June 2015: Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks

According to Martin Larsson, Deutsche Asset and Wealth Management's CTO for alternative investments, his organization recently appointed a CIO from the aerospace industry, while in Waters' April issue ─ the cyber security issue ─ we provided a number of examples of heads of security with law enforcement and defense industry backgrounds working at capital markets firms, illustrating the extent to which skills honed in one, apparently unconnected industry, are applicable to others. 

Some might question the wisdom of appointing someone from outside the industry or organization, especially when it comes to mission-critical roles. But we need look no further than the world of professional sport to find an example of someone applying his "alien" knowledge and experience, and by so doing revolutionizing various aspects of the sport that he has just joined.

Team Sky's appointment of Tim Kerrison as the professional cycling team's head of athlete performance in 2009 paved the way for transforming the way riders prepared for races. Prior to starting with the team, Kerrison knew precious little about cycling ─ his background was in swimming ─ but Australians know a thing or two about producing world-class swimmers. Kerrison spent a great deal of time observing and questioning the current norms of the sport, before applying his knowledge about the preparation and physiological conditioning of swimmers, eschewing long-held beliefs that riders need to use low-key races as a way of training for the more important races later in the season.

Kerrison and Sky turned that model on its head, instead incorporating highly specific training regimes designed to mimic the rigors of racing, ensuring that the team and its riders had the best chances of success from the first race day of the season until the very last. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the training sessions are not for the faint-hearted, given their brutal nature, but only a fool would question their efficacy, given the team's phenomenal success.

Although some capital markets firms have, like Team Sky, been quick to embrace "foreign" practitioners and practices, our industry as a whole is still only scratching the surface of available talent, a scenario likely to change as operational and technology challenges continue to intensify.