INTHEBLACK December 2021 - Magazine - Page 15
TALENT, STRATEGY,
RISK
DIGITAL FINANCE
Baxter Hines
Wiley
Blockchain technology has enormous
potential, but so far it has not really broken
through to the mainstream. Baxter Hines, a
manager of portfolios consisting of traditional
assets, securitised properties and digital
assets, believes that this will change with
the broad adoption of security tokens. Such
tokens, he argues, will address the security
concerns of blockchain and the complexity
of blockchain systems, the main constraints
to date.
Put simply, a security token is a digital
device that authenticates a person’s
identity electronically by storing personal
information. In order to gain access to a
network service, the owner must plug the
security token, such as a USB, into a system.
In the blockchain context, a security token
can be loaded with value from nearly any
source, allowing for safe, instantaneous
transactions. The blockchain connectivity
and security measures are embedded in
the token itself.
Companies including IBM, Fidelity
Investments and AXA are already deploying
blockchain and tokenised options, and many
others are gearing up for the change, but an
education program is required to explain the
system to retail investors. There is still some
way to go, but blockchain-linked security
tokens
R E A Dare
T H likely
E A R Tto
I C eventually
L E S H E R E become a key
part of the financial landscape.
Bill McNabb,
Ram Charan
and Dennis Carey
Harvard Business
Review Press
The authors of this book have a wealth
of experience in investment trends and
corporate management. They argue that
the short-term metric of total shareholder
return (TSR) is no longer relevant, as the
dominant investment players are now
institutional funds that look for long-term
gains. Bill McNabb, Ram Charan and Dennis
Carey propose a different kind of TSR,
called “talent, strategy and risk”, because
decisions and actions around these factors
determine whether and how a company
creates lasting value.
A key part of this transition is the
expansion of the role of the investor
relations officer (IRO). Instead of a
predominantly public relations function,
the new IRO must have the financial
acumen to explain and contribute to
corporate strategy. This would include the
implementation of plans, as well as risk
assessment and mitigation in areas such
as cybersecurity and geopolitical changes.
The IRO also has to be able to think like an
activist shareholder and shape company
responses to emerging issues accordingly.
At the board level, the strategy of a
company has to be clearly communicated to
institutional investors, including the impact
of recruitment decisions. None of this will be
R E Aeasy,
D T Hsay
E R Ethe
P Oauthors,
R T H E R Ebut all of it is essential.
THINK AGAIN
Adam Grant
Penguin
One of the hardest things to change is
your own mind. The world is a turbulent,
unpredictable place, says Adam Grant,
an academic specialist in organisational
psychology, so knowing when to rethink
your thinking is a valuable skill. Grant
offers a framework for determining when
circumstances have changed enough to
require a new approach, with examples
of failure and success at thinking again.
Conviction and grit are important, he says,
but so are flexibility and dynamism.
It takes humility to accept that one’s
outlook needs revision, and Grant
emphasises the importance of maintaining
an open, flexible mind. He notes the
importance of systematically seeking out
different opinions and testing hypotheses.
A “challenge network” of people of diverse
views can be a great asset, offering advice
on which ideas need rethinking in the
face of new evidence. This is an ongoing
process, but there is also value in a regular
“life check-up” to avoid an escalation of
commitment to an unproductive path.
Grant suggests questions to ask of yourself
and of others. Unlearning and relearning
require effort and time, he says, but the
benefits are substantial. In the end, what got
you to here might not be what gets you to
where you need to go in the future.
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