Business Principles

Operational Excellence

As important as strategy is, we have to execute to win. Execution involves every employee and every contact we have with customers. The devil is in the details. We must act quickly on problems; drive results, not just activities; and ensure detailed follow-up so that we meet our commitments.

We Set the Highest Standards of Performance

• Measure performance with a detailed, balanced scorecard
• Strive for excellence, don’t settle for mediocrity
• Recognize that teamwork also requires a maximum individual effort
• Compare yourself with the best
• Stay hungry; competition is everywhere, so you cannot be lulled into a false sense of security – complacency kills

We Demand Financial Rigor and Risk Discipline. We Will Always Maintain a Fortress Balance Sheet

• Monitor, track and report the right things the right way — fix ineffective reporting
• Ensure that accounting is fair, accurate and transparent
• Create capital flexibility and manage risk dynamically
• Remember, we do not worry about the stock price or quarterly earnings in the short run; if you continue to build a great company, the stock price will take care of itself
• Share consistent, comprehensive information with shareholders and each other
• Make analysis disciplined, real and fact based, focused on areas for improvement
• Anticipate problems, be prepared with solutions
• Be a risk manager; raising red flags is every employee’s responsibility

We Strive for the Best Internal Governance and Controls

• Commit to enterprisewide world-class governance, controls and compliance
• Cultivate strong relationships with our regulators – be transparent, direct and respectful
• Build a safety-first culture
• Ensure that our controls infrastructure is as robust as our business
• Remember that good compliance is good business

We Act and Think Like Owners and Partners

• Work for profitable, sustainable, long-term growth
• Streamline management and encourage an appropriate disregard for hierarchy
• Guard the firm’s resources; spend the firm’s money as if it were your own
• Invest wisely for the future – including on infrastructure and people
• Recognize that competitive intelligence is competitive advantage
• Foster a spirit of partnership
• Ensure compensation is fair and fully transparent to senior management based on a balanced scorecard; any special deals should be minimized and for good reason
• Respect and learn from your people / team

We Strive to Build and Maintain the Best Most Efficient Systems and Operations

• Promote efficiencies and remember that leaner is better
• Leverage technology to make operations fast and simple
• Cut waste relentlessly – and eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy
• Be an expert and ensure we know our business best

We Are Disciplined in Everything We Do

• Be rigorous and detailed, with continuous follow-up
• Maintain an intense work ethic to get the job done right
• Always strive for improvement and have the ability to drive change – make a list and get it done
• Act in a thoughtful, coordinated way – not in haste or in isolation
• Always fight complacency by analyzing our own actions and our own weaknesses;  management should celebrate our successes, but also emphasize the negatives
• Enforce a good decision-making process and eliminate “waste of time” meetings; stand up war rooms to get the right people in the room and kill bureaucracy
• Do it consistently – like exercising or weeding the garden
• Conduct regular, well-organized and thorough business reviews of functions and controls

We Execute with Both Skill and Urgency

• Work with energy and focus; take responsibility and deliver on commitments
• Ensure that every role, every person and every detail count
• Get a little better every day – continually raise the bar
• Deliver results; investigate, analyze and improve when problems arise
• Know the details, commit to follow-ups, and meet deadlines for clients and colleagues
• Manage change with deliberate speed