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Welcome back for season 3 of Investment Uncut! To hit the ground running, we are joined by LCP’s CEO Aaron Punwani to talk about the future of hybrid work and reflect on the last 18 months, including the benefits of Diversity & Inclusion that we’ve seen.

We discuss: 

Learnings over the last 18 months:

• Interesting and challenging period, but the industry has generally stepped up well, focusing on relationships and service
• Some of the positives have been proactive steps to stay connected
• We have re-examined the purpose of what we stand for, e.g., on Diversity and Inclusion
• The big challenge is helping everyone start enjoying the world of work as we return, but to keep some of the benefits from being remote
• Remote working has been positive from an inclusion perspective, which we should look to build on

What’s been the Diversity & Inclusion driver over the last year?

• Covid-19 made most people more reflective, as they thought about what was really important to them
• There was a D&I benefit that virtual meetings created. Some people were more comfortable contributing in remote meetings
• Timing – there were several powerful moments,  with social justice movements occurring early on in the pandemic

How do you see hybrid working moving forward?

• Collaboration is key
• A challenge is keeping it inclusive as technology can often be a barrier to that.
  An idea is to make the hybrid meetings virtual first: listen to those joining remotely first, and presume those in the room will get their say
• Meeting organisers need to be more proactive to manage it
• Think more about the type of meeting and what format suits it
  Check out this Economist article with a survey on hybrid working

What are our clients looking for? 

• Virtual Board meetings can work, provided a relationship and trust already exists between individuals, and you can manage breakouts / plenary, etc
• Perhaps there will be more focus on meeting ad hoc to build a relationship face to face then remote meetings can work better
• Some feedback works much better face to face and risks not getting aired or addressed in a remote world
• Face to face gives a better opportunity to tell you something you might not want to hear

What have you liked and what have you missed over the last 18 months?

• The habit of back-to-back meetings, and meeting requests for the same day
• Travel time created an opportunity to reflect and create focus
• Short, to the point presentations and shorter meetings are all good learnings which are good to keep
• The leadership of the chair is vital, for example, ensuring pre-reading gets done which can greatly facilitate meetings
• Interesting fact: LCP had 100 new colleagues join us during the period of remote working in the last 18 months (out of a firm of 800)

The most underappreciated thing in investing

1. The value of a good investment consultant (!) 

Recommendations

• Rogue: The blockbuster espionage thriller (The Marc Dane series)

One thing to take away

LCP are constantly trying to improve. We don’t have all the answers, we always appreciate and need your feedback to learn and make things better.  

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Each LCP investment uncut podcast is for information and marketing purposes only and does not constitute any form of investment or financial advice or a financial promotion (under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000). All views expressed by the podcast hosts and guests are purely their own opinions and do not represent those of LCP, its clients or affiliates. Our podcast listeners should always seek independent financial or legal advice before making any financial or investment decisions. Please refer to the Legal Notices section on the LCP website for further information.​