So long, and thanks for all the fish

The Good Ol' Days

Back in 2019 (remember those good ol' days?) I cut my hours with Aon by 60% in order to spend more time on personal hobbies and adventures but also to stay involved in a vibrant and interesting investment agenda.

A locked down world certainly altered that plan radically - more in the former than the latter!

Emerging variant concerns noted , as the world approaches a fuller reopening , hopefully for good (in all senses), I am cutting out 100% of working hours by leaving Aon fully.?

It is even now with mixed feelings that I consider a future retired lifestyle without any corporate routine / challenge but also with very warm and contented feelings about having been part of such an engaging industry with such a progressive employer.

I’m not sure that we yet properly understand what our collective and very individual personal mental impacts have been from these past two years and time will tell.

I do know deep inside that I’ve recently lost some of the energy and enthusiasm that has stood me in such good stead over a 36 year career , half of which with Aon. But I’m still dreaming of those hobbies and adventures as if I'm starting out!

New Normals

Having written about “A New Normal” both in summer 2020 (in the very moment of pandemic realisation) and again in summer 2021 (reflecting on my first take) I’m confident that things have irrevocably changed in business and life (see links). Change is opportunity.

https://www.aon.com/getmedia/03ab53cf-fad1-490f-8cad-ffd26d7dcda4/The-new-normal_What-is-it-and-what-does-it-mean-for-investors.aspx

https://www.aon.com/getmedia/9e732adc-0ea3-4e45-910a-332901c57ab3/New-Normal_Where-are-we-a-year-later.aspx

With COP26 closed to mixed reviews I personally believe we should each and every one of us reflect and understand that some things do indeed need to change permanently and significantly to sustain our future hopes and expectations for today's young generation and beyond . We each may also appreciate how difficult it continues to be to agree and engineer changes despite the pretty clear consequences of inaction.

Whether the right things change , in acceptable ways , fast enough remains in serious doubt in my mind.

But I am super confident that we now have a wealth of brilliant energetic professionals across most industries wanting to be part of the solutions. They are hammering loudly at the doors of a status quo whose leadership too often continues to prolong some of the problems through distraction and shielding perhaps because of understandable personal interests. The next generation of leaders will find their voices are no longer being silenced or overpowered. Instead they have already found platforms amid regulatory and policy support. I hope they can stretch beyond these catalysts of change such that market forces naturally become the vanguard of change as opposed to reluctant followers of policy nudges.

Absent With Leave ! (not AWOL)

I’m personally confused though ; here I go looking to pursue some small scale personal objectives in some varied social interest groups covering all manner of personal politics and socio-economic backgrounds. I do this at a time when corporates and governments are finally attentively listening to messages I passionately promoted / supported. Messages that previously and frustratingly often fell on too many deaf ears ( I felt). Well that's OK and good I think.

Now in personal life and hobbies my professional “safe ground” of investment and economics could not be further from day to day conversations even if we are all inevitably connected by them.

This change of focus comes naturally at a time in life when we may typically celebrate retirements (after all I’ve worked in the pensions industry all my career!) . But it can feel at odds with the privileged and inspirational access I enjoyed to influence large scale objectives in Institutional?investment. Collaboration with so many brilliant minds , not just colleagues and competitors but also those at academic institutions I've partnered with is something I will miss greatly.

But it's what I’m ready for, I think I'll get used to it, it’s also what I want - but I’m just saying that this is how I feel. Whether that’s helpful or not I don’t know!

Good news is though that as this one dumb but privileged guy steps away?, lots of smart folk stay and debate and innovate.

We possibly need (a lot) more dumb guys to step away though…ie too many architects and keepers of the problems still find it hard to vote against their self interests while in authority?…

Pinching myself

I’m selfishly hoping for a soft landing and a comfortable transition. Business and personal life has overlapped more in our pandemic induced virtual world of home working. Personally it's also been confused by my flexible part time-ness and my stage of career perhaps.

I think though that I preferred the clean physical/geographical boundaries of office versus home but for many I know this WFH way of working is much better and improves on individual work/life balances etc. That said I never enjoyed that commute much!

Anyway don't worry I’ve not been sharing the personal hobby photos in work, not even on Facebook during these challenged times and I have no intentions of doing so on LinkedIn! But being more open about personal life within a business context took me time to get comfortable with (too long really) which is a topic I'll come back to.

Looking back on 36 employed years (half fund management, half consulting- although at times it’s hard to know the difference!) I do know I’ve learned sooo much , much more than I can possibly remember. However when I meet a face from the past or spot a name in the industry , it immediately and happily transports me to the client we worked on together / the research project we wrote / the sales campaign we promoted / the debate we had / the private conversation we exchanged etc. All these moments mean a lot to me.

I can reflect on so many outstanding business opportunities and experiences over the decades locally and globally. I know I’ve worked (and laughed) with so many wonderful colleagues, peers and friends. I’ve enjoyed having 2 supportive employers (Aon & Barclays) who have stretched my knowledge and developed my skills. This is probably why I’ve so rarely changed jobs and besides plenty of change came to me through mergers and take-overs (successful and failed ones!).

I know I’ve been privileged to so often be in the company of the industry’s sharpest brains and it’s most insightful observers where conversation and ideas flowed at pace and I felt in my element. Sometimes I had to pinch myself - being paid for this sense of fulfilment!

Forward Looking - exciting times

However I am always wired to look forward , more than to reflect and to challenge more than to accept which won’t surprise some if not many of you!

To me what is exciting and important is always what comes next and what might be , and to keep asking why received wisdom can’t be improved.

I do hope I continue to feel that way, tempered by realising that it can be a bit exhausting for folk in private day-to-day life conversations that just want to have fun or just get on with getting on! To be fair such challenge was often exhausting for colleagues too I know!

Right now, I think things have never looked more challenging, interesting or complex for long term investors. I am seriously encouraged by what I see in terms of emerging strategic thought leadership in the context of a myriad of pivotal societal , environmental and geo-political challenges.

We should be in for some pretty transformational times ahead in industry generally and I am buckled up for the ride as I switch from professional participant to amateur observer.?

I’m hopeful I won’t lose too much of the natural enthusiasm and curiosity that’s served me well in my career and that platforms like LinkedIn will help me to still be able to watch market developments and celebrate your ongoing successes through changing times ahead.

I even hope to be able to contribute the occasional observation / comment and avoid the temptation of cynically observing that “we‘ve seen it all before”!. It’s a both a curse and benefit I think that “experienced eyes” can’t help but relate the new through the old lenses. Despite efforts to avoid this I still fall in that trap - more often recently I think.

Any advice?

A super high achieving and brilliant entrepreneurial business minded friend and competitor recently threw out an open challenge to experienced professionals , asking them what knowledge would you share with school leavers that you wish someone had shared with you when you were leaving school.

In the moment this is what I blurted out in response. I focused on the qualities I perceived of folk I've met and done business with - I said "In risk there is opportunity,?in curiosity there is innovation , in change there is progress , in challenge there is ambition and in humility there is wisdom".

Given time to since reflect I am very tempted to improve and add to it . However I'm also worried that old folk like me advising young professionals , risks being platitudinal about things we didn't recognise and address earlier. Its not quite “blah blah blah” to borrow a phrase from someone who creates visceral reactions in so many older men (especially) of my generation but it might just be seen that way.

Go Team Next Gen ! (I'm right behind you ... feet up)

Action is being shunted onto the shoulders of young folk whether they like it or not . I believe old folk should be doing everything they can to give back what we have unintentionally taken away from future generations.

I’m saying that as I look to rest upon the accumulated personal assets of a moderately successful finance career to see me through retirement pursuing my personal small scale interests!?

Incidentally I wrote a little about my concerns regarding inter generational challenges within this stewardship piece here.

https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/its-time-jump-steward-ship-john-belgrove?

History repeating itself?

Remember how I said that it’s a curse that experienced eyes can’t help frame new problems through old lenses. Well it’s also true that so many problems are circular , it’s our behavioural traits that lead us to repeat our past mistakes.

Let me (almost) sign off with something and someone that influenced me in my youth - a song that possibly remains apt for today. As Elvis (no not that one) said - “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace , Love and Understanding?”

(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding (Official Music Video) - Bing video

Check out the lyrics from the 1970s originally and turn the volume up !

A Personal Thank You ...

Thank you for putting up with my occasional weird rambling articles during my part time phase and thank you to everyone who's given me support and encouragement throughout my career ( that's a lot of people!). I used to need a lot of courage to be confident enough to write or speak more personally and freely in the context of a professional business setting. But doing so helped me be myself more which is possibly something that came later to me than it should. But when it did it helped me be a better professional and opened up more pathways for me in business.?

Amongst other things I thank Brene Brown's work (Brené Brown (brenebrown.com) on vulnerability that resonated strongly with me quite a few years ago now for that breakthrough. Today I feel this is much more broadly understood amongst business leadership.

?Anyway , I titled this article "So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish" That is of course a Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy reference. You will no doubt know that their magic number was 42. Mine I suppose is 36 (years in the industry). I certainly haven't come close to cracking the secrets to Life , the Universe and Everything , but I think that 36 years has given me a pretty good start. Much more to learn and discover.

Meanwhile I continue to look forward to cheering on your progress and thought leadership.

Best wishes to you all!? John. x