Resources
We conduct original research on the causes of short-term business decisions and work to find practical solutions.
Article
1 February 2017 - We are pleased to announce that Randall Stephenson, Chairman and CEO of AT&T, has been appointed to the FCLTGlobal Board of Directors, and Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock, and Nitin Nohria, Ph.D and Dean of Harvard Business School, will serve as Strategic Advisors. Stephenson, who has been at the helm of AT&T since 2007, was previously the senior executive vice president and CFO of Southwestern Bell Telephone from 2001-2004, and the company’s COO. He is a member of the board of directors of Emerson Electric Co....
Article
14 December 2016 - Jonathan Bailey, Director of Research at FCLT Global, speaks to Carsten Stendevad about what it takes to build a long-term oriented investment organization. Carsten Stendevad is CEO of ATP, one of Europe’s largest pension plans with 5 million members and $120bn in assets. Under his leadership since April 2013, ATP has fundamentally redesigned its investment strategy and expanded its direct investment capability, delivering strong investment returns. ATP has also tripled the size of its benefit processing business, while substantially reducing operating costs. Carsten announced that he will step down...
In the News
5 October 2016 - An argument is raging on Wall Street. Some institutional investors are hoping to win it. Over the past year, questions have increasingly been raised over whether corporations are losing sight of the future by obsessing over short-term financial performance. Vice President Joe Biden is even getting involved: In a September 27 op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, he called this short-term mindset “one of the greatest threats to America’s enduring prosperity.”
In the News
29 September 2016 - The influential CEO of BlackRock, the asset manager that oversees almost $5 trillion in investments, Fink is known in financial circles for his hectoring letters of instruction to the companies he invests in. His name has also been floated as a possible Treasury secretary in a Clinton administration. In his most recent letter, Fink tackled the problem of short-term thinking in management, and urged companies to take a longer view to enhance value.
In the News
29 September 2016 - Launched as an initiative in 2013, Focusing Capital on the Long Term yesterday (28 September) announced that it has established itself as an independent entity, renamed as FCLT Global. The not-for-profit organisation is dedicated to “developing practical tools and approaches that encourage long-term behaviours in business and investment decision-making”.
In the News
29 September 2016 -
In the News
29 September 2016 - What began as a research project backed by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and McKinsey & Co. to measure behaviours of investors and businesses in 2013, is now a not-for-profit operation with international members that is focused on research and advocacy. FCLT Global, which takes its name from the “Focusing Capital on the Long Term” research project, wants to extend the thinking among business leaders and investors decades into the future.
Press Release
28 September 2016 - New York, September 28, 2016 – FCLT Global (formerly “Focusing Capital on the Long Term”) announced today its Board of Directors and global membership, marking its transformation from an initiative to an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to encouraging long-termism in business and investment decision-making. In conjunction, FCLTGlobal released a whitepaper, with new data from aMcKinsey Quarterly survey panel, highlighting the challenges and costs that senior business executives world-wide are facing with the rise of short-termism. Key findings include: 87% of executives report feeling the most pressure to demonstrate financial results within two...
In the News
28 September 2016 - Let that figure swirl around in your head for a moment. Now think of all the retailers on the web…yes, cute Etsy, too—and imagine 55% of consumers bypassing every one of them and heading straight to Amazon (at least, initially). But this morning’s offering isn’t a tale about ecommerce. This is, rather, a posting about business horizons. Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, as my colleague Adam Lashinsky wrote back in March in a spot-on profile for Fortune, is a “preternaturally consistent” preacher of customer focus and...
In the News
28 September 2016 - At an event Wednesday sponsored by FCLT Global, an independent non-profit organization advocating long-term investment practices, Mr. Fink told attendees that money managers can play a dampening role on short-termism. “We have to become more engaged,” Mr. Fink said. “The days where managers are passive in their activity are behind us.”
Report
28 September 2016 - Discussions of corporate short-termism are often a microcosm of the issue itself. On the short view—say, 2009 to the present—things are looking up. CEO tenures, the average holding period for S&P 500 shares, and the average duration of corporate bonds are all up. If one takes a longer view, however, the picture begins to darken. By some measures, U.S. business investment in fixed assets is at an all-time low, while the share of net income S&P 500 companies spend on buybacks is at an all-time...