Resources
We conduct original research on the causes of short-term business decisions and work to find practical solutions.
In the News
12 April 2019 - To explore the most important factors influencing long-termism in the current environment, Toppan Merrill commissioned Mergermarket to speak with four leading experts for their insights. Topics of discussion include: • What effect, if any, has the push for ESG investing had on efforts to move toward long-termism? • Do you think recent interest in passive investment strategies makes it easier for companies to focus on the long term? • Are there particular regulatory changes you think would be effective at encouraging longer-term thinking at companies?
In the News
8 April 2019 - Sarah Williamson, chief executive, Focusing Capital on the Long Term, a US-based non-profit consortium of asset owner and managers dedicated to encouraging long-term behaviour, urged investors to refine and sharpen their beliefs. “At many funds, if you ask different members of the board what their beliefs are, you get different answers,” she said. Engrained beliefs are particularly important during market bumps when “ownership” of long-term strategies tends to fall away. She urged investors to hone their “purpose” and be clear about the things they find...
In the News
27 March 2019 -
In the News
15 March 2019 - Now more than ever, investors need to decide whether they want to lock up their money in bets that could pay off richly–or fail disastrously–down the road.
In the News
7 March 2019 - The numbers speak for themselves. Fewer than 15% of S&P 1500 companies refer to longer-term metrics—anything beyond 2 years—in their proxy statements. Globally, only 8.7% of companies in the MSCI All Country World Index issue guidance beyond one year. But these kinds of long-term plans are exactly what investors are clamoring for. Our own survey of institutional investment decision-makers found that 86% want companies to share targets at least three years out. And a survey from Rivel Research found 93% of global buy-side investors prefer targets...
In the News
15 February 2019 - A new paper by Focusing Capital on the Long Term (FCLT) acknowledges that investors typically have competing time frames while most of the tools for risk and performance management are for only one investment period. The paper, Balancing Act: Managing risk across multiple time horizons, gives investors, from boards to investment personnel, much-needed practical tools and processes to address this issue successfully.
In the News
6 February 2019 - Sarah Williamson discusses focusing capital on the long term (16:00) with Amanda Lang of Bloomberg Markets. Co-anchored by Amanda Lang in Toronto and Shery Ahn in New York, Bloomberg Markets delivers the most important global business and breaking market news as it happens.
In the News
1 February 2019 - How about better multiple time-horizon investing? A recent paper* by Focusing Capital on the Long Term (FCLT) injects a dose of self help into the long-horizon investing discussion. It recognises that few investors can focus solely on the long term, and shorter time horizons exist in parallel. Even large institutional investors can have collective behavioural biases around long-term investing. They may be subject to short-term pressures that make sticking to long-term decisions difficult.
In the News
30 January 2019 - From my backseat driver vantage point, Fink long ago saw the light regarding what ails society and the leaders who are at the helm of for-profit organizations. There is a blinding fixation on putting profits ahead of purpose. Indeed purpose seems to have been forgotten or worse ignored. Senior leaders—and arguably a for-profit organization’s board of directors—continue to operate with their head in the sand. Fink’s annual letter to CEOs points this out admirably.
In the News
25 January 2019 - Asset owners with a long-term time horizon are not immune to short-term pressures, according to a new publication from FCLT Global. The 30-page publication – ‘Balancing act: managing risk across multiple time horizons’ – addresses the challenge of managing multiple-horizon portfolios such as pension plans, sovereign wealth funds and endowments, by outlining why such management is important.
In the News
15 December 2018 - It was the G20 Investor Forum (the Forum), hosted by the World Bank and the Government of Argentina, held just before the start of the G20 Summit. For the first time ever, senior executives from the investment community in the private sector, holding over $20 trillion in assets under management, and senior officials from the public sector gathered to discuss how to better collaborate to ensure the capital markets earn the necessary long-term returns for their beneficiaries in a way that supports sustainable development. Comments...