Company Update

February 11, 2021

Bridgewater:

I know some of you have already listened to the tape that I sent last Friday, but I wanted to take a moment to share some additional detail on the exciting evolution underway in our overall organizational design and operating system.

Since assuming the CEO role, I have stared hard at our structure and have been iterating on a design with others on the management team that will help us continue to develop as an organization. We have learned and innovated a lot over the last year across the firm. There is much about our processes and systems that is great but there are areas that need to improve and evolve. In order to achieve this right mix, we need to continue our transformation across a number of different dimensions to ensure we successfully manage our portfolios, serve our clients excellently, and operate Bridgewater in a world-class manner.

With those opportunities for improvement in mind, I am creating an integrated operating design to get the best out of and develop our senior team, to enable better cross-department collaboration and alignment, and to create forums where the key issues are debated and decided in an idea meritocratic manner. To that end, along with other key members of our team, I have created three business committees – in addition to the executive committee and the partnership – to provide us with the right structure to successfully lead Bridgewater. Each committee will have RPs responsible for setting and driving the committees’ agendas. Ray will continue to serve as a mentor across functions and remains Co-CIO and Co-Chairman.

Executive Committee – I am evolving what we previously referred to as our Management Committee to better reflect our next generation of leaders and to knit the partnership into the overall fabric of the company. This group will help me oversee and run the company. The members of the committee will evolve over time, but initially they are Nir Bar Dea (Deputy CEO), Bob Prince (Chief Investment Officer), Greg Jensen (Chief Investment Officer), Kyle Delaney (Chief Commercial Officer), Tracey Yurko (Chief Legal Officer), and Gerry Pasciucco (Head of Finance and Strategy), in addition to one member of the Partnership, which I expect to announce shortly. 

There are two key personnel changes reflected in the design that I want to highlight to you:

• Nir Bar Dea, currently the co-head of the Investment Engine and the key architect of the evolution in our Investment Engine over the last 5 years, will step into a newly created role as Deputy Chief Executive Officer, where he will partner with me across all aspects of managing Bridgewater, with his first key priority being implementing and running this new operating system. Nir has been an incredible partner. He is a strong visionary, has a strong mental map and is an excellent leader, and I look forward to partnering with him to implement this new design. Osman Nalbantoglu will continue as co-head of the Investment Engine with Kevin Brennan joining him in that role.
• Gerry Pasciucco, who has worked closely with the Chairmen and our internal board for the last 5 years as a Strategic and Financial Advisor (formerly Vice Chair of Morgan Stanley and CEO of AIG Financial Products), has stepped into a newly created role as Head of Finance and Strategy. In this role, he will oversee Finance and a new Corporate Development department and orchestrate strategic initiatives across the company. He will report into me and into our Internal Board. 

Business Committees – While the Executive Committee is my primary mechanism for running the company, I am formalizing the role of three business committees plus the role of the Partnership to ensure there are proper forums for cross-collaboration as well as appropriate debate across key areas of our business. The three committees are: the Investment Committee, the Commercial and Business Strategy Committee, and the Operating Committee. Each committee has a clear mandate tied to business outcomes, and the combination of the mandates of these groups cover all responsibilities critical to our success. The exact membership of each of these committees will change over time, but will draw from our key investment, client service, and department head leadership.  

• Investment Committee – Ray, Bob, and Greg, who have 46, 35, and 25 years of time at Bridgewater, respectively – have effectively served as an Investment Committee for the last twenty years, responsible for overseeing our investment process. Over the last several years, a deep bench of investment leaders (a combination of home-grown and external hires) have emerged a level beneath the CIOs and have had growing and compounding impact and taken on increasing responsibility across our investment process. This broader group includes Kevin Brennan, Karen Karniol-Tambour, Rebecca Patterson, Kerry Reilly, Noah Yechiely, and others. Recognizing this evolution, we will be expanding and formalizing our Investment Committee to draw on this senior group’s expertise. Bob, Greg, and the appropriate members of this broader group, given the topic at hand, will now collectively drive the research agenda and day-to-day investment collaboration, probing, and decision-making. I am very grateful that at this point in his life Ray has agreed to stay deeply involved in our investment team as both an idea generator and mentor; he also serves as the tie-breaking vote should Bob, Greg, and the broader members of the Investment Committee not agree. Osman will chair this committee, working closely with me, Nir, and the CIOs as it evolves.
• Commercial and Business Strategy Committee – Chaired by Kyle, Karen, and Gerry, this committee will be focused on our commercial strategy and understanding to meet the needs of our clients. Members will be drawn from leadership across client service, the investment engine, and finance.
• Operating Committee – Initially chaired by Nir and Greg, this is the governing body for day-to-day operations of Bridgewater and our execution against the plan. Members will be drawn from department heads and other business leaders across the company.

As announced last week, Brian Kreiter has decided to leave Bridgewater in the coming months to start his own business, and we are exploring ways we can support his efforts and stay deeply connected. We are working closely together to hand off his responsibilities to members of the executive committee. I want to thank Brian for his 12 years of great service to Bridgewater and look forward to celebrating him later this spring.

As I look forward to the years ahead of us, I am very excited about this next progression in our management design. While I am committed to making further changes over time, these immediate improvements will help us to continue to address challenges and maximize success, now and into the future. Let’s plan to discuss this in more detail and answer any questions when we come together today. 

David