Engaging stakeholders on the benefits of asset management

Many asset managers I speak with feel frustrated that the decision makers in their company don't seem to understand the value of asset management. They are struggling to get traction with executives or other leaders in the business and feel as though their work is not valued. This often means that they aren't being allocated the resources they need to implement effective asset management within their company.

Asset managers are excellent at identifying problems, analysing evidence and creating solutions. The challenge is to sell these solutions to a wider audience.This white paper discusses how asset managers and technical specialists can build on their technical case to create a business case and a human case that is compelling for their decision makers. 

The Board's Role in Asset Management

Board Directors are asset managers. Delivering value from the company’s assets is one of the key roles of the board. It’s important that board directors have a thorough understanding of asset management principles and how they apply to board decision making.

My integrated model of governance and asset management brings together Robert Tricker’s well-known model of governance roles and the asset management fundamentals, as defined in ISO 55000, part of the suite of international standards for asset management.

This series of five articles focuses on the Board’s role in asset management across these areas:

1. The Board’s Leadership Role in Asset Management

2. The Board’s Strategy Role in Asset Management

3. The Board’s Risk Role in Asset Management

4. The Board’s Policy Role in Asset Management

5. The Board’s Compliance Role in Asset Management

Connecting board objectives to asset management practice: an integrated model

Creating value from the organisation's assets is a core function of the board and the objective of asset management. This paper integrates Tricker's internationally accepted model of governance with the principles of asset management, as detailed in the ISO 5500x standards. This provides a useful framework for boards to understand the importance of asset management and for asset managers to better articulate their value to boards.

As presented to the AMPEAK 2016 Asset Management Conference

Guidelines for preparing a proposal for the board

A proposal to the board needs to be treated like a pitch to investors. You are mounting an argument as to why they should allocate resources to your proposal. To be persuasive, you need to demonstrate that you have thought through the proposal and its potential implications, both positive and negative. You need to convince the board members that the proposal has merit and that you have a robust plan to successfully implement it.

These guidelines will help you to prepare a relevant and persuasive proposal for the board.

Defining organisational performance: an asset management perspective

One of the key benefits of Asset Management is to generate value for the organisation and its stakeholders. However, Most asset management metrics focus on the performance of a specific asset or group of assets. 

This paper considers performance metrics in terms of the organisation as a whole by assessing the performance of selected ASX listed companies from an asset management perspective. It examines how companies create value for stakeholders through consideration of performance, costs and risk, by comparing equity growth with cash flow return on physical assets. This comparison forms the basis for future examination of leading practices.

As presented at the AMPEAK 2015 Asset Management Conference

The Imperative for Innovation in Asset Management

This paper, presented at the Asset Management Council's AMPEAK 2019 Conference, focuses on the cost, risk, performance balance, where performance is the performance of the company, rather than the performance of assets themselves. The imperative to improve company performance, while managing safety, environmental and technological risks, in a capital constrained economy, drives a need for innovation in the way that value is created through assets.proposes a six-stage model that links company performance, in terms of growth in return on assets, and growth in shareholder equity, to the way the primary assets are used to create value.

Reducing the risks of innovation in Asset Management

Asset Management takes a risk-based approach to create value for stakeholders through assets. Reducing risk is a key focus for asset management practitioners. Given the increasing imperative for innovation in organisations of all types, asset managers have an important role in driving this innovation. In risk averse environments, the imperative for effective risk management can compete with the imperative for innovation. Innovation can also be stifled by regulatory, financial, organisational, technical or cultural barriers. Asset managers can address these competing imperatives by adopting approaches that reduce the risks of innovation within their organisational context. These approaches include consistency, commitment and collaboration. This paper draws on research and practice to provide practical approaches for asset managers to reduce the risks of innovation within their scope of work. Presented for the Asset Management Council's AMPEAK Conference 2020.

365 fun ideas to empower innovation

We have never had a greater imperative to innovate. In 2020 I shared 365 ideas to empower innovation.

They are low risk, low cost and mostly low tech ideas that anyone can implement. You could call them 'old school' but they can help us to navigate a new world. A selection of the 365 ideas are suitable to do at home and don't involve a crowd. Fun, laughter and togetherness are more important than ever. Share these with your family, friends and colleagues to help you stay motivated, break the monotony and avoid cabin fever.

Remember that even though we may be apart, we don't have to be alone.

Now that 2020 has finished, the full 365 ideas are available to download as a free e-book.