Who Are The 99% ?

So have any of you heard about the “Occupy Wall Street” movement that started life in New York but has now spread across the world’s major cities in various forms. Well, you would have if you have liked our Facebook page as I posted two articles on it in the last week about this very subject, but for those of you luddites out there not on Facebook (yes, I know - social networking is evil and will turn us into antisocial zombies) let me enlighten you a little?

Although not completely 100% clear on what their biggest beef is and who it is with (and this has been one of the main criticisms levelled at the group), their main bone of contention boils down to a growing realisation (perception?) that they have been done like a dinner. Their tagline is “we are the 99 percent” which refers to their belief that the 1% rich have got richer while the rest of them have seen their wealth decimated, job opportunities dry up and their homes foreclosed at record levels.

They have a sneaky suspicion that the wizards of Wall Street have got away relatively scot free with peddling their dodgy wares of cheap and easy credit and tricky dick investments, with government bailouts and handouts, and have taken up where they left off a few short years ago, while the 99% are expected to pull in their belts and suck it up as America tries to get their economic ball rolling again.

Although nowhere near the level of intensity that has been seen in America, there have been similar protests here. Protest is probably too strong a word for the benign camp outs in financial districts that have so far been the hallmark of our arm of the movement but let’s stick with protest for the sake of this blog.

So, what do I think?

It’s easy to look down your nose to say the protesters are grumbling victims blaming nasty big corporations and bankers for their predicament when, in boom times, those same people were in there with their ears back racking up credit for a plasma tele and a McMansion in the burbs. That’s the easy way out.

There’s a part of me frustrated at the financial district’s smug self righteous talk of capitalism and free markets while those who are nearing or at retirement invested in so called balanced options in their super funds (for balanced read up to 75-80% in growth assets!) now peering down the barrel of filling in forms at Centrelink. I no longer look at those men (or women) in suits in the glass towers of the CBD as superior experts with the inside scoop on how or where to invest. I realise there is no magic bullet to building wealth. I understand more about the nature of risk and return.

As the commentators keep telling us we should count ourselves lucky to live in this country and in this part of the world. With our economy cushioned by stricter banking controls and a resources boom that has some way to fire yet, what I most fervently wish for is that we all make the best of our good fortune. That when the boom does peter out (as all booms must) we find ourselves at an individual and national level experiencing the security and comfort that comes from financial responsibility. And that responsibility falls not just on us but also on the shoulders of our business and political leaders.

Here’s hoping, anyway.

Broadening perspectives

So there we have it. For the second year running research has highlighted the correlation between having women on boards and higher returns on equity. Studies were performed on ASX 500 companies – those with female directors outperformed their male only peers by 6.7% over 3 years and 8.7% over 5 years. Not insignificant. Yet still, around half of those reviewed, Australia’s largest corporations, have boards consisting entirely of grey suits. Shareholders of slow moving companies should be up in arms.

This is hardly an epiphany. Darwin championed diversity - its byproducts of variation, competition and selection are compelling indeed. Diversity ensures survival of the species. Diversify or die. Or rather, when it comes to our investments, significantly underperform. We all know that, right? Those of us with portfolios skewed heavily towards shares as an asset class have felt the pain in the last few months. We know the drill – diversification smoothes our portfolio returns.

And this latest report gives us hard evidence that it’s not different when it comes to the management of complex organisations. The same principles apply – when times are complex (and when are they not?) it requires creativity, collaboration and lateral thinking to navigate a large company through the mire ultimately to produce satisfactory outcomes to stakeholders: staff, customers and shareholders alike. And to have its leaders seeing things from different perspectives is paramount to achieving this. Celebrate difference, embrace debate - this is what gives birth to the ideas of the future.

As a country we are trending in the right direction, albeit at snail’s pace, mainly due to the personal crusades of the likes of Elizabeth Broderick, the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, and persistent murmurings about instilling quotas should numbers not improve from their current dismal state. Women now hold 9.5% of board positions, up from 7.1% last year. As I said, inching forward.

We can sit and navel gaze about why Australia is so far behind other Western countries in achieving an element of equality in this area. Or we can just do it. There is no shortage of capable and willing women out there to take up the challenge. Do or die.