-ups.
Also rather surprising, and in institutional investors’ portfolios, still common practice to this day despite the oversight, institutions still only update their websites with only outperforming strategies to the most recent quarter and underperforming products with returns from 2 quarters ago. If you've got an army of CFA charter holders in your team, put those hard-earned titles to work. Keep it GIPS compliant!
Lastly, consider the 'apples and oranges' situation. Compare a full 18-hole game, not just a fleeting 9-hole performance. Comparing two managers on a 3-year basis when one of them has been in your employ for less time? That's like comparing your golfing skills to those of Tiger Woods’ process. After all, even in golf, the player who maintains their cool, even after a bad shot, often ends up playing the best. So, instead of resorting to these tricks, investors can understand them and appreciate the why.
So, let's stroll these greens with a renewed spirit, aim our shots with diligence, and remember that we are players in a grand game that values not just high returns, but also transparency and fiduciary responsibility. It's not a quarter’s performance or even a year. That's the real hole-in-one in this; it is about carving a legacy of sustained excellence.”