5 years as CEO - I can't believe it!

5 years ago, on 5th April 2016, I took on the responsibility to be CEO of Redington. It's not a job I had ever done before, I didn't know many CEOs and certainly none that looked like me or shared my values. I'm so grateful that Rob and Dawid trusted me to lead the firm they founded. It's been an incredible journey and such a steep learning curve. I've had the privilege of working with so many awesome people and we've come a long way together over this time. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them all for their support, patience and care.

On initially accepting the role, my aim was to see if I could lead Redington’s growth successfully by putting people at the center of all my decisions: fostering a work environment where people show kindness towards others and foster inclusivity regardless of differences, where people would always challenge themselves and each other to find new and better ways of doing things, delivering better outcomes for clients, knowing their voices mattered and sharing lessons learnt openly. I'm so proud to lead a firm of incredible people who work at this every day.

I am marking this landmark 5-year anniversary by sharing some reflections in response to questions I frequently get asked.

Summary TL;DR:

1.      I took on the role because I wanted to prove that a financial services business can be a force for good and create a work environment that offered fair and equal opportunities for diverse, generous and learning-oriented people to succeed and thrive.

2.      There’s a lot of things that I thought I would do as CEO that either never got off the ground, or didn’t survive contact with reality. Lots of things didn’t go according to plan either, for example – finding the right strategic partner took a lot longer than planned.

3.      I’m pleased that lots of things went far better than I had hoped and there were a number of positive surprises that I could never have anticipated. Whilst I’m never satisfied and there’s still so much to do… I admit there is a lot to be proud of - knowing we have successfully transitioned from a founder-led start-up to a sustainable management-led private business.

4.      I’ve learnt a lot – being patient, asking for help, being kinder to myself, the importance of structure, the difference in my role as CEO of the company and at the board, etc. I’d say I am more confident in the role five years on, but hopefully, never complacent – I’m acutely aware of how much more there is to learn, including faster decision making, knowing when to be directive and when to consult and making unpopular decisions.

5.      Finally, I’m still learning so much, having fun, love the people I work with, continue to feel like we’re doing meaningful work, have lots more to contribute and the role continues to be very aligned with my own purpose. I am excited to play our part in the transition to a sustainable and inclusive financial system that works in the best interests of all end beneficiaries.

Full questions and reflections below:

How did I feel about taking on the role 5 years ago?

I remember feeling a mix of excitement, nervousness and disbelief as I prepared for the first day in my new role as CEO. I felt a lot of responsibility (personal, family, community, employees, clients and the founders) and I was determined to do a good job. In preparation, I had read a lot of books, interviewed our clients and employees and sought out advice from other CEOs - I had a long to-do list and was dying to put it all into action (little did I know). Having always been an outsider, someone who built walls around myself and as a private person, I was determined to be more open, willing to make mistakes *and vulnerable - this was scary! Despite all that, there was a voice that said I didn't know what I was doing, I wasn’t a “typical” leader and I felt that I needed to prove I could do the job (my way) – this has taken a long time to shift (and still rears its ugly head from time to time).

What were my specific goals? Where did I hope we would be by now?

The fundamental challenge I set out to address and repeated throughout my pitch for the role was - "How do we scale our cohesive culture where employees, clients and shareholders are happy, whilst significantly improving our productivity, efficiency and profitability?"

I wanted to balance both commercial and cultural aspirations. Here are some of the goals I set out:

• Never comprise on quality of service we offer our clients
• Double revenues in 3-5 years
• Triple profitability in 3-5 years
• Explore external funding / strategic investment ASAP
• Diversify sources / new business lines (subject to funding)
• Align key talent processes (hiring, onboarding, appraisals, etc) with agreed core values and purpose - deal with bad behaviour that is not aligned with our values and behaviours
• Instill a "learning" culture and working environment, shift away from "family"
• Empower people, so the management team isn't overwhelmed by demands of a growing business
• Become a Sunday Times top 100 best companies to work for (we got there 2 years in a row, but it risked putting us into an arms race in employee perks rather than creating meaningful employee value, so we dropped it)
• To leave my family, community, business, industry and world in a better place

I’m amazed by how many of these goals we have kept front-and-center, and how much we have achieved, and even exceeded, over that time, though often in unexpected ways.

What has gone better than I expected?

• Our mission – to help 100m people become financially secure – introduced on 11th April 2016 has been a valuable north star for all of us (though it feels like now maybe the right time to review it and refine it for the next stage of our journey)
• Maintaining double digit growth in our core DB pensions business, without compromising on client service
• Feedback from our clients continues to grow from strength to strength, with our net promoter score jumping even higher through remote working over the past 12 months
• Establishing our then new DC business’s credibility
• Expanding our wealth and non-pensions global asset client base
• Embedding leading-edge technology across the business and having clients buy our software-as-a-service – using forward-looking real-time software and analytics to bring expertise, insight and control to pension funds, insurance companies, wealth managers, endowments, foundations, charities and multinational corporations
• Employee-led, self-managed teams like Faculty of Fun Stuff (our social committee), and Acorns (our charity committee) – of particular note is our Internal Communications team which has transformed our communication with the firm
• RedSTART becoming an independent charity, with its own board and dedicated team, well on their way to helping 1m children budget, save, invest and give back – even through lockdown!

Some things didn’t go according to plan!

I think having to conduct redundancies a couple of years into the role, losing valued colleagues and friends, was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do. Finding the right strategic investor took a lot longer than planned – but it was worth the wait. Phoenix Equity Partners (PEP) invested in the business in Feb 2020, nearly 4 years after I became CEO. As a result, a lot of our diversification efforts were happening on the side of the desk, without proper investment, until now. I’m genuinely excited we finally have the team, the capital, the backing, the experience and the capability to truly expand and diversify the business.

What didn’t work, was killed along the way or never got off the ground?

• I had an idea for an ambidextrous, self-managed, new age org structure “the Eagle” – that never really took off ??
• Our “Innovation days” didn’t continue beyond the first few, quarterly innovation council never got off the ground and we didn’t approve the business case for an innovation lab – there was never any shortage of good ideas at Redington, but it was clear we needed to focus on a few things and just see them through.
• We launched a “month of learning” around the quarterly cycle of client meetings, we launched a Redington MBA leadership develop* program beginning with ‘having difficult conversations’, and conceived of developing our own Redington Way training program – that never saw the light of day.
• We ran a 3-month returnship program for two years running that brought a number of awesome senior women into the firm. However, we didn’t continue with the internships-style program, opting instead to work with the Return Hub and hire people with gaps on their CVs as normal practice. I would say this is still a work in progress.

What has been my biggest disappointment and surprise?

One of my key concerns in taking on the role was "How can we foster a working environment where our people can play the long game, invest in themselves, learn, grow, look after their family and health, so they can still be around in 5-10 years to contribute passionately to our bigger dreams?". Though people in the firm report consistently that they are happy at work, note that there isn’t a face-time culture and that they can work flexibly, my biggest disappointment remains that so many still work such long hours and don't invest enough in their overall well-being.

My biggest surprise has been how robust and broad based the business is – it is not dependent on me or any other single individual. A number of people have come and gone over this period, in fact only a quarter of the firm was here 5 years ago given our growth, yet the core culture has been retained and even been enhanced.

What am I most proud of?

1. The way in which the people across the firm came together to help each other and clients’ transition to remote working during 2020
2. Having a purpose led, diversified business, across three offices spanning investment consulting, global asset solutions and technology.
3. Growing our headcount one-by-one without diluting the culture, client service commitment, research integrity and purpose.
4. Improving our gender equality, visible and invisible diversity and continuously working on a culture of inclusion. Specifically, an environment where people speak up, take risks, learn and share generously.
5. Having Phoenix Equity Partners invest in the business and back our leadership team and strategy.

 What are my top 10 learnings?

1. Being more patient
2. Being more open
3. Acknowledging when I don’t know, asking for help
4. Being kinder to myself
5. Preparing for presentations/meetings
6. Managing my own energy
7. Regularly pruning my diary
8. Making quicker decisions but being slower in implementation
9. Encouraging passionate unfiltered debate
10. Being a more confident leader, recognising my different roles as CEO of the firm, member of the leadership team and Board Director

My biggest lesson, and blind spot, has been just how urgent the need to for us to address climate change is, how the most vulnerable people will be affected the most and what a critical role we play in that value chain as investment consultants. It has been a real wake-up call.

What keeps me engaged? What do I need to work on still?

Five years on what keeps me engaged in the role is that I feel there is still so much more for me to do and there is still so much I am learning. I’m still working at getting the right balance between consulting and directing, knowing when to be more directive and when to consult more broadly. I am still working on making the tough decisions that enhance the long-term value of the business, even if unpopular, without waiting for permission or approval. I have to continue to maintain, even increase the pace of decision making, making decisions without waiting for all the data, failing fast, iterating and adapting, especially as we enter unchartered territories. This role continues to be very aligned with my own purpose - to be a better ancestor: to leave my family, my community, my business, my industry and world in a better place.

What excites me about the future?

As an investment advisor to over ￡500bn of client assets, allocated across hundreds of asset managers, we’re in a position to use our influence in the industry to really drive change. Investment consultants have a huge responsibility given our role in the value chain, but we need to show more leadership here. I am excited about the opportunity to play our part in the transition to a sustainable and inclusive financial system that considers its social and environmental impact and works in the best interests of all end beneficiaries.

We cannot create a sustainable or equitable future on our own. This is not an area where we should compete with our peers, there will be no winners and losers, we will all lose if we don't get this right. The transactional, competitive and short-term orientation of our system is not consistent with delivering long-term sustainability. We are all interconnected and interdependent, if we don't change this and collaborate then we cannot succeed. We have to co-create better models, approaches and solutions with our clients, competitors and with asset managers, whilst working with regulators and policy makers.

When I look back at that photograph of me as a shy kid, or as an awkward teen and a complete outsider starting my career in the city, I can't believe the journey I've been on. It gives me confidence that anyone can do this and motivates me to play my part in paying it forward. I am so grateful to so many people who have lifted me up along the way. I know I can only do what I do because of the efforts of so many incredible people: My wife, my kids, my parents and extended family, my friends and community, my team, my board, my coach, team Redington and my leadership role-model Pandurang Shastri Athavale (Dadaji). To all those who have played a part in making me who I am today, and who continue to challenge me, support me, make up for my deficiencies, hold me to account and push me to be better every day – thank you!