The strategy for 3i is quite simple. What I have here is a firm that’s right in the heart of the private equity world at a time when being international and being an institution is of real value so what I have to do is make sure that this firm is able to adapt and change and invest in the right opportunities wherever they are in the world over the next few years.
The long term goals of 3i are to grow our assets under management but to do that in a way that delivers high levels of return for our shareholders. We operate in high return markets and we can find opportunities that can deliver that.
What makes 3i different? Compared to other industries, fundamentally three things. Firstly it’s our people and their ability to work with others in the way that they do. The second is the deep internationalism of our markets. We’re in fourteen different countries and the third thing is how we’re actually able to glue all of that together in a way that really makes a difference to our investments.
I think there is a special 3i way of doing business. At the heart of it is integrity. We are people who are part of an institution; that institution’s been around for sixty years so we think about the long term brand of the firm, the long term reputation of the firm but it’s more than just integrity, it’s about being easy to deal with, easy to deal with externally with the people we’re talking to about their business opportunities and actually easy to deal with internally, building on the connections you have with other people in the firm.
Thinking about where 3i is going to be in five years time is at one level quite hard. Our markets are changing very rapidly, part of what private equity does very well is actually invest well at times of change so change is good for us, we’re not threatened by change but one of the great things about being a financial institution is we don’t have to build factories. We don’t have to take a thirty year view on the oil price or the twenty year view on the motor car industry so I want a firm that’s actually able to change little and often in respect of where the markets are going so as long as I can see two, three years out, I can see that there’s great opportunities to invest and I’ve got a firm that’s able to change beyond that, that’s all I need to do.
The big advantages and special difference of 3i as a company I think is around both the culture which allows people to work with each other internally but secondly I think in the size and the spread of what we do. So I’ve a very clear view of the firm as being what we call a ‘one room culture’ firm where we can combine the benefits of teams working in boutique fashion, they’ve got independent decision making, they’re getting on doing deals, they’re getting on making stuff happen, but they do that as being part of a much wider group culture and having that two parts to how we do business is very, very critical so short term focus, real attention to detail, fast decision making, which you’ve got all these other people around you in the firm who you can draw on to make it easier for you to do your job.
The way I think that we reinforce that culture is fundamentally twofold. Firstly in the types of people we get to join us. We’re very careful about how they work, how they fit with others. Yes they’ve got to be smart, yes they’ve got to be hardworking, but if they’re smart and hardworking and too independent that’s a problem for us. They need to be able to share with others. I think the other thing that I try to do and all my other leadership colleagues try to do is to make sure that we reinforce through our daily action the fact that this is really the way to succeed so I personally spend a lot of my time travelling around the firm, talking to our people, listening to what they have to say and making sure I’m in tune with them but talking about this way of working. It’s the same thing with the rest of my senior colleagues so that we’re all consistent around that and it’s not just a plaque on the wall. We have a very clear view about values but we do not have a plaque on the wall. It’s about how we live on a day to day basis. Networks are really important for 3i. The industry we’re in is an investing business, there’s lots of money out in the world so we have to differentiate our money from other peoples’ money and the way we do that is through bringing knowledge and information to bear and we do that through networks. We’re quite a small firm, not all knowledge resides within the firm but if we can draw on our networks in the marketplace, our networks within the firm, our networks in the industry, it really makes a difference to how we do our investing.
The things we look for in the kinds of people we recruit is first of all people have to be able to do their job properly. I know that sounds pretty basic but we’re in a very competitive industry; even if you’re not on the investing frontline and you’re a support service or professional services, we absolutely need people who know how to deliver. This is a performance industry. Secondly we need people that are able to do that in a way that creates inclusion, if you like. It’s too easy just to be smart, just to be hardworking and not to take others with you so it’s really important that the kind of people we have, yes they’re determined, yes they’re ambitious, yes they’re hardworking but they’re able to work in an environment where there’s other people like that and they realise there’s more value working in teamwork than working as an individual.
There is no special background we look for. Obviously it depends on the level we’re recruiting and the particular function we’re recruiting into. The key thing about private equity investing is that it takes time for people to get experience and so actually coming in, being smart and hardworking is important but it’s a long time before anybody ever gets to be given the cheque book and even when you get given the cheque book it normally has two signatures on it so there is something about being able to learn and learn on the job which is really important and that’s the investing side of things.
On the professional service and support side, again it’s just people who want to do well for themselves because then they will be asking questions, they’ll be pushing the envelope and they’ll be driving us to improve which we need to, all the time.
The thing we expect from our people first of all is integrity. What we do is invest big sums of money on behalf of other people so you have to have people who understand the responsibility that goes with that but the other things that we want are actually technical excellence and the ability to work with others.
The kinds of things an employee can expect from 3i I think fundamentally are an interesting place to work with good people. I meet with all new joiners about three/four weeks into them coming and I get great feedback about how they’ve been welcomed in, how motivated they are, how interesting the work is. The next thing is honesty about opportunity. Not everybody will build a twenty year career with us but if we can be honest about what we can offer somebody and they’re honest with us about what they’re looking to build for themselves then we could create a great working partnership that is mutually satisfying and in today’s changing world that’s a great place to be.
The ‘one room culture’ at 3i I think is almost unique within our industry. We’re about 750 people, we’re very careful about making sure that we have people who culturally can connect with others and I say that the one room is actually like a large school hall. At school you don’t know everybody intimately, we kind of know who everybody is and that’s what I want to have - a firm where actually if you want to get to somebody you know how to get to that person; you know how to get that person leveraged against what you want to do. I think if the firm ever gets too large it will change and so for me it is both an illustration of how we are but there’s a symbolism about I get everybody in one room and they kind of know who the family is.
What I love about being CEO at 3i is when we’re successful in something and I can see the delight in our peoples’ eyes. We are in a competitive business but when we do something really well and we see others saying that we’ve done it really well that reflects well on all of us, not just on the individual concerned and I’m pleased to say there’s many, many examples over the recent past of where we’ve done some really fabulous things and we’re kind acknowledged for it as a collective.