Read and learn -- part II
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Five Paradoxes of the New Economy
"Five Paradoxes of the New Economy"
Wharton School of Business
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
I'm happy to be here at Wharton, traditionally a wonderful source of Merrill Lynch talent. But I'm not here on a recruiting trip. My purpose today is much broader. I'm here to talk about what I call the Five Paradoxes of the New Economy.
First, I'll talk about the underlying forces behind the new economy — how they're shaping my industry in general and my company in particular. Next, I'll try to convince you that the gulf said to exist between the Old Economy and New Economy has been greatly exaggerated. Finally, I'll talk briefly about how Merrill Lynch is leveraging these forces to achieve preeminence in financial services.
Some of you may be wondering whether a CEO of a major financial services firm is the best person to be lecturing about "The New Economy." You are not alone. Here, for example, is what one analyst tried to tell us last spring. He wrote:
"With a more progressive business model, we suspect consumers decreasingly view Merrill Lynch as a relic from the Cro-Magnon era of financial services."
Thirty years in this business and this is the respect I get!
But that was last year, and now, suddenly, many of the virtues of so-called "Old Economy" firms are being miraculously rediscovered. It's amazing what 12 months and a 1,600-point loss on the Nasdaq will do! Yes, a bad year for the tech sector has made a lot of experts wrestle over whose prediction was most accurate. But where they all agree is that the underlying trends of the New Economy are no fad. Globalization, deregulation and technology have introduced fundamental and permanent changes to the way every company does business.
Globalization
National borders have become almost irrelevant when it comes to asset management, investing, or mergers. Executing a strategy in different markets, with different languages, laws, and cultures is now a fundamental part of the financial services industry.
Take Merrill Lynch: Ten years ago, we were basically a two-sector business — brokerage and investment banking — with about $350 billion in client assets, and 13% of our revenues coming from outside the U.S. Today, we enjoy dominant market positions around the globe in three complementary businesses: Private Client, Investment Management and Investment Banking, supported by 850 research professionals in 26 countries. We hold $1.8 trillion in client assets, and 35% of our revenues come from outside the U.S.
Deregulation
We've benefited tremendously from deregulation, as has the entire industry. In every part of the world, financial markets are being remade. The EMU in Europe, and the Big Bang in Japan. In the U.S., we saw the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act — a watershed event for this industry.
Outdated barriers had always prevented us from offering our clients a federally insured bank account. Today we have not one but two banks, and can offer clients the full range of financial services — just as our European competitors have been doing for years.
Technology
It has transformed every industry, but probably ours more than any other. After all, the biggest-selling consumer item on the Internet is not music, not toys, not books or flowers. It's stock. Three years ago, we launched Merrill Lynch OnLine from a standing start. Today, many experts say our site is the best on the web. We're also using the power of the Internet to reshape how the institutional markets operate.
Globalization. Deregulation. Technology. These trends will be seen as the seminal events of the new economy. They will have far more lasting effects than the bubble in tech stocks or the flood of IPOs. They have taught us many lessons. The most important is that being successful in the new economy requires the proper blend of old and new economy virtues. That's just one of the great paradoxes of our time. In fact, today I want to offer what I call the Five Great Paradoxes of the New Economy.
Paradox 1: Scale Is as Important as Innovation
That's something no one expected a few years back. The way the business press wrote about it, if you were small and innovative, that meant you were creative, nimble and flexible. If you were large, that meant you were clumsy, slow to change and bureaucratic.
It can be rewarding to participate in a niche market. But if you want to take advantage of the changes in the global marketplace, if you want to invest resources in daring new ideas, then you have to have scale.
We are certainly seeing that in financial services. Consolidation, a fact we long predicted, has arrived: Morgan and Chase, PaineWebber and UBS, as well as Credit Suisse and DLJ. A few months ago, reading the business pages reminded me of that show Survivor. Before long, there will be just a handful of global players with the reach and the resources to bring real innovation to our industry. I welcome it.
At Merrill Lynch, it is precisely our global presence and scale that has permitted us to bring a new level of innovation to our business.
In just the past year, we established a joint venture with HSBC, launching a new online banking and brokerage business in the U.K., Australia and Canada. Ultimately, we'll be operating in 20 countries. I believe this will prove to be an important milestone for Merrill Lynch. It required us to think about our business model in a new way — to create a new company, instead of buying one. It also required a sizable global footprint.
Still, scale is only part of the story.
Paradox 2: In a World of Endless Choices, Reputation Matters
In the bottomless well of websites, consumers are looking for familiar names they know and trust. I think that's why no one has been able to knock Amazon from the top spot in online retailing. They are one of the only household names online.
If you don't think brand matters, think about this: It's been said that if you dismantled the Coca-Cola Company and left the managers with only the brand name, they could rebuild the entire company in under five years. On the other hand, if you left them with all their assets but took away the brand, in five years they'd be gone altogether.
In the new economy, more than ever, a global brand name and a trusted reputation are indispensable. Yet in our business, it's not all about being well known. It's about how well you know your clients.
Paradox 4: Age Doesn't Matter — Seeing Opportunities Does
Let's give credit where credit is due: Amazon, Yahoo, eBay, Dell — these companies led the first wave of the New Economy.
They changed the rules. They introduced new ways of thinking. They created new models for buying and selling. Ten years ago, they didn't even exist. But they didn't succeed simply because they were new. Nor should we assume, with so many dot-coms crashing, that companies are now going to succeed simply because they are established. Age doesn't matter.
In the years ahead, what will matter is not only the ability to create change, but to build on it. That means not just worrying about what's next. It means having a broader vision of your entire industry, and the resources and management skills to execute it.
That's why the next wave of the New Economy really won't distinguish between old and new companies, or even tech companies and manufacturers. What will matter is your ability to understand the implications of all the new things springing up around us.
Let me give you some examples of how Merrill is riding that next wave. As I mentioned earlier, we're using e-commerce to change the business model for capital markets and investment banking. Recently, we joined with six other of the largest investment banks to create The Markets.com, a portal for commingled equity research, news, and market data.
We also pioneered, along with other securities firms, a new trading platform for fixed income securities called BondBook. These consortia and commingled sites are perhaps the industry's most seismic shift to date.
In each of these instances, the technology is impressive. But more critical is the way we're using technology to create value as the industry shifts. This requires building relationships we previously never would have considered.
Relationships, as I've suggested, can't be created by technology. They demand human capital, which brings me to my final paradox.
Paradox 5: In the New Economy, the Most Satisfying Job Experiences Can Be Found in Traditional Places
Despite all the hype about the unconventional workplace, the best place for a rewarding career — especially for someone with your training — is probably going to be one of the large, global firms that some were once writing off as "behind the curve."
It's easy for me to say, of course. I started at a large financial house and 32 years later became CEO. But I believe that some of the young New Economy firms focused on attracting talent through short-term perks, rather than long-term value. You've all read about them: name your own job, 23-year-old CEOs, wear shorts to work — believe me, I've never even considered it.
Now, as the dust of 2000 is settling, more professionals recognize that what they want out of a job is something a little deeper — a greater sense of professional satisfaction that is harder to come across at a struggling young start-up.
Don't get me wrong. Workplace features of the new economy have been good for all of us. An improved focus on diversity, a more casual workplace, greater flexibility and faster decision-making.
We're proud to have received more than our share of awards for progressive policies for telecommuting, disabled workers and working mothers, just to name a few. The diversity of our talent pool is second to none, and we work hard to create a culture that places no limits on individual achievement. But we know the most successful companies are those that offer other advantages, too, including a workplace that is both financially and intellectually rewarding.
The paradoxes of the New Economy I've outlined today tell me that, at the end of the most prosperous and creative decade in American history, Merrill Lynch is better positioned than ever to be the preeminent financial management and advisory company in the world.
How do we define preeminence? In five simple ways:
Client focus second to none.
The leader in our chosen markets.
The best managed company.
The best shareholder return. During the past year, our stock price has delivered the highest return among all our major competitors.
And, of course, the best place to work.
Client focus second to none; the leader in chosen markets; best managed company; best shareholder return, and the best place to work. Some might read that list and accuse us of sticking to Old World values. My response: guilty as charged.
During the height of the tech boom, I think the business community and the press tended to forget what made a great company over the long term. I'd like to think that at Merrill, we never lost sight of these enduring values.
Don't take my word for it. Look around. What you will find is that, in the final paradox of the New Economy, the freshest thinking is going on in places you may never have imagined.
So, in conclusion, let me verbalize what should be very apparent to each of you. Dreams and aspirations have never gone out of style. My suggestion to you is, come dream with us.