- Be it for business, government, or the non-profit sector, it involves leading, governing, managing and investing responsibly.
- Effective stewardship is especially vital in times of crisis and disruption.
Individual leaders and organisations can practice stewardship by developing and activating their Stewardship Core Compass—a process that involves the following steps, starting with values:
1. Integrate the four stewardship values with your organisational and personal values:
Interdependence: View the world as an interconnected system. Recognise that your success depends on the success of others. Cooperate with them and build good partnerships.
Long-term View: Strategise and execute for sustained value creation. Build for both current and future generations.
Ownership Mentality: Think and act like an owner. Take proactive responsibility. Make stewardship happen.
Creative Resilience: Manage risks. Learn from mistakes and setbacks. Experiment and find innovative solutions to disruptive challenges.
2. Based on these values, articulate a purpose that creates a collective better future for a variety of stakeholders including shareholders, and society at large.
3. Ensure that everything you do during both calm and turbulent times is aligned to and governed by your core compass.
Stewardship shapes purpose-driven businesses that are focused on responsible wealth creation, to generate long-term value for the benefit of all stakeholders, the community, society, and future generations. By embracing stewardship within all business decisions and actions, we will redefine the contribution we want all businesses to make to create a better form of capitalism -- one which promotes competition but is here to serve not dominate, one which respects human beings instead of exploiting them, one which nurtures our environment instead of destroying it.
Everyone has the responsibility to be a steward – from asset owners, asset managers, investors, shareholders, boards of directors, management, policy makers, regulators, right down to citizens.
Today’s investment management system is increasingly complex and fragmented. What the investment community needs to recognise is the ultimate beneficiaries of the investment chain are regular citizens. Accordingly, the savings and investment system is here to serve citizens and is directly and morally accountable to them. Stewardship involves a search for responsible investment practices that bring in returns for the beneficiaries through channelling money toward the development of a sustainable economy which drives real value creation along the entire chain.
Looking through the lens of responsible wealth creation, any person or entity entrusted with funds throughout this system is a steward, and has the responsibility to protect and enhance these assets. Each participant in the value chain entrusts that responsibility to the next – saver through to company board. The company in turn makes investment decisions, entrusting funds to subsidiaries and divisions whose managers are then stewards of the funds under management. If the wealth creation system as a whole is to function effectively and responsibly, it needs this investment chain to operate as a stewardship value chain.
As a first step, sign up for our e-newsletter to be updated on our latest initiatives and engagement platforms. Besides our flagship Stewardship Asia Roundtable, we organise various regional outreach programmes in the form of conversations and training. If you are keen to explore partnership opportunities and be involved in our development projects, do contact us directly.
