Historian Niall Ferguson’s new book “High Financier”, a biography of twentieth century banker Sigmund Warburg, offers many interesting performance insights about morality and relationships within a market system.
The book paints the picture of a man of vision and intellect who possessed a deep sense of purpose about himself and the organisation he led. That purpose was to be a trusted advisor to leaders of major companies and governments, providing them with expert advice with total integrity. This was his “calling” and Warburg people would share in it. We are told by Ferguson that Warburg “despised making money for its own sake”, and that he lived unostentatiously. This contrasts sharply with the typical modern day investment banker, driven by bonus and deal making.
In terms of the Effectus framework, Warburg’s performance model for his bank was high on Purpose and Reliability axes, an element of Sublimity (apparently Warburg’s employed a full time cartoonist to capture the characters and events of the day) with less emphasis on the type of Combat that we see from financial markets today. The culture, according to those who worked there, was unique and required total commitment.
In commercial terms, SG Warburg was surpassed by others and is now part of City history. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile reflecting on whether the loss of the type of performance that this organisation exemplified, driven by value to the client, independent thinking and integrity of action, is in large part responsible for the dysfunctional, depersonalised financial market system that now dominates our society. The return of a genuinely moral and client service oriented financial services sector is both an opportunity for modern day high minded entrepreneurs in the mould of Sigmund Warburg, and a key component of sustainable future for us all.
